When Guillermo Avila arrived on his college campus in 1989, he wasn’t thinking about legacy. He was just trying to find the financial aid office. It was his first time stepping into a world his parents had only imagined.
“My dad looked around and said, ‘This looks like a vacation spot.’ He had never been on a campus before. I didn’t realize then how big that moment was.”
Decades later, Guillermo and his wife Elaine are honoring that moment through the Julia & Guillermo Avila Scholarship, named in tribute to Guillermo’s parents. Now in its third year, the scholarship supports high school students participating in Hispanic Alliance’s Student DREAMers Alliance (SDA), helping them take steps Guillermo once had to take alone.
“My dad worked two jobs his entire life. I never heard him complain. He was a quiet warrior.”
From Hard Work to Higher Education
Guillermo grew up knowing the value of hard work. His father worked manufacturing by day, then took a second job as a custodian until after midnight. His mother, equally determined, made sure the family paid for school lunches even when they qualified for assistance. “Their pride wasn’t about ego. It was about dignity,” he says.
Navigating college as a first-generation student came with few roadmaps. Guillermo remembers sitting in a financial aid office, signing loan paperwork he barely understood.
“There was no one to walk me through it. I signed everything because I thought, ‘This is what I have to do.'”
It wasn’t just the loans. It was every step—choosing a major, asking for help, figuring out internships. He had support from his church, mentors who believed in him. But most of the path was trial and error.
“I had to figure it out by myself. Now we have a chance to help other students so they don’t have to.”
A Shared Mission
Elaine, who grew up in Greenville and met Guillermo in college, brings a different but complementary perspective. She assumed college was a given. Her parents and grandparents attended, and she took higher education for granted. But watching Guillermo’s experience opened her eyes.
“He didn’t grow up thinking college was part of his future. But now he wants to make sure other kids believe that it’s part of theirs.”
That belief is what led the Avilas to Hispanic Alliance and to SDA. Every year, when they receive the bios of the two students selected for the Julia & Guillermo Avila Scholarship, Elaine reads each one carefully.
“I’m crying every time,” she admits. “These students have so much grit. They’re grateful. They’re trying to make their parents proud and give back to their families. That humility and drive is just incredible.”
“My word for Hispanic Alliance is hope. You show these students that the American dream is within reach.”
A Tribute That Keeps Giving
Naming the scholarship after Guillermo’s parents was an easy choice. His father passed away years ago, but his mother is still living—and she reads each student story too.
“She cries every time. She doesn’t think what they did was a big deal, but it was,” Guillermo says.
Their sacrifice—long hours, limited resources, quiet resilience—is the kind that doesn’t make headlines. But it shapes futures. The scholarship, in many ways, is their legacy.
“They gave up their dreams so I could achieve mine. That’s what this scholarship represents.”
Looking Ahead
Guillermo and Elaine see the Julia & Guillermo Avila Scholarship as just the beginning. Their business, 365 Digital Technologies, is growing, and they envision expanding their support in the future.
“We want to train young Hispanic entrepreneurs. Walk them through starting a business, learning how to give back. That’s the long-term vision,” Guillermo says.
For now, the scholarship is a promise. A commitment to students walking the path Guillermo once walked, with more guidance and support than he ever had.
“No kid should have to navigate this alone. That’s why we give.”
Why This Work Matters
Elaine and Guillermo Avila’s story is a reminder that generational change doesn’t happen by accident—it happens through intentional investment.
When Guillermo’s father worked two jobs, he wasn’t just paying bills. He was planting seeds for a future he couldn’t fully see. When his parents refused free lunches even though they qualified, they were modeling dignity and self-reliance. When they dropped their son off at a college campus they’d never seen before, they were betting on a dream bigger than themselves.
And now, three decades later, Guillermo and Elaine are doing the same thing for students they’ve never met. Students who are navigating the same uncertainty, the same lack of roadmap, the same fear that maybe college isn’t for people like them.
Through the Julia & Guillermo Avila Scholarship, they’re saying: Yes, it is. And we’re going to show you how.
Your gift ensures that more students have mentors, roadmaps, and the tools they need to turn dreams into reality—just like Guillermo’s parents did for him.
