JULY 2017 20 | FRONTDOORSMEDIA .COM MELISSA TRUJILLO In just three years, it’s expected that nearly 70 percent of Arizona jobs will require post-secondary training. But with rising tuition costs, many Americans aren’t seeing the value in higher education. Melissa Trujillo, president and CEO of the Be A Leader Foundation, is trying to change that. “We know that the rising cost of college can often prevent students from seeing the value that a college degree can have in their careers and lives but the fact is that those with a college degree still earn nearly a million dollars more over their lifetime than those with only a high school diploma,” she said. Trujillo, a first-generation college student, founded the organization with her husband Gary, also a first-generation college student, 15 years ago. “My journey towards a degree was definitely not easy,” said Trujillo. “So, when Gary and I were thinking of how we could best give back, we knew that access to the mentoring, college-going information and support that was lacking in our lives was the clear answer on how to best support the next generation of leaders in our community.” She began her higher education without understanding financial aid and scholarships and is now passionate about empowering students with the information they need to make the best decisions possible for their education. “As the first in my family to receive a college degree, the journey was definitely a struggle,” she said. “Not understanding the process was certainly a detriment to me while in high school. The conversation at home certainly did not involve college so I had to learn about the college process through peers at school.” Like Trujillo, many of the students the Be A Leader Foundation works with come from families in which parents did not {leadership} OFFICE DOORS Jamie Killin | CONTRIBUTING WRITER BE A LEADER FOUNDATION

JULY 2017 FRONTDOORSMEDIA .COM | 21 attend college and don’t talk to their children about the college application or financial aid process. “When no one else around you has ever been through the process of applying to college, it is easy to believe you will never be able to go to college either, unless there is some external intervention or organization like the Be A Leader Foundation,” Trujillo said. In 2016 alone, the Be A Leader Foundation’s eight programs have served 5,500 students, helping them prepare for college. The programs help students at all stages of college preparation, including an initiative that focuses exclusively on seventh graders, providing them with mentorship and the tools they need to start exploring their options for college. “Because both Gary and I were personally familiar with the challenges faced by first-generation college students and understood the life changing benefits that a college degree can have on both the student and their family, we soon decided that we needed to reach students at a younger age,” she said. The programs are proven to work, too, with 82 percent of participants either having earned their degree, or enrolled in college. Be A Leader Foundation students also obtain a bachelor’s degree at more than double the state’s average of 19 percent within six years. “Every day continues to be just as rewarding as the next,” she said. “Watching students I have known since the seventh grade walk across that commencement stage to receive their college degree makes me as proud as any parent in that audience. Knowing that we have a small part in each student’s educational pursuit is the most rewarding experience we will ever need.”