Hanais – In Her Own Words

May is National Foster Care Month, and at Pivotal the month was filled with powerful moments of learning, celebration, and connection, thanks to the support of our trusted partners, scholars, and community members. Here’s a look at how we celebrated our scholars and our work throughout the month: 

Building Awareness with Coffee & Conversation 

Throughout May, we also hosted a series of Coffee & Conversation virtual events. These 45-minute sessions gave community...

On April 7th and 8th, Pivotal’s Director of Program Partnerships, Ashley Matysiak, MSW and CEO Matt Bell attended the California Foster Youth Education Summit. This annual two-day conference hosted by the California Foster Youth Education Taskforce brings together individuals and organizations from across the state working to improve the educational and life outcomes for students from foster care.  

Sharing Best Practices for Supporting Foster Youth 

Ashley and...

We’re thrilled that our Chief Development Officer, Chelsey Souza, CFRE, has been named a 2025 Woman of Influence by the Silicon Valley Business Journal! With nearly 25 years of experience in fundraising, enabling philanthropy and building community, Chelsey brings strategic leadership, integrity, and passion to everything she does for Pivotal and the young people we serve.  

Before joining Pivotal in 2023, Chelsey led Essex & Drake Fundraising Counsel as President and...

“Sometimes success feels like staying afloat.” 

That’s how Pivotal scholar Briana describes her life journey. Briana emancipated from foster care at 18, two years before the Extended Foster Care bill passed. Also known as AB12, this California law extended services to foster youth beyond their 18th birthday, but it passed long after Briana could take advantage of it. She was on her own. She had started at Dominican University six months earlier, with the help of a...

On April 24th, Pivotal had the honor of attending the annual Children’s Summit, hosted by Kids in Common, a long-time Pivotal Partner. Since 2008, this annual event has brought together over 250 cross-sector leaders in Santa Clara County (SCC) dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families for the better.  

The summit focuses on racial equity and social justice, continual improvement, and successful collaboration through educational workshops and data-driven...

What happens when you bring together ambitious young scholars and some of the leading minds in digital infrastructure?  

Recently, Pivotal hosted an unforgettable Career Day at the offices of our corporate partner, Equinix. Equinix connects organizations through secure, reliable, and sustainable data centers. Six post-secondary scholars and one high school scholar had the opportunity to tour Equinix’s state-of-the-art facilities alongside Pivotal staff members Ashley, Adam,...

Five years ago, Pivotal surveyed our scholars to understand if they had access to the technology they needed for school. We were shocked to learn that only about 40% of our students had access to a reliable laptop. 

“To do my schoolwork, I either had to spend hours at the local library or write my papers on a tablet,” said Destiny, a former foster youth and Pivotal scholar attending San Jose City College. “I didn’t have internet at home, so I had to go sit on a...