1. Alisa France, Ashley Pallie, Steph Gonzalez, Taaha Mohamedali
Partnering for Persistence
Supporting First-Generation & Low-Income Students from Recruitment through Graduation
Alisa France, Ashley Pallie, Steph Gonzalez, Taaha Mohamedali

3. “Netbreaker” Warm-Up
Four Corners

4. The Opportunity Network Alisa France, Program Manager, College Success
About The Opportunity Network
The Opportunity Network (OppNet) works with students from historically and systematically underrepresented communities in developing their skills, knowledge, and passions to achieve their college and career goals. We honor the identities and embrace the power of each member of our community.
The Program
High school (11th & 12th Grade)
Fellows participate in weekly after-school sessions and special workshops covering all four pillars of our Career Fluency® curriculum.
We also provide our students with intensive college application guidance, including overnight college trips, group workshops, SAT tutoring and extensive one-on-one counseling.
College
In-depth check-ins with Fellows during the semester, hold workshops during summer and winter breaks, and helps to connect Fellows to one another through our peer mentoring program.
Career Exposure & Success
Every summer, Fellows hold paid internships or participate in enrichment or travel programs, leaving our program with robust resumes and lifelong networks of support.

5. NETWORKS AND SOCIAL CAPITAL COLLEGE ACCESS AND SUCCESS
OppNet’s Approach
CAREER EXPOSURE
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
CAREER FLUENCY®
   
NETWORKS AND SOCIAL CAPITAL
COLLEGE ACCESS AND SUCCESS
Approach
The Opportunity Network’s Career Fluency® curriculum is designed to guide high-potential high school students to college and career success. Career Fluency® differs from other college and career development curricula in its emphasis on personal and professional networks and the importance of social capital in navigating college and the professional world.

13. Pomona College
I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.
-Stephen Jay Gould, The Panda’s Thumb

14. 10 Year Strategic Plan for Diversity

15. Demography of Pomona College
Small, liberal arts college
1,628 students
50% domestic SOC
27% underrepresented students of color
~20% first-generation
~21% Pell-eligible

22. 2,186 Undergraduates 17% first-generation college students
20% Pell-Eligible
% Q1-3
45 states and 93 countries represented on campus
74 languages spoken by Williams students
42 religious traditions
"It would be no small advantage if every college
were thus located at the base of a mountain."
—Henry David Thoreau, visiting Williams in 1844

23. Partnering with Student Affairs
Inclusion & Student Support
Dean’s Office
Summer Transitions
Summer Programs
Dean for First-Generation Students
First-Generation Pre-Orientation
Diversity Action Research Team (DART)
“Think tank” that uses data to better understand emerging issues of diversity and inclusion and propose institutional strategies to facilitate our continued commitment to building a community where all can live, learn, and thrive.
Progression in Majors Project
Expansion of Summer Bridge Programs and Pre-Orientation

24. Admission: Application Reading

26. Admission: Application Reading & Selection
Environmental Context Dashboard
Provides supplemental information
Any data on environmental context merely suggests certain aspects of the school and community environment to which individual students were likely exposed.
It is not designed to substitute firsthand knowledge of the applicant or specific information in the application.
Committees by Institutional Priority
First-Generation
Low-Income
ECD > 70 invitation to Summer Programs and Pre-Orientation

27. Partnering with CBOs & High Schools
Travel Stipends for Visits to Campus
Windows on Williams (WOW) Counselor Program
Pilot programming off-campus
Liberal Arts Colleges in Chicago
College Access Round Tables

28. Conversation: How do you collaborate across the desk?

29. The Opportunity Network, College Success Program Manager
Alisa France
The Opportunity Network, College Success Program Manager
Ashley Pallie
Pomona College, Associate Dean
Steph Gonzalez
Williams College, Associate Director of Admission
Taaha Mohamedali
The Academy Group, Director of College Thrive