News from CARA

On December 18, CARA’s Director of College Bridge, Deneysis Labrada, and program alumna, Ivannah Genao, participated in a national webinar hosted by the Education Strategy Group (ESG). Building on ESG’s recent brief, the webinar highlighted CARA’s College Bridge program as a proven model for supporting first-generation college students.

Deneysis and Ivannah served on the panel and led a breakout room on scaling near-peer mentoring, sharing strategies on measuring program impact, peer leader recruitment, and program sustainability. Other panelists included Claudia Martinez from San Diego State University and Beth Collins from Teach for America Appalachia, who shared insights from their experience on piloting mentoring programs and leveraging near-peer connections.

Ivannah’s journey with CARA began as a youth leader in high school, then continued when she returned to her alma mater as a Bridge Coach while in college. Currently, she is working towards a bachelor’s degree in Political Science at NYU and recently joined CARA as an intern, supporting the replication of the College Bridge program in Newark, NJ.

Reflecting on how these experiences have shaped her, she said, “Being a peer mentor showed me the powerful role organizations like CARA play in supporting marginalized communities and creating success pipelines. It inspired me to pursue a law degree to advocate for educational policy because I’ve seen how investing in people from within their communities drives real change.”

The webinar brought together leaders in career pathways, regional intermediaries, and practitioners exploring innovative student support strategies as part of ESG’s Accelerate-Ed program. We’re incredibly proud to have contributed to this meaningful conversation and excited that CARA’s proven near-peer model is making its way to more practitioners, and ultimately transforming the experiences of students nationwide.

This fall, CARA’s College Inquiry team has made several trips to Washington state to work with the Gates Foundation’s Horizons partners. From Vancouver and the Olympic Peninsula to South King County and Walla Walla, we’ve been working closely with schools and community organizations to expand postsecondary access for first-generation students in these rural areas.

The varied college access projects being undertaken by the regions meant our work looked very different in each. In Vancouver and Walla Walla, we trained newly hired staff to take on college access roles in rural areas of the state, working across both large and small high schools. In South King County and the Olympic peninsula, we worked with existing staff to help layer in increased postsecondary access support; our goals are also to connect directly with schools to help them rethink their structures.

Ultimately, we think these two kinds of work will intersect over the course of the year. Across all four regions, we see a need for both staff training, and building of school infrastructure to better support postsecondary access for first-gen students. Throughout, we are learning about the similarities and differences in postsecondary access needs of students, and about school and state structures that help or impede access.

We’re grateful for opportunities where we can exchange knowledge and best practices and adapt our work to local contexts – this is what makes CARA’s approach so impactful.

We’re so proud of Izzy Hasaballa and Lizbeth Marte, who took the stage at the Grantmakers for Education 2024 conference with Co-Executive Directors Lori Chajet and Janice Bloom, and our partners from The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Together, they presented on “Peer-to-Peer Postsecondary Advising Programs as Apprenticeships.”

Izzy and Lizbeth each shared their personal stories with passion and insight, showcasing how peer advising not only expands support for students but also opens up professional pathways for the advisors themselves. Lizbeth, who currently works with incoming students at Queens College and is pursuing a master’s degree in Higher Education Administration at Baruch College, shared: “Being a peer leader has been such a rewarding experience. It strengthened my passion for education equity and made me even more committed to ensuring all students have the support they need to succeed.”

A huge thank you to Grantmakers for Education for helping to elevate youth voices, and to Cass Conrad from The Petrie Foundation and Farhad Asghar from Carnegie for inviting us to present alongside them. Their support allows us to continue providing meaningful opportunities for our peer leaders to grow, lead, and share their stories in spaces where they can inspire change.

We left the conference feeling more energized than ever, ready to keep pushing for education equity and expanding access to postsecondary success. To learn more about the career outcomes of peer leaders like Izzy and Lizbeth, check out our Triple Impact Report here.

