By Don Krim
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” So said Nelson Mandela, and his words are as powerful for Mexico as anywhere in the world.
In its largest application process (solicitud) ever, Jóvenes Adelante (JA) received a staggering 557 initial applications for its incoming 2021 class, double the number of applicants in 2020. Of those, 237 applicants were invited to submit full applications. As of now 127 of those are moving to the next step of review, which will determine which students will be interviewed.
Consistent with its goal for the year, all of these applicants represent the first generation of higher education aspirants in their family. They are the future of San Miguel de Allende! Given the demand, JA hopes to have sufficient support from its community of donors to accept up to 30 new students. In addition, JA will continue its pilot high school senior project with up to five additional students.
Jóvenes Adelante supports its students principally through individual sponsorship. Every student has a financial sponsor who commits to the student’s five years (on average) of education, including professional internships and licensing. These commitments are blind, with no personal connections, however after student and sponsor are matched, sponsors can meet the student benefited by their funds. Sponsors must commit before we accept a student. We accept full and half sponsorships.
Each student is also assigned an individual mentor from the community at large who guides the student throughout their university study period.
Jóvenes Adelante provides a key that opens a door to a radically more expansive future for the youth of San Miguel de Allende. As the most robust and comprehensive higher education assistance program in Mexico, its proven model of funding plus multiple levels of additional support is why our success rate is 85 percent, more than three times the national average.
As members of the San Miguel community, we owe it to these kids to support as many as we can. For more info about sponsoring a student, please contact donkrim@jovenesadelante.org. For information about mentoring a student, please contact nora.weaver@jovenesadelante.org. Also visit website jovenesadelante.org.