(film reel clattering) - Welcome to today's briefing organized by the Ethnic Media Services and California Black Media.

If you all don't know, I'm Regina Brown Wilson, executive director of California Black Media.

As the fall semester gets underway, some 3,200 students are starting their first academic career as a College Corps Fellows at one of the 46 colleges and universities across our state.

Launched by Governor Newsom in 2021, this program, which you can find online, represents the first and largest state level investment in a college service program in the country.

Students will receive up to $10,000 for completing a year of service in their communities.

Including tutoring and mentoring in middle schools, working in local food banks and addressing climate change.

Our first speaker will talk to you about the vision that inspired the program, how it works, who's eligible and how to apply.

And, where students will do their community service.

So now, I will turn it over to you, Mr. Josh Fryday!

- Thank you so much for the introduction and for having us today, Sandy, as always.

Thank you for convening us and bringing us together for important conversations facing our community and our state.

And, I really appreciate everyone's time today, to really talk about something that's extraordinary and special for the state of California.

And, ultimately we hope, for the country.

The governor, as you heard, swore in over 3,200 students, across the state of California, that are participating in a brand new program.

And, you're gonna hear from a couple of those students.

And, I'm gonna keep my remarks short 'cause it's most important you hear from them.

They're very inspiring.

We're inspired by them.

And, it's why we're doing this.

Because, we know that our country and our state, is facing a student debt crisis.

We also know that we have serious issues to tackle.

We're facing climate change, food insecurity and also education disparities, especially coming out of COVID, with the learning loss that we're seeing in real time, with especially our low-income and disadvantaged students.

And, we also are at a time when we know our country's divided, when we feel more polarized than ever.

And we see people, really as the governor talked about, seeking belonging, seeking community, wanting to feel connected to each other.

And so, we launched the Californians for All College Corps with the idea of really being able to address all of these issues at once.

And, that's what makes this program so extraordinary.

And, such a leading program for the country.

Because we've created what we see really as a "win-win-win."

We've created a win where we've given young people, like Wendi and Ali, that you're gonna hear from, the opportunity to earn $10,000 to put towards their education.

We've created the opportunity for them to serve and have an impact and to see their value to our state and to their communities.

But, to also build a really important professional skills social network, social capital; the things that are gonna be necessary for them as they launch their career.

We also know that they're gonna be doing extraordinarily meaningful work in the community, that makes it a win for our communities.

So, for instance, we're gonna be hearing from Debbie, who runs one of the, not just the biggest and one of the most impressive food banks in the state of California.

But, one of the biggest and most impressive in the country.

And, we're gonna have fellows, young people, who are going to be providing really meaningful capacity support to her food bank and food banks across the state, as well as other organizations addressing food insecurity.

And then, we also know that we're gonna have people, as I mentioned, in school districts doing tutoring and mentoring and a variety of other work.

But, it's also a win for all of society.

And, all of our state.

Because these young people are gonna now, graduate.

We are gonna have a new generation of Californians who will graduate equipped with the tools and the experience of understanding how to work with people from different backgrounds and different perspectives, to solve problems together.

And, these-- we don't have enough of those experiences in our society anymore.

And so, it's-- so, we find ourselves divided and polarized, and disconnected.

And so, we've created a program that we really think is gonna help students.

It's gonna help the community and it's gonna help all of society.

And, that's why Governor Newsom is so proud of it.

That's why he called it one of the things he's most proud of in his administration.

That's why he's invested so much into this program, to ensure that it's available to thousands of young people.

It's also partnering with [audio distorts] 46 universities across the state of California.

And, that includes UCs, CSUs, community colleges and some private schools.

And so, it's really an extraordinary public-private partnership.

Our young people are gonna be serving at over 600 community organizations throughout the state.

That's organizations like the FIND Food Bank, climate organizations, school districts.

So, this is a full partnership of the entire state of California: state government, universities and colleges.

And, community nonprofits coming together to create opportunity and really tackle and start to solve some of our biggest challenges.

So, I just want to-- I'll just maybe close with a couple points that we're also extremely proud of.

As we discussed last time we were all together, this is the first state service program of its kind that is including a population that too often has been excluded from these kinds of opportunities.

And, we were very intentional about ensuring that for the first time in a state program like this, that we were able to include our AB 540 California Dream Act students.

And, we are so proud that with this class of 3,200 over 500 of the participating students are "dreamers"; are California Dream Act students.

And, we just wanna make sure that it's loud and clear to this population that we value you, we believe in you and we know what you will contribute to our society.

And, we're gonna create opportunities to support you.

And, that's really important to the governor.

It's really important to California Volunteers.

And, it's really important to the future of California.

And then, maybe I'll just end by saying a thank you.