As our partnership with Queens College continues to grow, we’re excited to announce that the Academic Advising Center now includes a dedicated space for peer leaders to meet with students! Since launching our College Allies program at Queens in 2021, it has grown from 3 peer advisors to 16 who support both transfer and first-year students. Laura Silverman, Director of the Academic Advising Center, explained at the event: “We were newbies at peer-to-peer programming when we started. CARA led us every step of the way, and they continue. It’s been a transformative ride.”

In the program’s early days, peer advising happened mostly remotely or in small, shared spaces, but as student demand grew, the need for an in-person space became clear. This new space is a game changer: academic advisors now have a place to refer students for additional help, where students can drop in for guidance, use computers, and meet face-to-face with peer advisors. “Advisors are booked back-to-back on the hour with student appointments. With our time constraints, it is very helpful to the advising team to have the peer advisors to provide an additional layer of support and guidance to our students,”  says Rebecca DeJesus, Associate Director of Freshman Advising and First-Year Onboarding.

Fully integrated into the advising cycle at Queens College, peer advisors have provided critical support, helping the advising team meet the demands of over 1,600 students this fall. Thanks to our partnership with CUNY Central’s Office of Student Affairs, and support from the Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gray Foundation, and The Heckscher Foundation, Queens College is transforming the support students receive and changing the odds of their persistence through college.

CARA’s co-executive directors, Lori Chajet and Janice Bloom, had the opportunity to attend the National College Attainment Network’s (NCAN) annual conference on college access and success, where they engaged in inspiring sessions and connected with partners nationwide dedicated to helping students navigate the evolving landscape of higher education.

There’s much to be hopeful about—the field of college access and persistence has made great progress in the past several years. Despite concerns about higher education after the Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action and questions about the value of a college degree, it was refreshing to be among 1,400 advocates ready to take on these challenges.

Two of the highlights of the conference were sessions on statewide policy efforts in California and a session on supporting rural students. We were inspired by California’s progress and motivated by discussions around expanding postsecondary work in rural areas—an important area of growth for CARA as we grow beyond urban contexts. What truly resonated was the powerful commitment in the room to elevating Black and Brown voices and insisting on leadership from these communities, despite ongoing national resistance to equity. It reaffirmed why CARA exists and reminded us of how critical this work is as the future of higher education continues to change.

We left the conference feeling hopeful, energized, and proud of CARA’s commitment to institutional change and relationship-based approaches. Huge thanks to NCAN for the opportunity to connect with like-minded advocates who share our passion for student success. Opportunities like these remind us of how far we’ve come—and how many are with us in this fight.

As we reflect on the Class of 2024’s postsecondary plans, CARA is encouraged by key trends that will guide our work with current seniors. Data collected from our partner schools above shows that the percentage of students aiming to earn a degree has increased by over 6% compared to the Class of 2023, with more than 70% in both cohorts committed to this goal. Despite growing attention to alternative pathways like workforce training and employment, most students are still choosing college.

About 50% of students in both classes plan to enroll at a CUNY college, with a rising interest in 2-year programs for the Class of 2024. We also see a rise in students choosing private colleges outside of New York State. Around 11% of students are focused on entering the workforce, a figure steady across both years, though the Class of 2024 shows more students actively seeking employment and a growing interest in non-college certificate programs.

At CARA, we understand that success looks different for each student, and we’re excited by the diverse paths they’re considering. While career programs are gaining significant attention, the data shows college remains the primary goal for most students—one they need ongoing support to achieve. Our youth voice research reinforces these insights. Early findings reveal that students believe in the value of college, but face real challenges such as financial barriers, limited guidance, and the mental health toll of navigating their decisions. We’re committed to evolving our programs to help students overcome these obstacles and confidently pursue their postsecondary aspirations.

Our persistence work continues to grow more and more nationally! For the next two years, CARA will be supporting the University System of Maryland’s federally funded initiative “ABCs for Student Success: Advising, Belonging, and Coaching.” The goal of the initiative is to improve retention and graduation rates through establishing a greater sense of belonging for students across 11 of the system’s universities.

