The Student DREAMers Alliance, a program of the Hispanic Alliance, a non-profit organization based out of Greenville, South Carolina has been selected as a recipient of the Global Impact Fund, a partnership of the McNulty Foundation & Aspen Institute. This multi-year grant, awarded over the course of 2022-2023, will support the organization’s mission to advocate for and develop the leadership capacity of the Hispanic student population across the state of South Carolina.
Aprile Age, Executive Director of the John P. & Anne Welsh McNulty Foundation said, “We at the McNulty Foundation believe that individuals have the power to be multiplying forces for their communities. The Student DREAMers Alliance fulfills that promise to South Carolina’s Hispanic students, providing leadership skills and access to education to help them unlock their potential as advocates, organizers, and leaders in their communities and in their democracy.”
The Student DREAMers Alliance (SDA) is a youth leadership accelerator designed to empower and magnify voices within immigrant student communities, to increase awareness of education inequity, and to advocate for changes in state legislation to provide for equal access to public, post-secondary education for all youth.
“SDA is at a critical moment for growth and widespread impact,” said Adela Mendoza, Executive Director of the Hispanic Alliance. Mendoza is a Liberty Fellow and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. SDA was Mendoza’s Liberty Fellowship impact venture, and her vision for the program was pledged at the 2015 Aspen Action Forum. Mendoza’s promise was to “create leadership development and self-discovery opportunities for emerging Hispanic leaders to collaborate and lead across cultures.“
Six years later, the Student DREAMers Alliance has empowered over 170 Dreamers, including the inaugural class in Charleston, SC from R.B. Stall High School in the Fall of 2022. The additional funding provided through the Global Impact Fund by the McNulty Foundation will further allow the Hispanic Alliance to expand the SDA internship and mentorship program, provide additional scholarship and tuition assistance for SDA students, and cultivate community power by increasing the number of informed and empowered Hispanic students across the state of South Carolina.
This youth leadership accelerator has been a deeply transformative experience for the students who have been through the fellowship. These students have poured their hearts into one another and formed a circle of trust where a new vision for themselves, their families, and their communities is taking shape. The Student DREAMers Alliance is fostering a new generation of leaders in South Carolina who are changing the state’s landscape.
