EXP ❤️ Long Beach
EXP Insider Newsletter: September 2022
GPS Your Future is finally here!
We are excited to welcome students and industry partners back to our first in-person GPS Your Future® career discovery day since 2019!
500+ 9th-10th grade students and 150 volunteers are expected to join us on campus at CSU Dominguez Hills on Friday, September 30. Students will explore their own futures through a series of activities: keynote speaker Edna Nerona with public speaking and networking tips, an exhibit hall with 30 exhibitors showcasing their industries and the multitude of career opportunities, and four different breakout panel topics with nearly 40 industry professionals sharing their career journeys.
“CSU Dominguez Hills is looking forward to once again having students from EXP on our campus for GPS Your Future,” said David A. Gamboa, Interim Chief of Staff, Office of the President, CSUDH. “Our university educates the future leaders of the region. This annual career discovery event enables these future leaders to explore those opportunities.”
Mentor Opportunity: Young Fellows Program
EXP’s Young Fellows Program is returning this fall! We are looking for men of color to inspire and motivate approximately 120 boys of color from EXP-supported high schools and guest schools representing all grade levels.
With your help, our Young Fellows will emerge from this program with a heightened sense of self-worth and confidence, a game plan for post-high school success, and a new group of mentors who can help guide them.
For more information, please contact Program Leads Kenia Tello at kenia@expfuture.org and Eva Levingston at eva@expfuture.org.
EXP ❤️ Long Beach
ICYMI: You helped us raise nearly $3,600 during Long Beach Gives day of giving on September 22! But that is not the only good news coming out of Long Beach last week.
We are excited to announce that we are growing our footprint in the city of Long Beach with the addition of a new partner school, Long Beach Polytechnic High School. EXP will be supporting the students of Poly Arts to express their creativity and explore careers across the arts, ranging from traditional performance to tech-infused digital and video creation.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with LBUSD in its pursuit of academic excellence and equity, particularly in the area of career technical education and Linked Learning,” said Amy Grat, CEO of EXP.
Other Long Beach schools in the EXP family include Rancho Dominguez Preparatory School’s STEAM Academy and Intellectual Virtues Academy High School (IVA). EXP is working with IVA faculty to design a new college and career curriculum that fulfills the school’s vision to equip students to engage the world with curiosity and thoughtfulness, to know themselves, and to live well. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming months.
EXP Partner Spotlight: Valero Energy
Valero Energy has helped EXP students navigate toward brighter futures over the years. In November 2021, EXP was honored to be one of six local nonprofit organizations to receive a generous contribution from the Valero Energy Foundation, raised as part of its annual Valero Wilmington Benefit for Children event.
This generous support enabled EXP to deliver our career education programs to thousands of harbor area youth this past year. Valero’s generous contribution enabled EXP staff to facilitate on-campus speakers, mentoring, and career days, as well as promote civic leadership through the Frank Herrera Community Service Scholarships at our annual Oceans of Opportunity event. Thanks in part to Valero’s sponsorship, EXP’s virtual Women in STEM career day was able to host nearly 350 young women and prepare 81 students through EXP’s internship program, including four interns hosted at the Wilmington Refinery.
“Giving students the opportunity to intern over the summer at the Valero Wilmington Refinery is key to depositing the seed on the various career paths that are available in our industry,” said Kyle Sharon, Vice President and General Manager at Valero. “Additionally, it provides community partners such as ourselves the opportunity to learn important aspects of the community from these students while also participating in the growth and development of the next generation.”
Valero’s employees are also very generous with their time and talent. For example, the Wilmington Environment & Safety Director Thomas “Tommy” Luong currently serves on the EXP board and is a member of EXP’s DEI committee. In addition, many more Valero volunteers contribute to the success of our students by hosting our summer interns, helping our students hone their interview skills at mock interviews, and sharing their career journey stories at our career discovery events and in classrooms.
Valero and their volunteers are the fuel we need for the opportunity engine. Thank you for helping EXP prepare our students for a better life!
Your Support in Action
2022-2023 Internship Program Kicks off October 4
It all starts with an opportunity! We expect 150+ 11th-grade students who are interested in participating in this year’s EXP Internship Program: Powered by Prologis and their parents to attend the program kick-off events on October 4 at the Carson Center and DiNapoli’s restaurant in Barstow. They will hear stories from past interns and host companies and get the details on how to make the most of this terrific opportunity for hands-on, work-based learning.
Last summer, 81 students received hands-on internship experiences at 30 companies, including Kaiser Permanente, Westcoast Warehousing, and Wilmington Chamber of Commerce. We are looking forward to meeting the new crop of aspiring interns!
EXP Alumni Summer
What a great summer for EXP alumni activities! We continue to build our alumni network first through the first-ever day of service in July, where alums, board members, and volunteers for a beach cleanup at the Belmont Pier in Long Beach.
Then in August, more than 30 young adults leveled up their professional skills over 3 days with EXP’s Fuel Your Future workshop series. The esteemed Loyola Marymount University professors led the participants through crash courses to develop highly marketable skills, including project management, intercultural communication, and public speaking.
Kicking off the week, an enthusiastic group of young adults received a full-day small group coaching session with career coach Laura Doxey. They spent the day developing leadership skills, learning to explore their interests, and setting goals for their future.
And capping off the workshop series was a mixer at San Pedro Brewing Company. Workshop participants got to practice their newly acquired skills to network with industry professionals, other EXP alums, and staff and board members.
We're looking forward to serving more alumni in the coming months!
Welcome New Board Members
DAISHA BLACK
Sr. Manager, Talent Acquisition, PlayStation
As a Talent Leader, Daisha leverages experience, curiosity, and technical agility to help organizations excel in building a best-in-class talent organization that allows them to succeed through current and future landscapes requiring fast growth. She brings a background in psychology, operations, leadership, and executive coaching.
“As a Long Beach native and former South Central resident for many years, I truly desire to give back to the communities that have built and shaped me,” said Daisha. “EXP’s mission is one that I’d love to support.”
CHRIS GREEN
Technical Services Manager, Marathon Petroleum Los Angeles Refinery
Chris leads the Technical Service department, a team of Chemical Engineers and Control Specialists who support the safe, compliant, and reliable operation of the largest oil refinery on the west coast. He has 28 years of experience in the petroleum refining industry at multiple locations in the United Kingdom, Texas, and Northern and Southern California.
“I was inspired by the growth I saw in high school students who participated in our summer youth program internships,” said Chris. As a result, he joined the board to give back to the community where he works.
ERIC SHEN
Founder, and CEO, Shen and Associates, LLC
Eric Shen is a highly regarded executive with 29 years of professional experience in multi-modal transportation policy, planning, operations, and project delivery and well-respected teaching faculty at prestigious universities (USC, UCLA, and UC Irvine). Most recently, he was the Director of Capital Projects/Chief Engineer for the San Gabriel Valley of Governments (SGVCOG). In addition, Eric has served in the leadership positions in the Transportation Research Board, a division of the National Academy of Sciences, and a board member of the California Transportation Foundation and is currently an Advisor Member of the Mobility 21 and an At-Large Board of Directors of the WTS-LA.
Passionate about linking practical experiences with workforce development, Eric looks forward to sharing ideas related to transportation fields and advancing EXP’s goal to build tomorrow’s workforce and provide career opportunities to students from underserved communities in Southern California.