Summer Search

We envision a world in which young people, regardless of circumstances, have the opportunity to fulfill their potential.

The mission of Summer Search is to help low-income teenagers transform what they believe is possible for themselves and develop the skills they need to become college-educated leaders who give back to their families and communities. 

We partner with high schools to identify students short on opportunity and long on resilience, altruism, and determination - character traits that hold the seeds for success in school and in life. We make a long-term investment in these students (at least five years). 

Our character-based program is a unique combination of relationships and opportunities that helps our students build the skills they need to thrive. 

We partner each student with a professional mentor and build a circle of relationships around them. Then, we offer them experiential opportunities that crack open their view of the world and ultimately reveal what they're capable of accomplishing. 

Summer Search alumni, often the first in their families to earn a college degree, are becons of change who give back to our community.

In 2013:

• Summer Search Silicon Valley served 225 students
• 92% are first-generation college students
• The median income for a Summer Search family is $24,813
• Summer Search students garned over $500,000 in financial aid