“Breakthrough treated my daughter Alesia like the unique, amazing person she is, with guidance molded to her own goals and desires. Seeing Alesia graduate from college, now traveling the world, inspired me. I am proud to say I recently graduated from Concordia University”.

– Narda Alba, Breakthrough Parent

Our hearts are filled with gratitude for everyone who came together this past Saturday night to share in our celebration of Breakthrough’s trailblazing students and families! More than 1,200 Austinites came out in support of Breakthrough for a beautiful evening of music under the stars at the 2019 Beat the Odds Benefit Concert presented by Bank of America and SolarWinds.

Congratulations Nicole Julian for winning the Pick Your Paradise raffle!

In case you missed it, you can view a video of Breakthrough college graduate, Alesia Lujan-Hernandez, sharing her Breakthrough experience here.

While Alesia is now living in Germany working in international business and couldn’t be at the event, her mother, Narda Alba, shared on stage what Breakthrough means to her and her family:

“To me, Breakthrough has been a lighthouse. It has been a beacon of light that makes the barriers easier to see and the choppy waters that much easier to navigate. The students are doing the hard work. But Breakthrough makes it possible for all that effort to not get stuck on the rocks and giant waves society puts in our kids’ way.”

A college degree is the dream our students sign up for in 6th grade for a reason. Without a postsecondary degree or credential, a young person only has a 12% chance of earning a living wage by their mid-20s. Saturday night was a celebration of many things, but mostly, a celebration of the opportunity we have as a community to get this right…to empower an entire generation right here in Central Texas.

Together, we raised $46,620 during paddles up Saturday night, putting us only $3,380 away from meeting the $50,000 challenge match extended by the Topfer Family Foundation. If you would like to help us reach our goal, please donate online or email us today. If we raise an additional $12,000 we can meet our overall event goal of $425,000!

Please know that a gift of ANY amount will go so far in ensuring that Central Texas children from low-income communities can benefit from the life changing power of a college degree.