A thank you to you all, honestly.

Because last time we were together, we were talking about the idea, the concept of this program and how we needed to recruit for members to be able to join and be a part of the program.

And, because of our-- because of efforts including with your support in educating communities about this opportunity, we received nearly 10,000 applications for the 3,200 slots.

Meaning, we had nearly about three applications for every slot.

And, as a result of the outreach efforts that took place across the state, including with ethnic media outlets, including with a lot of Spanish TV reaching parents who are very, very influential in talking to their kids, and their nephews and their nieces, and their grandkids, about this opportunity.

We're so proud, that in this first cohort of College Corps members, more than 80% of the class are self-identified students of color.

So, let's just think about that.

In the state of California, more than 80% of our class are self-identified students of color who will be receiving $10,000 which for a Pell Grant student, is the gap that they have to come up with by either going into debt or by working.

So, I had to work as a Pell Grant student cleaning golf carts.

Others have to work at a coffee shop or somewhere else.

Now, those students are gonna be receiving the amount that they need to cover school while also gaining critical skills and contributing to our communities and our state and our society in a really significant way.

So, we're very proud of this program.

It truly is something that's unique to California.

But, we hope it doesn't stay unique.

We think this is an extraordinary program, an opportunity that we hope spreads across the country.

Every state should have a College Corps.

And, we should be creating these opportunities for young people all over our country.

So with that, I'm gonna close and hand it back to Regina.

But, happy to answer any and all questions.

And, just appreciate all of your attention and time on this exciting program.

(reads chat) - How many students applied for the fellowship and how were the winners selected?

And then, the second part of that question is can students reapply if they weren't selected this year?

- Yes!

So, absolutely they can reapply.

We encourage them to reapply.

So as mentioned, we received three applications for every slot.

We received nearly 10,000 applications across the state.

Which I think demonstrates the desire of this generation to wanna contribute, to wanna serve, to wanna create change in their communities.

They wanna make a difference.

And, with this program, they can.

So, we saw enormous interest.

It was very competitive to be accepted.

And, the students were chosen by their campus.

So each of our 46 partners, campuses that are engaged in the program, were responsible for choosing the students through a competitive application process.

And, because this program right now is funded through 2026, through the end of the governor's first term, we absolutely want those who weren't able to participate this year to apply again.

And, we hope we get as many young people who are interested, as plenty as possible.

(reads chat) - Next question is, are there other states contacting you about the program?

Is this a model?

- Yes.

I have talked to other states about the program.

Generally their sentiment is 'we wish we had what California has 'and had the investment that the governor and the legislature has made.'

But, listen; every state is dealing with the student debt crisis.

Every state is dealing with food insecurity, and learning loss and climate change.

And, I think-- and every state's dealing with the polarization that we see.

So, we're very confident that this is a model that other states can and should adopt in the future.

(reads chat) - Why is the community service component so important?

- Yeah.

It's important for a few reasons.

One is we know we have real challenges facing our state.

So, California needs these young people to help create change, to make a difference.

We know we're facing an existential climate crisis, learning loss coming out of COVID, food insecurity, growing inequality.

We know we have big issues and the governor feels very strongly that we need to create opportunities for people to take action.

And, this is an opportunity for them to do so.

We also know that, and we hope to inspire a generation of young people that find themselves in service.

And, find their purpose in life through this program.

Whether it's purpose because they decide they wanna become a teacher, they decide they wanna go work and be like Debbie and work at a food bank one day.

Or, they just decide-- they just realize the power of service and the power of giving back.

And, they take that with them for the rest of their life.

California needs those kinds of leaders.

And then, finally, we really think this program is gonna play a critical role in helping bring our communities together and helping people feel more connected to each other and less polarized.

So, we view this as having multiple benefits that are absolutely critical for the vision of California that the governor has.

- Thank you, Mr. Fryday.

And so, we'll go into our students, who I think everybody here wants to hear from; to hear the students and what they've been doing so far and what they're looking forward to.

So, thank you for your remarks.

Our next speaker is Ali Alani, a student fellow at UC-San Diego.

Mr. Alani, go ahead!

- Thank you, Regina.

Thank you everyone for having me.

Today, I would like to talk about my journey towards College Corps.

First, I would like to start with talking a little bit about my background.

I was born in Syria and was educated in Saudi Arabia.

I've not been to Syria over 10 years, due to the civil war that's happening.

My family and I immigrated to the United States almost three years ago.

I was 16 when I moved here and I attended my senior year of high school in San Diego, as well.

The transition was a period full of lessons and experiences for me.

When I moved to the United States, it was at the peak of the pandemic.

So, there was a lot of uncertainty and change in many different aspects of life.

In terms of school, I transitioned into a new school and a new education-- the online system.