Peer-to-peer support is a centerpiece of the work. Leveraging our experience to institutionalize peer-to-peer advising at CUNY and in Tacoma Washington, CARA is supporting the University System of Maryland with program design, preparing liaisons from the colleges to facilitate campus-based peer leader training for 110 peer leaders across the state, and working directly with select campuses on program implementation.

As USM’s Senior Director of Education, Outreach, and Pipeline Development Dewayne Morgan explained, “The University System of Maryland has prioritized student success in our strategic plan, Vision 2023, and our partnership with CARA will help us ensure our institutions are centered on the needs of the students they serve. We are excited to work with CARA and build on their years of experience while adapting their program to the highly diverse USM context.”

We are excited to learn from and with our new partners as we work together to increase student success, persistence, and graduation for underserved college students.

As we head into a new academic year, we’re excited to share that CARA is one of 17 organizations that support K12 districts and schools that came together to distill what we’ve learned about advancing effective college and career advising. The product of our conversations over several months is a School District Framework for Enabling Postsecondary Success, which launched this month on the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) website. This important work is meant to provide a comprehensive guide for school districts across the nation who are aiming to enhance postsecondary access and support for students.

This open-source tool is not prescriptive but encourages districts to assess their systems, identify strengths and gaps, and work with partners to tailor the framework to their specific needs. The framework is structured around five key pillars – Committed Leadership, Setting Strategy, Ensuring Schools Have Capacity, Collaborating with Community Partners, and Using Real-time Data.

We are proud to have been asked to contribute to this framework and share our insights and experiences in college access and success; and we look forward to its broader impact to guide districts across the country in advancing postsecondary equity and success for all students.

This summer, the College Allies program welcomed Christina Corossis as its new Program Associate. Christina began her journey with CARA as a peer advisor in Hunter College’s Advising Office; this past spring, she moved into the role of supervisor, supporting the development of peer leaders. A two-time CUNY graduate with a BA in Psychology and an MSEd in School Counseling from Hunter College, Christina will be supporting the program’s New York City Allies trainings.

Q: How did you get connected with CARA?

Christina: I got connected to CARA in February 2020 during my sophomore year. I saw a job posting for a peer advisor at Hunter’s Peer Advising Office on Instagram and randomly decided to apply. As a first-generation college student, navigating college was overwhelming. Being a peer advisor allowed me to support first-year students with similar challenges, and I quickly realized how much I enjoyed this work.

Q: What drew you to the field of student advising and support?

Christina: Initially, I thought I’d be a teacher, but that didn’t work out. With my experience as a peer advisor, I realized I really liked higher education and guidance counseling. I appreciated the peer-to-peer support model because it felt more approachable and relatable than traditional advising. Students feel more comfortable to someone they can relate to, as opposed to their professor or a counselor who doesn’t really have the time. Even though the program was new and not really known, it felt great to know I was helping students and see them grow.

Q: How has your experience with CARA supported you personally and professionally?

Christina:  Balancing graduate coursework in School Counseling with fieldwork, a job, and a long commute was definitely challenging. There were moments when I considered taking a gap year. But the support I was receiving from CARA, especially from my weekly coaching sessions with my supervisor, really helped me stay motivated. I also discovered my passion for student advising. The alignment between my counseling coursework and my work with CARA has made a big difference in my confidence about my future and how I view it.

Q: What are you most excited about in your new role at CARA?

Christina: I’m really excited about the impact I can make on the students I’ll be working with. I’m looking forward to implementing sessions on setting boundaries and expanding training to virtual settings so that students feel supported no matter where they are. I’m excited to grow within an organization like CARA.  I’ve always been focused on building a sense of belonging among students, and I’m excited to continue pursuing that goal in my current role and be able to reach students across all of CUNY.

Is college worth it? Headlines often highlight declining confidence in higher education and drops in college enrollment. But how are these trends affecting young people in New York City? What makes young New Yorkers question the value of higher education? Most importantly, what could make them feel more confident that college is worth it?

