Our 2024 Reflections
Degrees of Change
Changing the face of leadership one degree, one career at a time.
As we reflect on another year of supporting students and watching them thrive, we at Degrees of Change have much to be grateful for. Here are our top moments of 2024:
Continuing to Serve Young Leaders
In 2024, we proudly continued our critical work serving emerging young leaders. We recruited, selected, trained, and supported 59 new Act Six scholars across the network (including 21 from Tacoma-Seattle), 11 new Seed Teachers scholars, and 72 Seed Internships interns. We also supported nearly 300 continuing Act Six scholars across the network, and provided professional interviewing, coaching, and resume reviews for an additional 300 Seed Internships candidates.
Nurturing Our Students
Meanwhile, this past year marked one of the strongest ever for our program team who consistently leaned in and collaborated with one another. As a result, program staff were able to meet and connect with each other’s students, maintain a clear understanding of each program’s different activities, and align their trainings.
Summer highlights included a combined Summer Expedition at Camp Dudley attended by participants from all three of our programs, and enhancements to our Seed Internships training, such as adding cohort connections and incorporating DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) into the curriculum.
In the fall, we stepped away from our daily tasks to assemble care packages for first-year scholars with the generous help of volunteers. And this winter, at our holiday party “Festive Fusion” for program participants, we had a wonderful time connecting with students, learning more about their passions and aspirations, playing games, and being in community together.
Celebrating Our Students
We love celebrating our young people, and there was a lot to celebrate! In May, we held our last Act Six Celebration at Stadium High School to recognize the amazing student leaders who were awarded the final Act Six scholarships.
In June, we held our Seed Teachers Celebration in downtown Tacoma to recognize the second cadre of Seed Teachers scholars. These motivated young people are now in college preparing to be high-impact educators back in their home communities.
In August, we held our annual Seed Internships Celebration at Cheney Stadium to honor the talented 2024 Seed Internships cohort and their employers. It was an inspiring afternoon for not only interns and supervisors, but also Degrees of Change staff, volunteers, and college partners.
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Adding New Team Members
This year, we were very excited to welcome six new (and returning) members to our dedicated team. Bely Luu joined us as Senior Development Director. Amojé Moody joined us as Business Development Director. Tommy Kim returned as Senior Software Developer. Aaron Salvador joined us as our AmeriCorps College to Career Pathways Coordinator. We were also joined by student interns Komisi Petelo (UW Tacoma), Vale Jacobo-Guzman (UPS), Marissa Jackman (PLU), and Jalen Webber (UW Bothell).
The Degrees of Change team proudly represents the students we serve and continues to be brought together by a shared passion for seeing those students succeed and communities transformed. We represent a broad range of lived and professional experience in higher education, student support, college success, curriculum design, academic research, and information technology.
Working Together Towards a Shared Vision
From sharing music and having jam sessions to a staff scavenger hunt and competition at Point Ruston, there were many opportunities this year for the Degrees of Change team to come together. Every time we are together, we are reminded of the power within our team, the sincere care for our community, and the support we have for each other.
One of the best examples of this is how we came together to craft our new vision statement—We envision a future where all young people can lead and thrive in their education, career, and community.
Evolving Our College-to-Career Pathways
Given the financial challenges in higher education, Degrees of Change made the important decision to evolve our cohort-based leadership development model and shift away from our past reliance on college funding. To ensure our young people succeed in college and career, we are now building college-to-career pathways in partnership with local employers and colleges. This will ensure that our young people gain work experience in college, graduate, and secure high-paying jobs in their home communities.
We are excited about what 2025 will bring and look forward to our continued evolution with hope and excitement!
Written by Sharon Ho Chang, Director of Communications and Community Engagement
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