So, I was also working as a barista at Starbucks during my time in high school.

And then, it was also the time for college applications.

So, my first year was really helped me to get to where I am now.

I'm a second year student at UC-San Diego, majoring in computer engineering and minoring in entrepreneurship and innovation.

During my first year at UC-San Diego, I worked as a house manager and I worked as a software engineering intern over the summer at a startup.

I was also taking classes.

I found out about College Corps through an email from my campus.

I've always had an interest in teaching and mentoring.

I've discovered this interest through, basically, helping my classmates and friends and having discussions.

So, I was really interested in the program but I didn't know much about the program, since it was its first year for UCSD and for the program.

I really think the College Corps program is great, as it benefits a lot of people.

And, it benefits many of them in many different ways.

It benefits college students like me, as it helped me focus on my education, while supporting me to pay for my college.

And, it also helped tackle problems and deficiencies in many different areas with issues like education, climate change, food insecurity.

(snuffs nose) My focus will be in the education in the San Diego Unified School District, specifically the AVID program where I will tutor and mentor students.

After the switch to online school and back to in-person, many students need help with adjusting and getting ready again to learn in a classroom.

So, my goal with College Corps is to leave a positive impact and inspire students to achieve their goals, as well as learn personally by helping the students.

As Mr. Fryday said, [audio distorts] there's a big learning loss in our schools and communities.

So, I'm looking forward to helping the students excel academically and leave a positive impact, as I believe teachers can have a huge impact on students' lives.

I've personally had teachers who inspired me and really motivated me to achieve my goals and get to where I am today.

So, I'd like to do the same and inspire students to achieve their goals and pursue higher education.

In the swearing-in ceremony on Friday, Governor Newsom said something that I really liked about how decisions plant seeds and those create conditions for success.

So, I can really relate that to my work that I'll be doing this year as a fellow in the College Corps program, as I will facilitate conditions for success of students and help them pursue their goals in higher education.

So, I'm looking forward to that.

I'm currently still training to get into the AVID program, in the-- [audio distorts] training program.

And, in a couple of weeks, I'll be starting at the schools and helping out with teachers and students.

- Can you tell us a little bit about, you know, the Syrian immigrants and refugees in California and how they're doing?

Not that you speak for everyone.

But, I don't know if, you know, if there's a connection with community that you would wanna share with everyone.

- Sure, yeah!

So, at UCSD, there's .

community that I found, I haven't found a lot of Syrian immigrants.

I found people who were U.S. citizens but their parents immigrated from Syria, so most of them were like, first generation in the United States.

But, there's not a very big community at UCSD that I've met so far.

(reads chat) - Ali, do you see the cost of college put many students off higher education?

- Yeah!

- So, are you seeing people walk away from higher education because of the cost?

- I think so, yeah.

But, there's also the option of community college, which I was considering, which is always great to, like, help students take the first step into higher education without the worry about the high and expensive tuitions and fees in universities.

But overall, I feel like, yeah, it does affect many students.

And, it was something I thought about too.

Since before, like, going into computer engineering, I was thinking of going into medicine.

But, uh- due to the costs and expenses for med school and undergrad, I decided to take my other passion, which is computer engineering and pursue that since it's gonna be shorter time.

And, it's something that I also liked but that was also a factor that affected my decision.

- Thank you so much.

So, Wendi Lizola is a student fellow at the Sacramento State University.

And, I wanna welcome her and allow her to take the floor!

- Hello, everybody.

Thank you so much for having me here.

And, giving me the opportunity to be a speaker and represent this amazing program.

I am so grateful for this amazing opportunity and I'm really looking forward to everything this program has to offer.

That being said, let me introduce myself; a little bit about my background.

I am a first generation undocumented student.

My family and I came from Michoacán, Mexico with my two older sisters.

And so, growing up, we struggled financially, as low-income.

My parents worked long days and nights, from four in the morning to 11:00 PM, washing hundreds of cars in dealerships.

My dad had created his, like, own little business.

He had, like, got a van and he bought, like, his huge water gallon and pressure washing machines.

And so, he and my mom would go from car dealerships to car dealerships, asking if they needed their cars to be washed.

And so, they did this every single day.

They got up every single morning.

They worked weekends.

Whether it was really hot or really cold, they still showed up to work.

And so, I grew up around this during my childhood, to my elementary school and middle school.

And, they only charged about 50 cents per car or 25 cents.

So, although it was some income, it was never enough.

And, we definitely struggled a lot to get by.

And, not only did we come across financial struggles, I also came across many educational challenges.

[audio distorts] Because I didn't understand the English language growing up.

I remember I would get frustrated with myself when I couldn't understand topics in school.

And, thankfully I had my sisters there for me and they had the patience to help me because they had a little more experience speaking English.