This summer, CARA Peer Leaders and interns are guiding a research project focused on the changing views of higher education among young New Yorkers. With rising costs, more young people are questioning if college is worth the investment. However, attending college remains a crucial path to the middle class, especially for low-income New Yorkers of color. Through this project, CARA aims to understand what shapes young people’s views on college and how schools can address their concerns, ultimately setting them on a path to social mobility.

CARA’s first-ever Youth Research Council—composed of eight College Bridge Coaches and interns—is steering this project from start to finish. They are helping the CARA team decide on research questions, interpret data, and share findings with policymakers in NYC. Too often, research is conducted on people, not by people. By establishing a Youth Research Council, this project aims to authentically amplify the voices of young New Yorkers who have traditionally been left out of policy decisions.

Through this youth-led work, we aim to understand the current trends in education and empower young people to influence policies that directly affect their futures. So – what do you think? Follow this important conversation, and let us know what you think on Instagram or on LinkedIn.

Ally Levy, CARA’s Senior Director of College Inquiry & Whole School Partnerships recently presented at the National Association for Community and Education Partnership’s (NCCEP) National Gear Up Conference on the critical role of whole-school engagement in effective postsecondary advising. The session “From One to All: Effective Postsecondary Planning is Everyone’s Work,” highlighted the successful collaboration between Honokaa High & Intermediate School and CARA, made possible by generous grant funding from Hawaii P-20.

Ally shared information about how CARA’s whole-school inquiry model has been implemented at Honokaa High & Intermediate School, and how over the past two years, this partnership has shown that effective college and career advising becomes even more powerful with the active participation of the entire school community. By involving CTE teachers, counselors, and staff schoolwide, they have increased awareness of postsecondary pathways and enhanced staff capability to provide accurate, culturally relevant advising. As a result, students have greater access to the information they need to make thoughtful choices about their future.

During the session, participants heard from Big Island teachers Alana Haitsuka-Fernandez and Aaron Tanimoto, learned about the project’s framework and discussed strategies for implementing similar approaches to foster college-going culture at their own sites.

We’re grateful to have been invited by our partners at Hawaii P-20 and Honokaa High & Intermediate School to present on our work and inspire others to think beyond traditional advising methods and consider how engaging the entire school community can lead to more effective and inclusive postsecondary planning.

At CARA, we continually strive to enhance our approach to supporting students. Since 2021, a dedicated team has been working to update our peer leader counseling framework to create a more inclusive, culturally responsive, and effective support system for the students we serve.

The updated framework includes new guiding principles designed to foster environments where students feel personalized care, respect, and support while navigating the complexities of higher education. These principles aim to build student confidence and empower them to take control of their own lives, offer holistic support for informed decision-making and self-advocacy, cultivate trusting relationships between peer leaders and students, and utilize an anti-deficit approach that highlights student strengths and successful strategies for overcoming complex institutional challenges.

Driven by our commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), we recognized the need to refine our language to ensure our approach meets the diverse needs and identities of our students. This involved interviewing partners, external organizations, and students, auditing our existing curriculum, and researching other counseling frameworks. This thorough process has allowed us to refine our approach, update our guiding principles, and create a draft scenario checklist for practical application.

Looking ahead, we plan to develop a comprehensive counseling toolkit to be implemented in the coming year’s peer leader training based on the updated framework. We’re excited to share these updates with you and look forward to continuing our journey toward more effective, equitable student support.

After a small pilot in Newark’s Eagle Academy over the past several years, CARA’s College Bridge Program model will be launching in every high school in the city for the 24-25 academic year. With generous support from the Solon E. Summerfield Foundation and in collaboration with the Newark Board of Education (NBOE), Newark City of Learning Collaborative (NCLC), and Mentor Newark, CARA will be addressing the critical gap in college and career guidance for high school students in Newark by helping to train both school-based staff and college students.

After more than a year of planning with our partners, we were excited to facilitate a full-day meeting at Rutgers University – Newark with NBOE School Counselors to discuss the upcoming work. Each high school will have the opportunity to recruit their own Bridge Coaches for hiring. CARA will create training sessions specific to the New Jersey postsecondary landscape and provide 44 hours of comprehensive training in postsecondary access content for the coaches starting this summer.

