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Organized out-of-school time (OST) activities are critical assets that help youth develop life and social skills. Latine youth have some of the lowest rates of participation in OST activities out of all racial and ethnic subgroups due to structural and interpersonal barriers that perpetuate and reproduce patterns of inequality. The purpose of the current study was to describe a youth-led, community-driven, sport-based positive youth development program, the Los Angeles Football Club Youth Leadership Program, and examine associations with participation across three levels: (1) alumni's enrollment and employment outcomes; (2) youth leaders' outcomes (e.g. pre- and postprogram surveys); and (3) outputs of the program's community outreach efforts (e.g. demographics and outputs associated with youth-led community-based activities). Drawing on the study's findings, authors argue that this program describes an emergent "ladder to leadership" model that can guide community engagement through the delivery of culturally responsive programming and the use of sport to support social–emotional learning during OST. These findings contribute to an important discussion of how to leverage sport to address issues of access and equity during OST for Latine youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A legacy project was launched in 2016 to research, capture, and record the history and voice of Kaiser Foundation School of Nursing alumni. The inspirational stories of these early nursing pioneers emerged within a disruptive and innovative health care system known as Kaiser Permanente. Led by a doctorally prepared nurse director, the new school boldly rejected the dominant social norms of the 1940s by welcoming minorities and offering an unprecedented curriculum that prioritized prevention, health promotion, and wellness over conventional institutionalized sick care models. Kaiser Foundation School of Nursing alumni became Kaiser Permanente’s earliest nurse leaders, educators, and care advocates. They helped revolutionize the key concepts of integrated patient care. As early innovators, many graduates pursued advanced degrees and were instrumental in defining expanded nursing roles, including the introduction of nurse practitioners in California. How Kaiser Foundation School of Nursing transcended the traditions and cultural norms of the day offers a reflective narrative on the enduring leadership attributes of disruptive innovation and the nurse executive’s role in reimagining care for future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education continues to be an elusive social space for too many children and youth in the United States foster care system. Yet a four-year pilot project in California has demonstrated that former foster youth can surmount the detrimental effects of childhood adversity to complete their undergraduate degrees and, with additional preparation, advance to graduate degree programs. Building on the success of campus support programs throughout the state, the Guardian Professions Program (GPP) at the University of California Davis employed a research and implementation framework based on Participatory Action Research (PAR) and made use of surveys, qualitative interviews and ethnographic data to develop the model. In this article the authors describe and analyze the GPP, an initiative that pioneered the use of online technology to assist seventy-four former foster youth successfully gain a level of educational success that is not often associated with this demographic. Not all children and youth who are involved in the child welfare system will have the interest or determination to pursue a university education and undertake an advanced degree. However, services and academic assistance for those students who have the aptitude can promote higher education as a path to achievement and self-sufficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

California State University (CSU) system campuses, with few exceptions, have achieved lower alumni participation rates than peer institutions. This study determined the status of alumni giving at public comprehensive institutions, examined relevant indicators of performance from alumni fundraising, and examined institutional factors associated with achieving greater alumni giving at public comprehensive institutions. Public institutions seek external support for an ever-growing share of their total budgets. Public comprehensive colleges and universities are moving to increase their involvement and effectiveness in fund-raising activities. Driving this move is a decreasing reliance on state revenue flows and a desire to lessen the perceived quality gap of students, faculty, and capital resources that favors private and more “elite” public institutions. Of the major potential sources of support, the natural affinity group of alumni has not always been ready, willing, and able to answer the call of their public alma mater. Interviews were conducted with 36 of the 40 key individuals at the top four CSU and top four peer institutions. Evident is the rather insignificant role the alumni played in achieving fundraising success at the CSU campuses. The interviews shed light on specific key factors that contributed to greater success with alumni and support the philosophy of Alumni-in-Training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]