Graduate Support
A 12 Year Commitment
Our Graduate Support Program (GSP) team begins their commitment as fifth-graders enter our middle school program. The GSP offers 12 years+ of support, starting in middle school, continuing in high school, and college to ensure that each student gains access to the opportunities that they deserve.
During its 12-year commitment, the GSP team provides mentoring and targeted academic, social-emotional, financial, and career support to alumnae of all ages. Founded on the importance of celebrating the identities and educational journeys of our students and graduates, GSP centers partnership with the student's family, secondary schools, colleges, benefactors, and community partners.
Our program team walks alongside graduates as they navigate these journeys by providing resources and programming and celebrating their successes as first-generation students long after they have graduated from Esperanza Academy. This allows each student to be prepared to succeed in high school and college, and ultimately, disrupt the cycle of poverty in their families.
We are proud that 100% of our graduates complete high school. Many enroll and complete their postsecondary education, at two-year and four-year institutions, or explore alternative vocational paths.
Graduate Support Program - Middle School
Our program aims to:
Help all middle school students explore their values, identities, strengths, and interests with their high school and college goals.
Place all rising eighth-graders in summer academic enrichment programs that will better prepare them for high school and expose them to the admissions process
Assist our students in finding the best fit secondary schools, ones that will meet their individual needs and talents, by providing parent education about schools and reviewing each student's profile.
Offer various opportunities for interview practice, essay-writing workshops, and extensive financial aid counseling to parents.
Facilitate the application process from start to finish and provide financial aid assistance to families for successful enrollment.
Graduate Support Program - High School
Our program aims to:
Offer support and advocacy when graduates encounter academic and social-emotional challenges related to their secondary school experience and provide financial aid support.
Serve as a liaison and interpreter between secondary school staff and students and their families, and work closely with secondary school staff to identify challenges and generate action plans/supplemental support.
Work closely with counselors, teachers, and support staff as we monitor students' progress tracking grades and conducting student visits.
Deliver financial literacy training to graduates and their families, particularly as it pertains to student loans and college acceptance letters and guidance to apply to scholarship programs.
Maintain the Graduate Support lounge at Esperanza as a safe and brave space for students to process their high school experiences and stay connected to the Esperanza Academy community.
Graduate Support Program - College & Career Readiness
Our program aims to:
Provide academic support, professional mentoring, financial literacy, and access to internship and employment opportunities through our Esperanza network and community partnerships.
Connect graduates with local resources and critical support networks that offer comprehensive guidance for first-generation low-income students such as student diversity groups, multicultural associations, and leadership opportunities.
Develop and deliver programming grounded in empowerment, self-advocacy, and justice, encouraging graduates to persist, grow, and be prepared for life transitions
Meet The Team
Viviana Cordero Garcia, Chief Alumni Success Officer
What is your role at Esperanza and what do you do?
In many ways, my role at Esperanza is my best one yet. I am able to use the skills, knowledge, networks, and community empowerment processes that I gained in my previous roles in educational non-profits and higher education institutions to provide support and celebrate our girls for their community cultural wealth, as described by scholar Tara J. Yosso. I love being a part of the Esperanza team because I am not doing this work alone—and we know social justice work is collaborative at its core.
Through our Graduate Support Program’s 12-year commitment to all girls, my team and I provide socio-emotional and academic support for all our students and graduates. This is a big responsibility that I do not take lightly. I am motivated to continue this work by the students themselves and their families.
What inspires your work?
My commitment to creating more inclusive spaces and more positive student experiences has been strengthened throughout these two years at Esperanza. It has been strengthened through every conversation, call, text, hug, and through my experience of living and working in Lawrence, a place that, much like my beautiful Jackson Heights in Queens, NY, is full of immigrants, light, resilience, and hope. And, there is nothing more beautiful than being part of a community that perseveres.
If you could have a picnic with anyone, who would that be?
Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez would be my dream picnic partner. We would each grab a bacon, egg, and cheese from a corner bodega, and then talk about local Queens and Bronx politics and community activism, about what it means to be the youngest woman ever to serve in the United States Congress, and end with a “yurrr.”