But, nonetheless, I think that as my siblings and I witnessed all of this growing up, it motivated us to take advantage of our opportunities.

And today, my siblings are all attending universities and pursuing their bachelor's in business.

My older sister is actually gonna graduate this winter and my other sister this spring.

So, yeah.

I think the reason that I am so motivated when it comes to my education, is because not only do I want to make my parents proud but I also have my sisters, who I have always looked up to as my role models and taught me to never take my education for granted.

But, yeah.

So, being an undocumented student, it has always been very challenging.

I have struggled gaining experience in the real world and working, or networking with others because people aren't open to working with AB 540 students.

For instance, I can't volunteer in hospitals for my career because of my status.

I also can't work or get a job, either.

So, on top of this, AB 540 students, they also don't get as much financial help in college, tuition-wise.

They don't get as much.

So, I couldn't financially support myself to live on campus and pursue my goal of being a nursing student because living costs are expensive.

Luckily my older sisters, they were able to get DACA before it closed.

But, since I was 15 at the time, I wasn't able to get it and it still remains closed.

So, this has made it hard for me at times because, in a way I'll feel angry and I'll question, you know, like, 'why me?'

'Cause it feel like it makes me set apart from so many opportunities that I could have had because of my status.

And, sometimes it feels like whichever way I turn, like, there's another barrier; there's another challenge I have.

However, I think that having so many struggles throughout my life- and I'm pretty sure I speak for all undocumented students and immigrants- I think it has given us an even greater motive to do something great and to take advantage of our opportunities here.

Because we know that if we already got so far with all these challenges we face, there's no limits to our success.

And, this leads me to my 'why,' and why I applied for this program.

When I applied, I came across it in the beginning of the year for my older sister.

She was the one who had showed it to me and she was, like, "Oh my gosh, Wendi.

Like, look at this!

"There's this new program and undocumented students can apply and you can get paid for it, as well."

And, I think until I attended the training and the swearing-in ceremony, I think that's where I truly understood not only how big this program is but how impactful it's going to be.

I expected it to be maybe only, like, 30 students to be in it.

So when I saw, like, 300 students and that the chief officer was involved and the governor were all involved, I was, like, "oh, my gosh!"

And, I think that that's where it felt even more surreal.

And, I felt so grateful to take this amazing opportunity.

And, I know that even my parents are so happy for me that I'm in this amazing program.

And, even as a speaker here today.

And, that being said, I am placed at a middle school host site.

And, I am a tutor to the middle school.

And so, far it has opened me to seeing a lot of students' educational challenges; seeing how many of them have language barriers.

It makes me that much more motivated and inspired to have an impact on them because it hits close to home.

And, I know that this is something I wish I had when I was a young Spanish speaker.

And, I really hope to be an inspiration and a role model to these young students.

As to my educational goals, I am studying to be a pediatric nurse.

And, I plan to apply to the Sac State nursing program next semester.

And, I really am motivated and compassionate and so thankful for every opportunity I have in my life.

And, I know that as an immigrant and being disadvantaged in many areas of my life, seeing a program like this that is so inclusive to all individuals with different backgrounds, it's so nice and revealing to see-- relieving to see.

And, I hope-- And, I'm really grateful to be a part of this program.

[audio distorts] - Oh, wow.

What an amazing story.

You know, anybody who has questions, please make sure we put them in the chat.

I want to make sure that we get to any questions.

But, I think that your story is one that is a story of hope for students.

And so, I love that your parents, they had the hustle!

And, I just love being able to hear it, and actually have you be able to watch that.

Because no matter what barriers you probably have or face, you have probably your parents' hustle in you to be able to share that you can do whatever it is that you put your mind to.

So, thank you for sharing the story.

And, the vulnerability of being able to tell your story like that to all of us.

You know, I think we have one question in the chat.

(reading screen/ hesitating) This one-- I mean, your parents are entrepreneurs but someone has asked the question "were your parents able to find more stable work?"

- Yes.

So, my dad is honestly, my like, inspiration.

So, after washing cars throughout my whole-- for maybe eight years, he was able to work as a mechanic at a dealership.

One of the men that he worked for washing the cars, he hired him.

And so, from being a mechanic, this man, like, he really connected with my dad and he got him a job as a salesman.

And then, from there, my dad, he managed to open a dealership with one of the other workers.

So, right now he has two car dealerships of his own.

And, yeah.

It's really nice and inspiring to see my dad like, he really like, from the bottom, like, he was able to make it.

And, right now, we're a little bit more stable.

And, it's nice to have parents like this that are really strong-willed.

- Great.

Well, you know what?

I wanna thank everyone for joining us.

And, I hope that everyone has a great rest of the week!

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