CEO HELPING STUDENTS BECOME AGENTS OF CHANGE
Nonprofit supports first-generation college graduates
Throughout her long career in education, Tamara Craver was mostly focused on supporting high school students. While she loved her work, she came to realize that some students were not receiving the support they needed. She wondered how different the impact of her work might be if she had the opportunity to work with students at an earlier stage.
In 2019 she got that opportunity when she moved to San Diego to begin her career as the chief executive officer of Reality Changers, a nonprofit organization that prepares youth to become first-generation college graduates and agents of change in their communities. For Craver, moving to San Diego from Los Angeles also meant a smaller community where she could be a stronger voice for students.
While most of her time living in San Diego has been during the pandemic, Craver has fallen in love with San Diego and its residents. Being in a new role during this time has been challenging, but she sees the opportunities the pandemic has created for organizations to work together.
“San Diego has such a collaborative spirit,” she said, adding how refreshing it is to work in a city where people often ask what they can do to help. “You can feel humanity happening, which feels unique to San Diego.”
As Reality Changers approaches its 20th anniversary, Craver’s goal is to showcase how the organization and its work really does change realities. Recently one of the students that Reality Changers works with was accepted to Stanford with a full-ride scholarship.
She said she understands it is not enough to help students get accepted into college. Students — particularly first-generation college students — need support to graduate, secure internships, apply for jobs and navigate their careers. Craver said she has a responsibility to ensure that students feel connected, and she is focused on improving outcomes for the 6,000 students in Reality Changers programs, most of whom are Latinx.
Her role at Reality Changers feels like it is exactly where she was meant
to be, Craver said.
She fondly remembers that when she was just 5 years old, her mother who had taken a break from college, returned to school. She recalls spending her early years on the college campus with her mother and taking it all in. It wasn’t long before she began to notice the inequities that existed in education.
A desire to work with students became her life’s calling.
Now more than ever, Craver knows how important it is to support students and advocate to ensure that they have the resources they need to accomplish their goals.
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, she is determined to grow, strengthen and expand Reality Changers.
“Anything that affects my students, affects me,” Craver said. “I know I have a responsibility to be in this walk with them.”