Welcome to our 2022-23 Annual Report
Celebrating Our Trailblazers
This annual report is dedicated to Access Opportunity’s students and supporters. Welcome to this celebration of our collective work over the last year. Thank you for being a part of it.
Forging Our Own Paths…
…THROUGH COLLEGE & CAREER
Dear Community,
What does it mean to be the first? A first generation student? A trailblazer?
Colorado is a frontier state within a nation of immigrants. Our community was born of trailblazers. Access Opportunity students share the bravery, the resilience, and the ingenuity of the pioneers, the immigrants, the dreamers.
While our students often go first for their families in pursuing new pathways, they draw strength from having come from earlier trailblazers, and from the traditions and values imparted by these predecessors.
In this year’s annual report, we celebrate our Access Opportunity students and all of you, striving, growing, and cultivating new selves and communities.
With my best wishes,
Yuri Shane
Executive Director/Co-Founder
Reaching New Heights
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2022-2023 SCHOOL YEAR
Click on the arrows to explore our Peaks!
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Peak 1: Alumni Engagement
Our growing alumni network supported Access Opportunity in incredible ways, as workshop facilitators, event speakers, and donors, demonstrating their commitment to current future generations of Access Opportunity students.
“Attending AO events as an alumni is such a full-circle moment. I remember when I attended these events as a student and dreamed of one day holding a career like the people we interacted with. I didn’t realize how soon that day would be. I feel deeply grateful for the people who helped get me to where I am today, and now it's my turn to give back to this community.”
— Itzel, Class of 2022
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Peak 2: Policy Changes
A group of student leaders collaborated closely with program staff to provide valuable input and feedback on our scholarship policies, which allowed us to make important changes that prioritize inclusivity, equity, and responsiveness to students' needs.
“What I enjoyed and appreciated most about being a part of the scholarship policy working group was the incredible sense of empowerment it provided. Our ideas and our voices were embraced. When we engaged with our counselors, the affirmation of ‘we hear you’ genuinely reinforced the notion that this program belonged to all of us.”
— Ivan R., Class of 2026
Fresh Faces
Fresh Stories
Our 2023-24 Student Ambassadors
Student Ambassadors are selected by our program team to represent the student community. Each of these individuals have demonstrated strong leadership and communication skills and they are passionate advocates for Access Opportunity.
Ananda
Harvard University
Class of 2024/College Senior
“It is not always easy doing something people in your community are unfamiliar with. Still, I learned that it is necessary to show our community members that achievements like these are possible for us.”
Jackie
University of Colorado Denver
Class of 2025/ College Junior
“In AO, students like me (first-gen and low-income) have a place to thrive and someone to hold their hands in scary moments when we have no one else. AO is amazing to be a part of because we are paving our own roads, but it doesn't mean we are alone.”
Abel
Boston College
Class of 2026/College Sophomore
“My parents' excitement [when I got into college] was huge. Their support alongside the support I received from the rest of my extended family made me feel so proud of myself.”
Gloria
Colorado State University
Class of 2027/College First-Year
“My parents didn't have the opportunity to go to college but they have a daughter who made it because of them and the support systems she had. Knowing that my parents didn't go to college made getting accepted to CSU even more special.”
Samantha
Pinnacle Charter High School
Class of 2028/High School Senior
“I'm excited to pave my own career path that is different from what others in my family have done. I'm determined to inspire others like me to make their dreams come true.”
Diego
Academy High School
Class of 2029/High School Junior
“Being accepted into Access Opportunity boosted my confidence in my ability to get accepted to college. I now see college as only the first step towards achieving my dreams.”
What We Believe In
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to create opportunities for high-potential students from low-income households to define their individual path through high school, college, and career, ultimately benefiting the lives of others.
OUR VISION
Equity in opportunity for all students.
OUR FUTURE
We are building something impactful and longstanding. The momentum we have built sets the stage for our students to change the future.
Our Program
Being a Trailblazer requires support. With your help, we’ve got them covered.
As our students navigate the college and career process, we guide them and their families through a long-term, student-informed approach that respects students’ experiences and is responsive to their needs. Our individualized approach allows us to best serve each student’s unique needs and provide support and resources in the ways that matter most to them. Over a six-year period, we focus on:
Individualized college and career counseling
Social-emotional learning
Academic skills development
Community-building
Network and social capital development
Family engagement
HOLISTIC & COLLABORATIVE APPROACH
Access Opportunity is a college and career prep program, but our holistic model goes beyond achievement to incorporate student leadership and social-emotional support. Our goal is to inspire our students to develop their own vision that is bigger than college attainment and aimed at making a positive impact on their communities.
We collaborate directly with students to inform program-related decisions and policies, lead workshops and meetings for their peers, and create content for our communications channels. We believe that a critical piece of helping students define and hold a personal vision is to engage them as partners in programming.
Learn More
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Learn More ~
Our Students
Access Opportunity serves high-potential students from low-income households in Colorado.
In 2022-23, we served 100 students from 11th grade through college graduation, and 408 family members.
RACE & ETHNICITY
STATISTICS
IMPACT
Access Opportunity students are changing the trajectory for themselves, their families, and their communities. They are reaching goals that, because of the number of barriers, only a small percentage of other first-generation college students achieve. We are there every step of the way to help them navigate through college and toward a meaningful career.
In 2022-23, we served 14 alumni. After graduating from the program, they returned throughout the year to help support and advise their younger peers by volunteering, donating, and sharing their experiences.
AO ALUMNI POST-GRADUATION
PLANS 2020-2023
INCOME
MEDIAN STARTING INCOME FOR AO ALUMS
$52,500
compared to
MEDIAN INCOME FOR AO FAMILIES*
$35,614
*Average household size of 4 people
“Access Opportunity has enabled me to fulfill my goals of not only getting into college but becoming the first person in my family to complete it. From the first workshop held, I found a family of people with similar backgrounds and an industrious mindset, ready to tackle anything that came their way in order to achieve greatness. Without Access Opportunity, I would not have received the test scores I got, gotten into the college I attended, or gotten my first ever internship. In addition to these contributions, Access Opportunity helped me grow my network of people who I will carry with me forever.”
Celebrating Community
We are deeply grateful for our community of supporters, partners, staff, and volunteers. We have so much gratitude for the rich diversity of skills, experiences, and knowledge this community brings to Access Opportunity. Thank you for inspiring us and we look forward to continuing to learn from each other this year and beyond.
Featured Partners
DiversityWorks Group
“Opportunity is often associated with access – in this case, access to the network of people who know about opportunities and can sometimes help you get in the door. Not everyone has those critical networks, and Access Opportunity helps bridge that gap allowing me and others to leverage our networks to help these students the same way I helped my own kids.”
— PAM JEFFORDS
DiversityWorks Group Founder + Managing Partner
StandUp
“I love our work with the young people in Access Opportunity! We have talked about belonging, building and breaking trust, what support looks like for each of them, and much more. I come in and have conversations with different groups about how some of these concepts come up in their daily lives. It is so beautiful to see them tackle a subject they either thought they knew for sure or have never thought about at all.”
— ERIC GOLDEN
StandUp Facilitator and Coach
Make a Difference ☀
Thank you, to our community, for your generous gifts of time, expertise, and financial support. Your support helps us guide our students through the journey of a lifetime, ultimately allowing them to reach new heights and make their families and communities proud.