Kristi Bowers

Cristo Rey San José is a Jesuit, Catholic high school that empowers students from underserved communities in San José to be people for others who are prepared spiritually, academically, and professionally to complete college, and who will become accomplished leaders committed to a lifelong pursuit of learning, faith, and justice. What Makes Us Different: The Cristo Rey Work Study Program: Every Cristo Rey student works one day each week in professional, administrative roles at partner organizations. In turn, the revenue they generate funds up to 50% of their tuition! Students receive professional training at school and are prepared to contribute at their workplace on day one. Current partners include CIsco, CBRE, Kaiser Permanente, and Hensel Phelps, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and 90+ more. Cutting Edge Learning: Cristo Rey San Jose's academic model uses cutting edge technology to adapt to individual student needs. Each student is given a Chromebook computer to aid instruction and use for online portals for their classes. Blended learning programs take over a lot of the remedial instruction allowing teachers to focus on critical thinking. Who We Serve: We are the first and only high school in Silicon Valley whose enrollment is limited to students from families at-or-below the poverty. We are committed to empowering underserved youth from our community to work, learn, lead and succeed!

More than 100,000 children live in poverty in the San Francisco Bay Area. Because low-income families are left with no choice other than the one their zip code gives them, these children are too often stuck in an education system that fails to educate them, or even keep them safe. The BASIC Fund provides a way out for thousands of children every year. Founded in 1998, we are privately funded and aim to broaden the educational opportunities for low-income children through scholarships to the PreK-8 school of their choice. The BASIC Fund currently supports more than 3,500 students attending 249 private schools each year. We are a non-sectarian organization: parents choose the school for their children, not the BASIC Fund. Having supported over 26,000 students so far, it is the largest non-sectarian scholarship organization in the U.S. and a partner of Childrens Scholarship Fund, a national coalition of scholarship organizations around the country. Scholarships are up to $2,750 per student/year, based on a sliding scale of household income and size. The students must be admitted to the school they choose, but there is otherwise no merit component. Once a family qualifies financially all siblings are included. Students receiving a BASIC Fund scholarship will continue to receive it through the 8th grade, regardless of when they began receiving the scholarship. The BASIC Fund also provides resources for families through our partnerships with other local organizations, these include vocational, after school programs, academic tutoring, mentoring and summer school options.

Data driven agriculture. We envision a world of next-era sustainability, where agriculture knowledge is powered by innovative hardware and artificial intelligence.

Five-Time Super Bowl Champion San Francisco 49ers. The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and joined the NFL in 1949 after the two leagues merged.

Cristo Rey San José is a Jesuit, Catholic high school that empowers students from underserved communities in San José to be people for others who are prepared spiritually, academically, and professionally to complete college, and who will become accomplished leaders committed to a lifelong pursuit of learning, faith, and justice. What Makes Us Different: The Cristo Rey Work Study Program: Every Cristo Rey student works one day each week in professional, administrative roles at partner organizations. In turn, the revenue they generate funds up to 50% of their tuition! Students receive professional training at school and are prepared to contribute at their workplace on day one. Current partners include CIsco, CBRE, Kaiser Permanente, and Hensel Phelps, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and 90+ more. Cutting Edge Learning: Cristo Rey San Jose's academic model uses cutting edge technology to adapt to individual student needs. Each student is given a Chromebook computer to aid instruction and use for online portals for their classes. Blended learning programs take over a lot of the remedial instruction allowing teachers to focus on critical thinking. Who We Serve: We are the first and only high school in Silicon Valley whose enrollment is limited to students from families at-or-below the poverty. We are committed to empowering underserved youth from our community to work, learn, lead and succeed!

Founded in 1851, Santa Clara University sits in the heart of Silicon Valley—the world’s most innovative and entrepreneurial region. The University’s stunningly landscaped 106-acre campus is home to the historic Mission Santa Clara de Asís. Ranked among the top 15 percent of national universities by U.S. News & World Report, SCU has among the best four-year graduation rates in the nation and is rated by PayScale in the top 1 percent of universities with the highest-paid graduates. SCU has produced elite levels of Fulbright Scholars as well as four Rhodes Scholars. With undergraduate programs in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, and graduate programs in six disciplines, the curriculum blends high-tech innovation with social consciousness grounded in the tradition of Jesuit, Catholic education.