CARA’s role extends beyond training the coaches. We will work closely with NCLC to provide professional development for Newark lead counselors and support their supervision of the Bridge Coaches, and participate in meetings to guide data collection and analysis processes in order to build a postsecondary access infrastructure in Newark.

From New York, to Washington State, to now in New Jersey, we’re proud to see CARA’s peer to peer program model being recognized as a proven model in helping school systems create a future where every student has the tools and support they need to achieve their college and career dreams.

At a recent meeting, CARA staff had the chance to gain new strategies for addressing youth mental health by hearing from a former College Bridge Coach, Melissa Rivera. Now a professional in the field, Melissa shared knowledge from her current role and her past one as a peer leader at Flushing International High School.

Melissa brought valuable insights on recognizing the signs of mental health struggles among students, such as substance use, self-harm, low motivation, and suicidal ideation. She emphasized the importance of normalizing and validating students’ emotions, highlighting the critical role that coaches, counselors, and other youth-facing adults play in supporting students.

Melissa’s session not only educated CARA staff on these critical issues but also demonstrated the impactful cycle of learning and mentorship within our organization. Former students like Melissa, who return to train us, embody the success of our programs and reinforce our commitment to addressing the student mental health crisis as a piece of our postsecondary success work. By drawing on the insights of young people who have come through our programs, we can better understand their needs, and build the tools to address them.

At CARA, we’re always looking for ways to increase our knowledge so that we can better equip peer leaders to cultivate spaces and relationships in which the students they serve experience personalized care and guidance to help support overall wellbeing. Thank you, Melissa!

We’re excited to welcome our interns this summer – Braydon Brewster and Naomi Nesmith! Both Braydon and Naomi bring unique perspectives and experiences to CARA. Their shared passion and interest in education, equity, and community engagement promises an exciting and productive summer. This is CARA’s 12th summer participating in Brown University’s Careers in the Common Good (CCG) internship program and the first time an intern will support a policy project.

Welcome, Naomi and Braydon! We can’t wait to see the incredible contributions you will make.

Braydon Brewster

Braydon Brewster is a rising sophomore at Brown University considering a major in Finance. This summer, he will be working with CARA’s Right to College and College Bridge programs, helping to prepare training materials and coordinate summer training sessions for peer leaders.

What attracted Braydon to CARA was its focus on education equity. As a former tutor at his high school, he remembers the significant difference the support he provided his peers made in their academic life. Braydon feels that growing in a small town in upstate New York made him unaware of the extent of educational inequalities. It wasn’t until he took a class on the sociology of education at Brown that he started learning about how race, class, gender, and other forms of social inequality impact educational opportunities and outcomes, and the ways he can play a role in creating change in the system.

Braydon is passionate about learning and growing his skills, especially in new technology and how it can help influence change in systems and help teams work better. This summer, he is excited to enhance his skills including in public speaking, continue exploring his career interests, and meeting new people.

Naomi Nesmith

Naomi Nesmith is a sophomore at Brown University, majoring in Literary Arts with an independent study focusing on structural inequities and Black identity. This summer she will be working with our policy and research team, taking the lead with CARA’s first Youth Research Council that will conduct research on how young New Yorkers are thinking about the value of higher education.

Naomi’s journey to CARA is rooted in her love for writing and her commitment to addressing educational disparities. As a teenager, she was an avid reader and writer, with a particular interest in poetry. Her passion for creative expression led her to become an enrichment teacher for 5th and 6th graders during a gap year in college, specializing in creative writing for English Language Learners (ENL) and students with Individualized Education Programs (IEP). Through this teaching experience, Naomi says she witnessed firsthand the inequities in education.

This summer, Naomi aims to grow as a researcher and is excited about conducting research that informs policy and empowers young people. Naomi believes that many students are eager to learn more about the world and their place in it but lack the support in finding their place from people with shared experiences. She is ready to contribute to CARA’s mission addressing this support gap.