Meet our Grantee Grossmont College’s Office Professional Training Program

“Before coming to Grossmont College’s Office Professional Training Program (OPT), I did not have much experience in the world of education. Twice I tried going to college because that’s what everyone does in this society but I didn’t have much luck, mainly because I couldn’t see the benefits of it. I saw school as a waste of my time; I could have been working and earning an income for myself, not deteriorating in a classroom.

At the time I truly believed that a job was more important than an education because that is what was shown me. When my father was sober he would work, when he worked there was a roof over our head and food in the cupboards. But when dad drank he would lose his job and, in turn, lose everything else.

With a job comes money and with money comes a place to sleep, food to eat, and bills that get paid. This is what I knew because this is what was taught me and I was fine with that… until I had my two little girls.

Children have a strange way of changing everything. Suddenly I didn’t want the dead end job working weekends or the manual labor that gave me an injured knee at age 18. I didn’t want that anymore and, more importantly, I didn’t want my babies to have that.

OPT helped me to get away from that. The Office Professional Training Program gave me more than an education, it gave me the means and knowledge to break my father’s damaged cycle. This program helped me to grow as a person and showed me that I have the ability to achieve something significant.

Thanks to the OPT staff I am now working for G.S. Levine Insurance Services and learning the ins and outs of the company. My duties range from helping producers with prospects to managing phones. By way of this position I now have the means to give things to my family I never thought I could, like health insurance and college funds!

As a spouse I am doing my share to provide stability for my family. As a mother I am giving my girls a positive example of what an education can do. I’m proud of where I am in my life and I couldn’t have done it without OPT.”

-- Victoria Stewart, Graduate of Grossmont College’s Office Professional Training Program

The Grossmont College’s Office Professional Training (OPT) program serves unemployed individuals who have been laid off or home with family members or they’ve changed careers or need to start one. I spoke with Mary Leslie, the Lead Instructor of OPT about the program:

“They come to us to update their skills. We put them through one very intense semester where they take 7-9 classes learning Microsoft Office programs like Word and Excel as well as classes on Business English, effective job search, office procedures and keyboarding. Students choose to major in accounting, banking, insurance, or office support.”

Women Give San Diego has granted $15,500 for two years to help the Foundation for Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges support the Office Professional Training program, specifically to underwrite the salary of the program’s counselor, Laurel Klotz.

A key component to the program’s success is Laurel Klotz, who is a licensed Marriage and Family Counselor and has served as the Office Professional Training program’s counselor for over 12 years. Ms. Leslie comments: “We were lucky to find her”. Laurel meets with the students (both individually and as a group) regularly, providing personal/crisis counseling to help the students recognize and overcome barriers to their academic and employment success. She provides time management strategies to students who are often juggling a family, school, and unemployment. Depending on the students’ needs, Laurel connects her students to resources and outside agencies. Sometimes students need food for their family, transportation to and from school or childcare while they are taking classes. And sometimes they just need someone to talk to. Ultimately, Laurel’s help retains students in the program.

Although she thinks it sounds like a cliché, Mary Leslie really believes that:

“the program is not a hand out, it’s a hand up. If the students commit to this intensive program for one semester, they can really do anything. When people become unemployed, they lose their confidence. OPT helps them regain it.”

The OPT program not only provides them an education and necessary office skills, it prepares them emotionally for the workplace. As students receive good grades in their classes, they realize they are worthy and can make a difference for an employer. Through the program, they are introduced to new fields in the work world, ultimately setting them up to attain a career, not just another dead end job. Although many will still start in an entry level position, with their OPT education, they are able to excel to higher positions within this career, ultimately enabling them to achieve self-sufficiency for their families.

If you would like to get more involved with Grossmont College’s Office Professional Training program, you can participate in a number of upcoming events:

· Clothing Boutique on Saturday, April 21

· Walk-a-Thon on Saturday, May 5

· Graduation on Friday, June 1

Please contact Mary Leslie directly at: mary.leslie@gcccd.edu.

Meet Rosanne Holliday, our host for the April 19th Women GiveReception

Women Give San Diego will be hosting a Reception at the beautiful Del Mar home of Rosanne Holliday on Thursday, April 19^th in the evening, featuring Scripps College President, Lori Bettison-Varga.

I had the chance to chat with our host about her involvement with women and philanthropy. She is a role model for the next generation of young women - both in the workplace and in philanthropy.

Before she retired at the age of 57, Ms. Holliday held roles as a training consultant for Head Start in L.A., founder of a nursery school at Rady Children’s Hospital and professor at Southwestern College teaching child development. Her work has always been driven by her passion “children, mothers, teachers and women’s issues.”

She states: “I have always worked and have seen certain injustices as a woman.” During her time at Southwestern College, she became embroiled in a struggle with the president of the college over whether she could bring Katherine, her second child, and her baby sitter to work so that she could nurse and play with her during breaks. This struggle became national news. Although the College Board of Trustees passed a rule that no employee could have a minor child on campus while they were on duty, it was ultimately determined by the state hearing board that Katherine’s presence on campus had not affected her teaching negatively. Rosanne has truly been an advocate for working mothers.

