Students Rising Above

This year, my team and I are focused on conducting bite-size trainings to enhance our data discussions at SRA. Today, we had a productive Lunch and Learn session on storytelling with data, where staff practiced developing the "story" of their programs through data. Our staff is eager to implement more accountability measures within their teams, exactly where our team wants to take our organization next year. We talked about metrics, KPIs, types of data we could look at from industry research, and data we could collect in-house. I'm excited to kick off the week with this data-driven energy. Wishing everyone a productive and data-filled week ahead! 📊 #data #dataineducation #storytellingwithdata

📢 Update on Mentoring Volunteer Opportunities We are excited to announce that the following mentoring opportunities have been filled: 🎨 Graphic Design and/or Motion Graphic Design 🎸 Music Business & Entertainment 💻 Product Design and/or UX/UI Design 🍎 Research in Education or Higher Education 🏥 Physician Assistant Thank you for the incredible support from our LinkedIn community in helping our scholars at Students Rising Above. Although these specific positions are currently filled, we encourage you to complete the volunteer application https://lnkd.in/d2pn25A8 for future opportunities. We are always looking for mentors to guide and support our scholars. At this time, we are actively seeking mentors in 👩⚕️💉😁 Dentistry & 💆♂️ 🧠 🌿 Licensed Social Work & Therapy. Hi LinkedIn Community, I’m Lom (he/him), a College and Career Advisor at Students Rising Above, a nonprofit helping underrepresented students succeed in their college and career journeys. 🌟 Currently, we are looking for mentors in the following fields: - Dentist  - Physician Assistant  - Graphic Design and/or Motion Graphic Design  - Music Business & Entertainment  - Licensed Therapist or Social Worker  - Product Design and/or UX/UI Design - Research in Education or Higher Ed. If you know anyone in your network who might be interested in becoming a mentor, please let me know! The program requires a minimum commitment of three 30-minute virtual one-on-one meetings between late October through May to mentor students in our 2024-2025 New Grad Mentoring Program. The commitment is minimal—just three 30-minute virtual meetings between late October through May—but the impact on a graduating student's career journey can be huge! If you or someone in your network is interested, please reach out to me directly for more details. Referrals are greatly appreciated! For more information and resources, please see the following links: SOAR New Grad Mentor Program One-Pager https://lnkd.in/gE-c8ev4

I’m so grateful to have attended the EdTrust-West Education Equity Forum this week. A huge thank you to the Ed Trust West team and Christopher J. Nellum for organizing such an impactful event. It was a powerful opportunity to connect with passionate, kind, and intentional people dedicated to transforming our public school system. I left feeling hopeful — hopeful that if we continue to show up, listen, work together, and have the hard conversations, real change will come. I’m also endlessly grateful for the work I get to do at Students Rising Above, where I get to collaborate with incredible colleagues, donors, volunteers, and community partners, to drive this important mission forward. We can’t do this work alone. Special shout-out to Rise East for the amazing collective impact work you’re doing — cheering you on! #EdEquityForum2024

Seeking Healthcare Professionals for Mentorship Opportunity! Hi LinkedIn Community, I’m Lom (he/him), a College and Career Advisor at Students Rising Above, a nonprofit helping underrepresented students succeed in their college and career journeys. We’re looking for volunteers in the healthcare field - especially Nursing, to mentor students in our 2024-2025 New Grad Mentoring Program. The commitment is minimal—just three 30-minute virtual meetings between late October through May—but the impact on a graduating student's career journey can be huge! If you or someone in your network is interested, please reach out to me directly for more details. Referrals are greatly appreciated!

I am thrilled to share that this past May, I graduated summa cum laude from Occidental College with a BA in Politics, and double minors in Urban and Environmental Policy, and Critical Theory and Social Justice. I undertook an original research project analyzing two interrelated, yet sometimes adversarial, social movements: Labor and Black Liberation. My senior comprehensive was awarded distinction in my department, and involved a close examination of the writings of James Boggs and CLR James—two influential intellectuals and activists. In completing this 45-page theory-building research paper, titled “American Labor and/or Black Liberation: A Historical Materialist Reconsideration of the Boggs-James Debate,” I delved into the importance of coalition building amongst the working class. I am deeply grateful for the experiences I had while at Occidental College. Over the past four years, I not only engaged in rigorous academic study but also gained extensive public service experience. At Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, I contributed to policy research that resulted in a widely cited published report on Fareless Transit. I spent a semester in Philadelphia, volunteering full-time as a political organizer with UNITE HERE Local 274, where I successfully campaigned for three Democratic candidates–and helped flip the state legislature from red to blue for the first time in over a decade. As a legal intern with Public Counsel, I researched vending-related ordinances and worked directly with LA street vendors to reduce their fines. I organized with the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy on their Tourism Workers Rising campaign. My role at LAANE involved developing methodology for conducting power analyses and organizing Neighborhood Councils, Democratic Clubs, and students to support a living wage ordinance for LA tourism workers. A graduation announcement would be incomplete without mentioning Rising Occidental Student Employees. Over the past 8 months, what began as a small group of student employees blossomed into a wall-to-wall union with over 1,200 members. As a lead organizer, this has been the hardest I’ve ever worked. After an NLRB election at the end of May, we WON OUR UNION with a supermajority on June 13th. This fall, students will begin collectively bargaining their contract as members of SEIU 721. Stay tuned for more updates! These achievements were made possible by the immense support of my family, mentors, and community. I am especially grateful to Students Rising Above and Oakland Promise for helping make my college dreams a reality. A heartfelt thank you to Professors Martha Matsuoka, Regina Freer, and Peter Dreier for challenging me to excel both in and out of the classroom. A very special shout out to ROSE, for expanding what I believed myself to be capable of! Thank you to my family, friends, and Occidental staff and faculty for four unforgettable, life-changing years. I look forward to sharing what comes next!