Leadership Spotlight: Katy Jach

Katy Jach (left) is a junior majoring in Spanish and minoring in education. She is currently in her seventh quarter mentoring at Foster High School in Tukwila, WA. She will be graduating in Fall 2016 and will either be teaching English in Spain or be a 2017 Las Vegas Corps Member for Teach for America.

Dream Project has been a huge part of my college career the past three years—my various leadership roles include Foster High School Lead, Federal Way High School College and Career Readiness Assistant, Student Recruitment Lead for Admissions Workshop Weekend and now Advancement and Fundraising Lead. Being a High School Lead (HSL) is such a unique and challenging experience, and I loved having the opportunity to teach a college class as an undergrad! For me, it was especially important that I was able to be an HSL at Foster, the only school that I have mentored at, because I’ve been able to foster meaningful relationships with many of the students and be a consistent system of support if needed.

In my new role as Advancement and Fundraising Lead, I raise funds for Dream Project by writing grant proposals and stewarding community members interested in supporting Dream Project. My favorite part of this position is being able to learn about and share all of the amazing work that is being done by student leaders in Dream Project and staying connected to every aspect of the program in order to do so. These positions have allowed me to grow as a leader and have allowed me to find an inclusive and supportive community of hard-working, dedicated and passionate undergrads.

I always knew I was going to college. For many of my high school friends, however, college was not in their plan. Many of them were not mentored, helped or even encouraged to pursue any post-secondary plans. Although I grew up in Yakima, a rural community where most of my high school was predominantly Latino and low-income, I grew up as an individual with privilege—my parents attended college as did my older brother. Unfortunately for many of my friends and peers, going to college was not the biggest priority and was not an expectation of the culture. It seemed unfair that I had been given so much support along the way, while my best friend had no one and seemed to fall through the cracks unhelped and unsupported. As I noticed the existing disparities that surround educational access, this led me to become passionate about educational equity, which is was why I joined Dream Project.

My on-the-ground experience in Dream Project has made me more empathetic and taught me to acknowledge my privilege and work on understanding. I realize that I have much to learn about social justice and educational equity, and I am thankful that Dream Project has made me aware of this. All in all, the best part of this experience has been working with the students at Foster High School, who are just awesome people inside and out. I think that it goes without saying that each of them has given me reason to continue this work and drives me to support them in realizing their full potential so that they have access to the best possible education.