When she finished her tenure at the college, she “didn’t want to fritter away the rest of my years,” so she got involved in the community by re-engaging with the Planned Parenthood Board. She first became involved with Planned Parenthood in the 1980’s and served as Board President from 1986-1988. At that time, she served on the education committee because it suited her background, but she migrated over to the fundraising committee because the real need was raising funds and it became her niche. She chaired the “Caring For the Future” $16 million capital campaign for Planned Parenthood resulting in fourteen new and renovated medical centers. Her family named the Holliday Family Administration Center in Mission Valley.

Rosanne is one of the Founding Members of Women and she joined because “Linda Katz asked me. And that was that.”

"I have had the pleasure of knowing Rosanne for nearly 30 years. She is everything I strive to be - gracious, caring, generous, straight forward and a great Mom and Grandma! Rosanne has been a wonderful mentor and friend - always willing to share her thoughts and best thinking on most anything. I feel so fortunate to consider Rosanne one of my dearest friends!"

~ Linda Katz, Co-Founder, Women Give San Diego

When I asked why Rosanne wanted to host a Women Give event with Scripps College, Rosanne said: “It’s a way of bringing two of my interests together.” Rosanne serves on the Board of Scripps College and works closely with the College’s President, Ms. Bettison-Varga, who she says is “really a star. Lori represents the College well because she is young, vivacious, down-to-earth and really bright. I just thought – gee – the members of Women Give should know more about Scripps College (and the Claremont Colleges) because they are helping to educate women for the future. These two things really go together.”

Please join Women Give on April 19^th at the home of Rosanne Holliday to hear from Scripps College President, Lori Bettison-Varga. To RSVP for the event and receive directions, please email Eugenia Garcia at eugenia@eugeniagarcia.com.

Meet our Grantee: Barrio Logan College Institute

As a teen girl, can you imagine dealing with issues like:

- My father thinks that college is only for my brother.

- My family’s aspirations for my career is to learn how to keep house, get married and raise a family.

- My family doesn’t want me to move away from home.

Barrio Logan College Institute (www.blci.org)developed Circulo de Mujeres, a gender specific support group for girls that meets weekly to discuss the challenges they are facing at home or in their community while expanding their future outlook with regards to education options and careers.

The mission of BLCI is to prepare students in Barrio Logan for academic success by offering academic support, building skills in weekly Steps to Success workshops, and by providing adequate resources that will build college knowledge. One of their programs is the College Success Pipeline, an afterschool college prep program from 3^rd grade through college completion that ensures the girls get the general resources they need to get to college and succeed there.

Women Give San Diego has granted $15,000 for two years to support both the Circulo de Mujeres and the portion of the College Success Pipeline that serves girls only.

The Circulo de Mujeres provides a necessary space for female students to explore personal and academic issues critical to their healthy development. This component specifically tackles issues that detract from girls’ educational and career goals, such as coping with the negative influences in the underserved communities where the girls reside.

This group allows these young women to express themselves and have someone to confide in.

The group discusses ideas like: What does it mean to have an education? What does it mean to move away from home?

One of the students, now a sophomore at High Tech High, was having problems at home pursuing her academic goals. Her mom approached the staff at Barrio Logan College Institute (BLCI) explaining that her husband was impeding her daughter’s academic goals by only allowing her brother to use the computer for homework. The father would also turn off the light in her bedroom while she was studying. Consequently, the young woman had to hide in the kitchen to do her homework.

The staff at BLCI intervened and let her borrow a laptop so she can complete her homework. Today, she has a 3.5 GPA while her brother is struggling with his grades. Although she is excelling in school, she is still not allowed to participate in BLCI field trips because her father will not grant her permission to leave the local area. Her father desires his daughter to have a traditional place in the home and learn from her grandma how to cook and keep house instead of going off to college. Ironically, grandma endorses the support of BLCI’s help in her granddaughter’s pursuit of a higher education understanding that staying at home will limit her ability to achieve her goals.

Through the Circulo de Mujeres, BLCI leverages their relationship with parents to break down stereotypes and expectations that limit opportunities for their girls, such as the expectation that women don’t need college, or if they go to college, they should live at home until they get married, thereby limiting their college options. They also address other gender stereotypes common in the Latino community that may limit girls’ career options. They expect this strategy to increase retention of girls in their pipeline while encouraging them to pursue higher paying, and sometimes non-traditional careers, particularly in math and science.

In March, the Mujeres talked about Women’s History Month and the limitations that women have had over time and how many more freedoms women have today. Each girl created her own timeline of when she will go to college, start a career, get married and have a family. Through this planning process, the girls recognized that in today’s world she has the ability to plan for these milestones in their life. Not so long ago, women did not create a timeline for them. Barrio Logan College Institute has provided resources and a path for these young women to achieve all they want in their lifetime despite the boundaries they are experiencing through their family, culture or community.

BLCI finds it very important to provide their students with positive role models. As part of the Circulo de Mujeres, they invite female guest speakers to share their stories with their young women. They envision members of WGSD participating as guest speakers at the Circulo de Mujeres providing a great opportunity for the students to learn from local San Diego women and their higher education and professional experiences. There will also be opportunities for Women Give members to become mentors to these young women. If you are interested in being a guest speaker or mentor, please contact Tanya via email: Tanyam@blci.org or call: ext. 107