SRA plans to double the number of Bay Area students selected into their program to over 350+ by 2016. Efforts will also include expanding the summer internship program, and providing graduates with career assessment, guidance, and networking opportunities to help them successfully transition into the work force. The Julia Burke Foundation will provide funds to expand their College2Careers program. Additional funds from the Julia Burke Foundation will be utilized to support SRA's growing team of Advisors who are the cornerstone of the program's success. Each student is matched with an SRA Advisor from the beginning in their junior year of high school until college graduation. For most students, this Advisor is the first adult in their life with whom they can count on and who serves as a positive role model.

Started 1998 by news anchor Wendy Tokuda, SRA began as a news series featuring students who were beating the odds. Over the years, this Peabody and National Emmy award-winning program grew into a 501(c)3 sending over 260 students to colleges across the country including Cal, Stanford, Harvard, Yale and more.

Students Rising Above invests in low-income, first generation college students who have demonstrated educational commitment and strength of character in overcoming tremendous odds of poverty, homelessness, and neglect. The program helps students realize their potential by supporting them to and through college and into the workforce. These graduates are a new generation of employees and leaders from diverse backgrounds who are giving back to their communities.

75% of the students selected into SRA live below the federal poverty level, 60% are from foster care or are not living with a parent; 50% have been abandoned or homeless, and 25% are raising siblings. To learn more about SRA, visit www.studentsrisingabove.org.