A New Face and Renewed Promise at the CCA Foundation

A New Face and Renewed Promise at the CCA Foundation

Aurora is a special place. I feel truly privileged to be part of a community committed to providing all students – regardless of their zip code, background, age, or homeland – with the academic and career competencies they need to be successful in college and the competitive marketplace.

In our first newsletter, I want to share a little of my story and discuss the CCA Foundation promise.

During graduate school at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education, I began working at a large non-profit organization in the community of Watts. My experience in south central Los Angeles set my life’s course on fighting to end the educational achievement gap in underserved communities.   This passion has led me to serve in multiple nonprofit organizations in Los Angles, as well as a large community foundation and a public charter school in my hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Most recently, I led KIPP Tulsa College Preparatory, an open-enrollment, college preparatory, public charter school that is part of the national network of 183 KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) schools. My KIPP students, many of whom came to our school three grade levels behind in reading and math, taught me that through high expectations, excellent teaching, and hard work, every student could succeed.

Throughout this year, I will work with board members and college leadership to implement several strategies aimed at making college more accessible and affordable and at increasing the number of scholarship recipients that complete their degree within three years. Our promise to our donors and community partners is to not just invest in college access, but to invest in college success for every student.

This year, CCA Foundation will award more than $600,000 in scholarships and provide nearly $100,000 in program support to CCA programs such as diesel power mechanics, the Colorado Film School, STEM, health sciences, and the award-winning Model UN program. This level of support is only possible because of the generosity of hundreds of individuals, corporations, and foundations.  To those who have given during our first 20 years, thank you. Thousands of lives have been transformed because of your generosity.  However, there is much work for us to do over the next 20 years.

Through our newsletter and invitations to CCA events, I hope to keep you informed of the successes of our CCA students and faculty. To help me do that, please take 30 seconds and click the link below and ensure we have your updated contact information. Thank you.  CLICK HERE

— John Wolfkill, Executive Director