The Migrant Advocacy Project

Our Community Partners

Making up over a quarter of its residents, Oakland is home to a growing population of immigrants. Consequently, the number of immigrant students in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) has grown from 1,299 students in 2013 to 2,862 students in 2018, a 55% increase in immigrant youth in the past five years alone. In that same time frame, OUSD has provided their students with the technology that a modern day education demands, and today, every student is given a laptop to supplement their K-12 curriculum.  But as students graduate high school, these laptops are recycled back into the school district and a number of graduates are left without adequate access to technology, causing many immigrant graduates pursuing college fall behind on their desired educational goals.

Our Program

Migrant Advocacy Project (MAP) aims to break down the barriers immigrant youth face in their pursuit of higher education through the MAP Scholars Program, an initiative that improves digital literacy and promotes inclusion of immigrant youth at post-secondary institutions. This summer, ten graduating high school seniors from OUSD will participate in MAP’s digital literacy workshop series consisting of eight classes over a two-month period. The program’s core curriculum will focus on three areas of development: personal, professional and academic. 

Through a variety of interactive workshops, lectures, and panels, the MAP Scholars Program aims to support immigrant youth in their preparation for college by sharing information, tools, and resources that both enhance and complement the awareness of their strengths and limitless capacities.    

Upon completion of the program, students will receive a MacBook Pro with AppleCare protection and any donations made to this campaign will be used to directly support our capacity to provide each MAP scholar with access to technology.

Budget Breakdown

All proceeds will go towards providing each student with an Apple MacBook Pro. Our goal is to raise $10,000 through this campaign, which will allow us to provide 8 students with the technology they need to continue their education. 

Our Goal

Impact and Outcomes: Bridging the Gap

• Bridging the technological gap and economic inclusion: Every Scholar who completes our eight-week MAP Scholars Program receives a MacBook Pro to take with them to college. Paying for college is not easy and not having access to technology can hinder one's ability to pursue higher education and participate in today's digital age economy. 
• Bridging the educational gap: Unlike most merit-based programs, the MAP Scholars Program does not impose a GPA requirement in our scholarship applications. Doing away with this traditional measure of success, MAP redefines what it means to be a scholar. MAP Scholars are high school graduates who are leaders — students who demonstrate intellectual curiosity and a deep commitment to learning, but more importantly, show a willingness to give and seek help as demonstrated by their familial obligations and community involvement. By recognizing students for their strengths both inside and outside of the classroom, MAP promotes racial equity and inclusion for immigrant youth.
• Social inclusion: Through MAP’s strength-based, growth-minded curriculum, Scholars will enter college with a greater sense of socio-cultural understanding of themselves in relation to the world around them, more confidence in their relationships with peers and adults, and a deeper understanding of fiscal responsibility. In addition, the MAP Scholars Program will raise each Scholar’s confidence level navigating through academic and professional settings. By working with each Scholar to identify, develop, and foster their unique strengths, MAP Scholars have no bounds when it comes to their success in college and beyond.

What Can You Do To Help?

Your support is crucial to our efforts of increasing accessibility to technology and equalizing opportunities for immigrant youth in the Bay Area. Each donation MAP receives gets us that much closer to our goal of providing laptops for every MAP Scholar in our Summer 2019 cohort.

Not able to make a monetary contribution? That’s okay! Sharing this campaign with your family, friends, and colleagues will help us spread the word and create awareness. Thank you in advance for your support! 

Contact Information

To learn more about the MAP Scholars Program, please visit our website or Facebook page. If you have any questions or would like to discuss the project in more detail you can contact us at migrantadvocacyproject@gmail.com.