What’s new
Meet the Staff: Joseph Colón
Joseph Colón is the Assistant Director of Collective Action at the Foundation for Tacoma Students. A Tacoma native, he is a collective action leader and anti-racism activist with a passion for social justice, equity, and systems change. His extensive cross-sector experience spans local, grassroots organizations to institutions of higher education.
Joseph brings a unique situatedness to his role at the Foundation for Tacoma Students, as a first generation, biracial, latinx scholar who took a circuitous, non-traditional path to and through higher education.
His primary role at the Foundation is to organize and coordinate all of the […]
Investing in Tacoma: Frequently Asked Questions
The Foundation for Tacoma Students is thrilled to launch a two-year investment of $2.5 million by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to deepen the capacity and capability of the Graduate Tacoma community-wide movement.
One of just five communities nationwide to receive this funding opportunity, Tacoma is the only community selected with proposed investments rooted deeply in increasing community partner capacity and capability. This time-bound grant has the potential to drive catalytic systems improvement by investing in three granting areas: Community Partner Capacity & Capability; Data Capacity & […]
Giving Kids a Summer Boost in Partnership
Nine-year-old Abigail Mulholland is putting together the final touches of her PowerPoint Presentation on Jeepneys.
“They’re a type of transportation from the Philippines,” she explains. “They have been used since World War two!”
Abigail has spent the last month researching and preparing for the project, which she will present in front of her parents, classmates and their families as part of Ms. Odom’s summer curriculum at Camp Discovery. She is one of nearly 700 Tacoma elementary students participating in the five-week summer camp hosted in partnership with Tacoma Public Schools and the Boys & Girls […]
Parks are in for Summer Playground Program
Metro Parks Tacoma is joining the national effort to keep kids safe, engaged, and learning all summer long by providing six straight weeks of summer learning activities. The Summer Playground Program is an annual effort by the organization to prevent summer slide and raise awareness around the important role summer learning programs play in ensuring kids return to school in the fall ready to succeed.
Each week, Metro Parks Tacoma will focus on a different theme:
- Space
- Hidden math
- Majestic mountains
- My neighborhood
- Futuristic friends
- Ocean to sound
Each theme highlights a category of learning such […]
Students Recreate Apollo 11 Moon Landing with NASA Challenge
Students from fifth to 12th grades across Tacoma-Pierce County gathered at the Eastside Community Center last month to recreate the Apollo 11 moon landing for the Apollo Next Giant Leap Student Challenge (ANGLeS), a national competition sponsored by NASA.
The challenge, which commemorates the 50th anniversary of the first human moon landing, challenged the nine participating teams to fly a drone carrying a lunar module and land it near the Apollo 11 landing sight on an image of the moon’s surface. Students were encouraged to create an artifact that represented their community to land on […]
Community Leader Spotlight: Pamela Porter
Pamela Porter, or Ms. Pam as her students call her, has been a program specialist at the Boys & Girls Club BOTT lab since 2018. Building Opportunity Through Technology, or BOTT, houses 23 computers where students explore programs catered to math, reading, science, and language art. Additionally, she volunteers as a Girls Scouts Troop Leader inside the BGC. Originally from Portland, Pamela moved to Tacoma in 2015 with her family, including twin sons Stephon and Sean who graduated from Lincoln High School in June 2019.
In this Q&A, Pamela shares the importance of community involvement.
Why […]
Meet Our Newest Collaborative Action Network!
This fall, we will launch the Graduate Tacoma Advocacy Network as our newest Collaborative Action Network.
With this new Network, Graduate Tacoma aims to elevate the Tacoma/Pierce County voice to address impactful local, regional, and state policy issues that further our goals for a Tacoma where every child succeeds from cradle to college and career. Now is the time to build strong advocates for policies that disrupt longstanding inequities for historically underserved communities like ours.
Last year, the Foundation for Tacoma Students launched advocacy efforts for the first time in coordination with the Graduate Tacoma […]
New Investments in Tacoma!
Dear Partners and Friends,
It’s an honor to share some exciting news! We are thrilled to announce a new and game-changing investment into the larger Tacoma community aimed at deepening and scaling partnerships for student success.
This month, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded $2.5 million to be invested over the next two years into increasing the capacity and capability of the Graduate Tacoma community-wide movement!
Your collective support for Tacoma’s future generation of leaders and professionals has become a national model for working together. This investment is recognition of all that we’ve been able to accomplish. Now as we continue to […]
Info Sessions: Investing in Tacoma
We are thrilled to announce a new and game-changing investment into the larger Tacoma community aimed at deepening and scaling partnerships for student success. This month, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded $2.5 million to be invested over the next two years into increasing the capacity and capability of the Graduate Tacoma community-wide movement!
The Foundation for Tacoma Students will direct these new funds into three investment areas: Community Partner Capacity & Capability; Data Capacity & Capability; and Postsecondary Access & Completion.
Click one of the below times to sign up for an upcoming info […]
Partner Spotlight: Ready to Rise
This piece was featured in the 2019 Community Impact Report.
“Ready to Rise is a leadership opportunity for students to join a cohort of high school graduates who will be attending the same college as them. Students transitioning into college are often not prepared to handle the social dynamics of this new environment. Time management, dorm life and encountering new personalities can feel overwhelming.
Here, students come together during a community retreat where they meet others from Tacoma and start to bond. We provide leadership and college preparation […]