BridgeYear is a nonprofit organization that helps recent high school graduates in Houston determine their next steps for community college, vocational training, or employment. In its first annual impact report, BridgeYear discusses launching hundreds of students on a path to economic mobility through career test drive fairs and ongoing advising. The report outlines BridgeYear's growth over the 2017-2018 school year, including facilitating over 3,800 career experiences, doubling advising capacity, and expanding career offerings and industry partnerships. BridgeYear's programs helped many students identify career interests and educational opportunities they were previously unaware of.

1. B R I D G E Y E A R
IMPACT REPORT
2017-2018 SCHOOL YEAR

2. BridgeYear advisors help students determine their
next steps for community college, vocational
training, or employment
LETTER FROM THE
CO-FOUNDERS
We are proud to present BridgeYear’s first annual Impact Report. Your support has helped our new and
growing organization launch hundreds of recent high school graduates on a path to economic mobility.
BridgeYear was born out of our experiences working with high school students as college counselors. Many
of the students we served were graduating without a clear plan for the future. Moreover, students were
unaware of the many high-paying, high-demand jobs in the Houston economy that do not require a
Bachelor's degree. Without this knowledge and a four-year degree, students were often limited to entry
level jobs, earning below a living wage. BridgeYear designs and implements “Career Test Drive” (CTD) Fairs
which give students hands-on exposure to high demand careers. We know exposure itself is not enough, so
we provide ongoing advising after high school to build student self-efficacy and purpose.
Just one year since our first Career Test Drive Fair, we have facilitated over 3800 career experiences at 20
schools across Houston. Demand for our fairs has grown beyond our expectations, mostly through positive
reviews and word-of-mouth publicity. We have also expanded our career offerings and solidified our first
industry partners to begin building employment pipelines straight from high school. Our advising services
have also seen tremendous growth. With the adoption of a new messaging platform, advising is now more
streamlined, doubling our capacity to serve students.
The 2017-2018 school year has brought exciting changes and growth for the BridgeYear team. We look
forward to expanding our impact and innovation through increased partnerships with schools and
employers. Together, we can help more Houston youth leverage post-secondary education and
employment opportunities in our great city.
With much appreciation,
Victoria Chen & Victoria Doan
BOARD MEMBERS
Brandi Brevard
Victoria Chen
Victoria Doan Secretary
August Hamilton Treasurer
Dawn Hawley President
2017-2018 TEAM
Aninditaa Agarwal
Eveline Amador
Jose Benavides
Jasmine Cantu
Nile Dixon
Stefany Garcia
Liliana Martinez
Evelyn Melgar
Carlos Mendiola
Dariana Resendez
Cesar Rodriguez
Nathan Sample
Yaquelin Sanchez
Allan Zelaya
BridgeYear advisors help students navigate their next
steps for community college, vocational training, or entry-
level employment
Building the Path:
Career Simulations that Inspire:
BridgeYear’s Career Test Drives (CTD) provide hands-on,
interactive, in-school field trip experiences in high
growth, high demand fields
Advising - Anytime, Anywhere:
BridgeYear offers near-peer advising through text
messages to offer support and direction to students,
especially once they have graduated high school
THE BRIDGEYEAR
EXPERIENCE

3. 16' 17' 18'MAR MARJUN JUN JUNOCT OCTJAN APR JUL JULAUG APRFEB
Planning for BridgeYear begins
BridgeYear is
formed with first
advising cohort
Accepted into 4.0
Schools’ Tiny
Fellowship
Founding
board
assembled
First pilot of a
Career Test Drive
Awarded
Thorne
Prize for
Social
Innovation
at Yale
Partnership
with Houston
Community
College for TSI
Academies
Featured on local
news channel
BridgeYear
receives
501(c)3 status
Partnership with TRIO
Educational
Opportunity Center
High School Outreach
Campaign begins with
Marvy Finger Family
Foundation
First corporate
sponsorship
provided by JP
Morgan Chase
BridgeYear adapts
SignalVine to double
advising capacity
Young
Professionals
Board formed
ExxonMobil volunteers co-design Process
Technician and Console Operator Career
Test Drives
Pharmacy Technician
Medical Laboratory Technician
Health Information Technician Process Technician
Console Operator
Phlebotomist
Call Center Representative
Plumber
HVAC Technician
Network Technician
New Career Test DriveAdvising Cohort Partnerships
OUR PROGRESS
Electrician
Web Developer
Pipefitter
BridgeYear receives office
space as in-kind
donation from TEACH

4. OUR IMPACT
66%
enrolled into HCC in
Fall 2017
20
Career Test Drive
Fairs all over
Houston
1800
Worked with
students
students
advised
637
3800
Career Test Drives
experiences
91%
89%
of students learn of
a new career
of students increased
understanding of job
functions
9
Career Test Drives in
three industries
“As a counselor, I see a lot of kids who really
don’t know what they want to do. The
opportunity to try on careers has gotten them
more interested in college than before they
started.”
- College Counselor
“I had a lot of fun. I didn’t really know what I
wanted to do before, and this opened up my
mind to say hey, I have another chance at
doing something. This turned me around to
actually want to go and pursue this career.”
-Student after a Career Test Drive
BRIDGEYEAR IS THE
ON-RAMP TO
EDUCATIONAL
PATHWAYS AND
EMPLOYMENT
OPPORTUNITIES FOR
STUDENTS IN
UNDERSERVED
COMMUNITIES

5. A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR 2017-2018 SUPPORTERS
Foundations
Baxter Trust
Center for Civic Leadership,
Rice University
Marvy Finger Family Foundation
Project 88 Foundation
The Simmons Foundation
Corporate Sponsors
JP Morgan Chase
In Kind Donors
Comp-U-Dopt
The Kipling School
Ronin Art House
Star Cleaners
TEACH - To Educate All Children
Individual Contributors
$1000+
Dawn and Robert Hawley
Stephanie Larsen
Champ Warren
$500-$999
Karandeep Singh Chawla
CodeSpeak Labs
Joseph and Jan Khuat
Laura Dew
Sharon Lester
$250-$499
Dick Chiu
Steve Doan
Hong-Lin Chen Lee Chen Hwung
Scott and Lauren Phillips
Barrett Sides
Catherine Wu
$100-$249
Polly Ahrendts
Karen Benson
Brandi Brevard
Howard Chen
Melissa Chen
Caroline Doan
August Hamilton
Song-Mei Keyes
Laurel Lacroix
Hoang Lan
Cecilia Nguyen
Luna Nguyen
Tam Nguyen
Melissa Colgate Nork
Tung-Mei Pan
Susana Rosas
Roel Saldivar
Mira K Shah
Sarah Shieh
Christine Tran
Ivan Van
Albert Wei
Bob Wimpelberg
@BridgeYearHTX @BridgeYearProgram @bridgeyear www.bridge-year.org