25 Years of Impact: How the TGR Learning Lab opened doors and built success for underserved youth
As I look back on the 15 years since the TGR Learning Lab opened its doors to students and families in Anaheim, California, I am immensely proud of the hard work, growth and student success that has taken place. Thousands of underserved students have walked through our doors into a safe space that has given them opportunities they might not have had otherwise. The Learning Lab has helped students find their passion and pursue it, experience innovation and foster creativity all while being supported by caring adults to mentor and guide them on their journey.
Volunteer Spotlight: How volunteerism enhanced my skills during the pandemic
As TGR Foundation celebrates National Volunteer Appreciation Week, the TGR Learning Lab shines a spotlight on TGR Learning Lab volunteer Nancy Rich Villa. Nancy’s experience as a volunteer with virtual STEM classes reconfirmed her decision to pursue a career supporting underserved youth.
A mother and a full-time student, Nancy will be graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology Science from the University of California, Irvine this June. She plans to attend graduate school at Cal State Fullerton to work toward a master’s degree in social work.
Here she shares her experience being a virtual volunteer with the TGR Learning Lab’s instructional staff and community of students during the pandemic.
Scholar Voices: Tenacity of an Immigrant
I was born in a village in China and my only perception of the world used to be my village. It wasn’t until my parents decided to take a leap of faith and fly more than 1,500 miles to the United States so I could pursue the “American Dream” that my perception of the world expanded. Because my parents did not speak English, I had to navigate this foreign place on my own. I have been trying to pave my own path from the moment I landed in the United States, with both successes and failures.
I heard “you need to go to college to get a good job” my entire life. I was always told I needed to attend a school like UCLA or UC Berkeley because it was all my parents heard from other people. Though these school names became very familiar, I had absolutely no idea how to get there. Until my junior year of high school, I had no idea what the SAT, FAFSA, UC applications and even the Common Application was. As the first person in my family to apply for the FAFSA and fill out college applications, I was met with obstacles at every step. However, through a college-access program called College Match, I not only gained the tools and support to pursue higher education, I discovered the Earl Woods Scholar Program in the process.
TGR Foundation announces new Find Your Grind Foundation partnership
Today, TGR Foundation, A Tiger Woods Charity, announced a new partnership with Find Your Grind Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Los Angeles-based self-discovery and career exploration platform, Find Your Grind. The multi-year partnership brings together two organizations with a shared mission to help young people discover who they are, identify their strengths and interests and offer multiple pathways to personal and professional success.
TGR Foundation celebrates two million students reached through education programs
After years of reaching young people across the country through education and youth development programs, Tiger Woods challenged his foundation “to make bold choices, explore unchartered territory and reach millions of kids around the world.” Now in its 25th anniversary year, TGR Foundation has met his challenge and celebrates two million students reached.
TGR Foundation launches Pathways Forward initiative, celebrates 25 years
In 1996, when Tiger and his parents launched TGR Foundation, they set out to do something profoundly simple yet deeply impactful – give kids hope. As we enter into TGR Foundation’s 25th anniversary, at an unprecedented time when hardships feel insurmountable, the ability to give kids from our most vulnerable communities a sense of hope feels all the more urgent and critical.
With 2021 marking a milestone year for the foundation, we look to our founder to share his vision for our next chapter. Tiger’s goal for us, once again, is inherently simple yet visionary – to provide young people with a clear path to personal excellence and professional success. While this next chapter of the foundation’s journey is my first at the helm of the organization, the groundwork has been long established.
2020: A Year of Opportunity
“An unprecedented year”
We’ve heard that phrase many times this year, and although it’s a reflective sentiment for the pandemic, it’s also cause to acknowledge diversity, ensure equity and to seek inclusivity – individually and collectively.
TGR Foundation has learned a lot in 2020, and I am proud to share how we advanced our programmatic work in new and still impactful ways.
Student Spotlight: How the TGR Learning Lab impacted my discovery and path to engineering
When she walked through the doors of the TGR Learning Lab (TGRLL) as a fifth grader, Amelie Jimenez knew she had found the perfect space to explore all her interests. Now a 17-year-old junior at Los Angeles Unified School District’s Bell High School in Bell, Ca, Amelie can’t imagine her educational journey without the support of the staff, teachers and classes that have shaped and guided her education journey. With plans of studying engineering one day, Amelie reflects on her favorite in-person and virtual classes, the lessons she’s learned from COVID-19 and why every student should participate in TGR Learning Lab programs.
Scholar Voices: How faith the size of a Mustard Seed helped me fulfill my dreams
From a very young age I knew that I wanted to go to law school and become a lawyer. My father planted the seed in my mind of me becoming a lawyer at the prime age of nine years old. Throughout my childhood I was always eager to tell any and everybody that would listen that I was going to grow up and be a lawyer. I remember watching lawyers on television and envisioning my future life through the lens of those television characters. I became engrossed with law-related entertainment whether it was a television show, movie, documentary or book. What nine-year-old do you know who is obsessed with Law & Order? I was that nine-year-old.
Student Spotlight: How College Bound Academy shaped my path to College, empowered me to pay it forward
Coming from a first-generation Mexican-American household, college was a pathway to upward social mobility and the American Dream. Even though it was highly encouraged, I never really knew how the college process worked. The only thing I knew was that I had to study hard, get involved and never give up – three core principles I truly believe have allowed me to be where I am today.
I would be lying if I said my path to college was easy. It was challenging. As I connected with my friends, Gabriella Henry and Gustavo Aguilar from Katella High School, who also attend UC Berkeley, we noticed that there was a common trend in our community – a lack of resources and college assistance – and we felt that it needed to be addressed. We knew that we wanted to give back to our community and help students navigate the college process.
