Baltimore nonprofits merge to boost Latina student success

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A merger between two educational nonprofits focused on Baltimore City seeks to expand support for city high school and college students and improve outcomes for all underrepresented students. This strategic partnership combines the citywide infrastructure and resources of one organization with the other’s individualized, in-depth culturally responsive programming.

¡Adelante Latina!, a free, after-school academic enrichment and college access program designed to help Latina high school students overcome socioeconomic and academic barriers in higher education, has joined the CollegeBound Foundation, an organization empowering low-income and first-generation students to attend college and graduate successfully. The new program is called ¡Adelante Latina! at CollegeBound.

“We are excited that ¡Adelante Latina! is joining CollegeBound,” says Cassie Motz, CollegeBound’s executive director. “Our mission has always been to ensure that every Baltimore City public school student, regardless of background, has the opportunity to succeed in college and beyond.

“This transition marks a new chapter,” Motz explained. “Adding ¡Adelante Latina’s strong programming and proven results to CollegeBound’s citywide research and our own record of success is a win for all Baltimore’s students.”

Students in the CollegeBound College Completion Program all receive the federal Pell Grant and additional aid from CollegeBound. Seventy-one percent of CCP members graduate from four-year colleges within six years, the same as the statewide public four-year college graduation rate (across all income levels). By comparison, just 28% of all Baltimore high school students who begin two or four-year college programs graduate within six years.

Since 1988, CollegeBound has been the cornerstone for high school decision-making and post-high school guidance for countless Baltimore students and graduates. With specialists in half of the city’s public high schools and many middle schools, and through the CCP, the organization has helped more than 67,000 students choose a college, navigate and succeed in the college application and financial aid processes and graduate college successfully.

Recently, they have been able to award more than $4 million annually in scholarships and grants to Baltimore students attending college. And their Last Dollar Grants continue to provide the critical dollars that have allowed over 1,880 students to attend college.

Program graduates have included Alicia Wilson, Vice President for Civic Engagement and Opportunity, Johns Hopkins University and CollegeBound Board Chair, Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School (Mervo) Class of 2000; Brandon Scott, current Baltimore City Mayor, Mervo Class of 2002 and Shaunae Evans-Wheatley, International Senior Tax Analyst, Finastra, President of the CollegeBound Alumni Association and Baltimore City College Class of 2016.

Leonor Blum, originally from Argentina, started ¡Adelante Latina! in 2013, after retiring from Notre Dame of Maryland University as a history and political science professor. Blum came to the U.S. as a college student and initially found it difficult to adapt to a new culture and a new way of learning.

“I decided I would start a program to equip Latinas for college and beyond,” she explained, “so that they would be better prepared for American collegiate life than I was.”

To date, ¡Adelante Latina! has graduated 95 students, and more than 90% have entered college with no financial responsibility. According to Blum, the year-to-year college persistence rate for ¡Adelante Latina! alumnae (Classes 2021 to 2024) averages 89%, higher than the national Latino college persistence rate of 69%.

“This merger,” she said, “makes us part of a mission-driven educational organization, enhancing and expanding educational assistance to talented Latinas in Baltimore City high schools, while maintaining our commitment to serve the Latino community of Baltimore.”

Blum, along with most ¡Adelante Latina! program staff and volunteer tutors, will continue with Adelante Latina! at CollegeBound. Operating from the CollegeBound office in the Remington neighborhood of Baltimore, the program’s focus will remain on the unique educational needs and goals of 10th to 12th grade Baltimore high school Latinas, through academic preparation, after-school tutoring, college readiness and counseling, $3000 individual graduation awards and a week-long summer bootcamp.

“We will bring them into what we’re already doing,” Motz explained, “using our resources and our scale to recruit in more high schools and make sure that every student at ¡Adelante Latina! at CollegeBound is part of our College Completion Program and has access to our support and scholarships.”

The CCP, a multi-year network of campus liaisons, professional mentors and advisors, is dedicated to helping Baltimore public school graduates navigate college. In its ninth year, it currently serves 245 students; this is more than 25% of the Baltimore public high school seniors attending four-year colleges on Pell grants. CCP participants have access to advising and group enrichment activities, including bringing students together over winter break, assisting with FAFSA application completion, finding summer jobs and creating effective elevator pitches.

Ana Herrera, City Class of 2025, is part of the first ¡Adelante Latina! at CollegeBound CCP cohort. A first-generation Latina, she begins at Loyola University Maryland this fall, majoring in chemistry and minoring in secondary education; her goal is to become a high school or middle school chemistry teacher. Herrera recently attended her first CCP Transition to College overnight retreat. At Towson University, this two-night, three-day, summer event provides incoming college freshmen with a taste of college life, through workshops on topics like finances and study methods as well as events and activities. To make the roommate experience more realistic, Herrera said, the program paired students with people they didn’t know.

Herrera is excited about all the merger will provide for her as well as for all Latinas in Baltimore high schools. She’s looking forward to the internship and networking opportunities, both of which she’s already appreciating. At this year’s CollegeBound Scholar’s Luncheon, Herrera thanked the president of an organization that had awarded her a $5,000 scholarship. His response included telling her to contact them about an internship next summer.

“I know that I’m going to have a support system to keep me going through all my hard times,” she explained with an excited smile. “Through CollegeBound, and the College Completion Program, it really motivates us to continue with college.”

This story has been corrected to update the name of Loyola University Maryland.