ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015

MISSION AND VISIONMISSION STATEMENTThe mission of Long Beach BLAST is to improve success for at-risk students through collaboration and innovative approaches to mentoring and learning.

VISION STATEMENTEvery student: inspired to succeed academically and personally.

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As Long Beach BLAST’s Board President, Icouldn’t be more excited to continue towork with such a talented group ofprofessionals and volunteers.

From the incredibly talented andhard-working office staff and programleadership, to our energetic and inspiringcollege mentors, BLAST has been awonderful place to call home.

This year, BLAST matched its 8,000th

2014-2015 Annual ReportFrom the Board President

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college mentor since its inception in 2000. Perhaps more importantly, it provided services to its 12,000th at-risk student in Long Beach.

2015-2016 promises to be a banner year for the program. We’re launching a new evaluation program that will underscore the important work we do in the community. This will not only help us to improve our outcomes, but will help us as we continue our robust grant program, which accounts for more than 50% of our funding.

Thank you to our board members, donors, and program partners for all you do to make this work possible.

Phil BondBoard PresidentLong Beach BLAST

2014-15 Program Highlights:

Served 650 students across 18 program partner sites

525 college student volunteers mentored students in grades K-12

10,406 service hours provided by our college student

Get AMPed!!Academic Mentoring Program

AMP matched its 8,000th

college student mentor and provided services to its 12,000th student this year!

• 99% youth reported that their academic mentor listened to them, understood them, and/or could trust their mentor.

• 100% of youth served by a BLAST academic mentor reported they plan to graduate from high school.

• 95% of youth reported that they believe their academic mentor helped them in reading, writing, or math.

The Academic Mentoring Program(AMP) matches college students withyouth, and provides one‐on‐onesupport for a child’s academics, futurethinking, and character development.Each year, more than 500 local collegestudent volunteers serve as mentors toat‐risk youth in Long Beach.

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“I absolutely love BLAST! Through my mentoring experiences 

thus far, I have come to an understanding how important it 

is to engage with youth and inspire them to reach their full 

potential. Samantha and I have developed a friendship and I 

genuinely care about her and want the best for her in her 

future school years.” 

‐Jessica Martinez, BLAST Academic Mentor

Jessica Martinez (pictured left), aLong Beach City College studentmajoring in child development, hasbeen a BLAST academic mentorsince spring 2014. Jessica and hermentee, Samantha (also picturedleft), have developed a friendshipthat continues to flourish.

Jessica kept their mentoringsessions structured and offeredSamantha support and motivationwhen completing school work.Together they worked on mathproblems, practiced spelling, read,and completed journal entries.

Jessica’s open communication and active listening skills have allowed her tounderstand the adversities that Samantha and other youth face on a regularbasis. Jessica and Samantha both want to teach and care for children in theirfuture. Samantha aspires to be a school teacher and Jessica plans to open andoperate her own daycare in the future.

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The Bridge to Success Program (B2S)assists high school students enrolled ina credit recovery program to create apositive vision for their future towardhigher education and/or a career. Theprogram utilizes team leaders, guestspeakers, and field trips to encourageand inspire students to set and achievegoals.

Building Bridges, Reaching DreamsBridge to Success Program

324 high school students served at Reid and Beach High School!

2014-15 Program Highlights:

160+ financial aid applications completed

16 guest speakers presented to students

8 field trips to local colleges and businesses

• 91% of B2S students reported they will go to college.

• 99% of the 2015 graduating class at Reid High School were served by this program.

• The number of students who wrote a resume increased by 51.42%.

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“What I loved most about BLAST is that the team leaders are 

determined to help students succeed and show them the 

right path to success. They are not quitters, especially Ms. 

Karena. No matter what, she was always there to help me 

and guide me. “

‐Martin A., Bridge to Success Student

Similar to many of our students,Anthony (pictured left) was creditdeficient and had not passed hisCAHSEE tests. Anthony was veryhesitant to be part of Bridge andvocally expressed his desire to dropout of high school to find a part‐timejob. Anthony never saw himself as acollege student.

One day our team leader, Karina(also pictured left), asked him “Doyou know what you’re going to doafter graduating high school?” Hewas stumped. He expressed that hehad never officially thought about hisfuture plans because he did not thinkhe would graduate high school.

Karina offered him a spot in the Bridge program and they both agreed to work onCAHSEE prep for the remainder of the semester, and he passed! Karina continuedto mentor him throughout the remainder of the school year. They worked on hisresume, his college and financial aid applications and assessment testing. On June18th, Anthony graduated from Beach High School as an honor student.

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Our Funds, Our FutureFinancials

Grant funding accounts for over 50% of BLAST’s revenue 

Program expenses account for over 75% of all costs

BLAST has started the process of reviewing our technology costs to identify potential savings to the organization

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Exceeding $2,500Angels Baseball Foundation

Employees Community Fund of Boeing CA

City of Long BeachWorkforce Investment Act

Deluxe Corporation Foundation

Steve & Lori Doty

Freeman E. Fairfield Foundation

John Fielder & Donita Van Horik

Keesal, Young, & Logan

Long Beach Community Foundation

Lumina Foundation

Pacific Life Foundation

Park Bixby Tower

John W. Porter Trust

Secure Transportation

Staples Foundation2 Million & Change Initiative

Waste Management

Windes, Inc.

2014-2015 DonorsExceeding $10,000Communities Advocating for

Resident Empowerment (C.A.R.E.)

Dwight Stuart Youth Fund

The Green Foundation

Josephine S. GumbinerFoundation

Long Beach Unified School District

The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation

The Earl B. and Loraine H. Miller Foundation

Rudolph J. and Daphne A. Munzer Foundation

NRG Energy

The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation

Christie Peck

Ruth Peck

Will J. Reid Foundation

Southern California Edison

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Team WorkBoard of Directors and Staff

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Officers

Honorary Members

Members

Staff

Phil Bond, President Mark Taylor, Vice President

Scott Dionne, Treasurer Lori Doty, Secretary

Holly Carpenter John Fielder Mark Garlington, DDS

Marquita Grenot‐Scheyer Ph.D. Chief Robert Luna Jon Meyer

Susan Rivard Bobbi Villalobos, Ed.D. Catherine Walsh

Noly GuardamondoExecutive Director

Kehau FujikamiAssociate Director

Yesenia RamirezAdministrative Assistant

Leslie KeeneyProgramManager

Hailey BarkerVolunteer Program Coordinator

Lucero ChairezVolunteer Program Coordinator

Rachel BakerProgram Director

Karena AgisProgram Supervisor

Christina BoontanondTeam Leader

Danyelle CaruthersTeam Leader

Laura HernandezTeam Leader

Janine LorenzoTeam Leader

Nansi MartinezTeam Leader

Arielle NealTeam Leader

Christian RodriguezTeam Leader

Nancy Foster Sheriff Jim McDonnell

Eloy Oakley Chris Steinhauser

Founder

Jean Egan

THANK YOUThank you for making all of this possible this year! We couldn’t do it without your support.

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