Feature Overview
AGUILA Youth Leadership Institute and APS Team Up to Empower Students
For over 15 years, APS Co. has partnered with AGUILA Youth Leadership Institute, a local college access organization, to break down barriers to post-secondary education for first-generation, underrepresented students.
Serving students from across the state, AGUILA offers a holistic approach to youth development and a comprehensive educational program that provides 8th through 12th grade students the academic, professional and personal tools they need to excel as future leaders and changemakers.
D-backs name 2020
Pete Garcia Award winner
Rosemary Ybarra-Hernandez
CEO/Founder - AGUILA Youth Leadership Institute
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
The Arizona Diamondbacks celebrate our Latino fans, players and team players throughout the year, and host Hispanic Heritage Day each season. September 9, 2020 will mark the 22nd Los D-backs Hispanic Heritage Day celebration where the team will recognize an individual for their advocacy, leadership and service to the Arizona community with the Pete Garcia Los D-backs Hispanic Leadership Award. Be sure to tune into the D-backs vs. Dodgers game broadcast starting at 6:30PM on FOX Sports Arizona or in Spanish on FSAZ+.
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Analyssa Flores, a program specialist at Aguila Youth Leadership Institute, talks to eighth-graders about the differences between jobs and careers.
'Pay it forward': Phoenix program inspires a generation of college graduates
Tired of seeing the organization have to move each time a lease ended, an Aguila board member gifted Aguila a little brick building in Phoenix. Aguilitas and their families call it the nest.
On a chilly day in December, Monica Avila, the organization's program manager, is working with two Aguila graduates who now mentor younger students.
Maria Hernandez, 21, started with Aguila in high school. Now, she's finishing a degree at Arizona State University in urban and metropolitan studies with an emphasis on social change.
Analyssa Flores, 19, says Aguila helped her and her family understand the skills she needed to achieve higher education. She earned a scholarship to attend Grand Canyon University and is studying education.
“Being a first-generation student, I always knew I wanted to go to college to make my parent’s sacrifices being in this country worth it,” she says.
Aguila Youth Leadership Institute helping students get to college
Rosemary Ybarra-Hernandez and her husband started the program Aguila Youth Leadership Institute to help students get to college.
Featured by ABC15 Arizona
WILLMENG PROJECT MANAGER SPEAKS AT AGUILA YOUTH LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE AS ALUMNI
The Aguila Youth Leadership Institute recently celebrated 13 years of success in helping Arizona students from low-income communities reach higher education. At the 8th annual luncheon held at the Heard Museum, Willmeng and corporate leaders were honored for supporting the program and alumni were recognized for their active roles in the community. Willmeng Project Manager, Pablo Sandoval, spoke at the event as a Class of 2007 graduate.
ARIZONA HUMANITIES ANNOUNCES
2020 HUMANITIES AWARDS Congratulations to Aguila Youth Leadership Institute
AGUILA Youth Leadership Institute prepares youth for college
Zamantha Lopez Aldaco was a senior at Mesa’s Westwood High School in 2009 when she joined the AGUILA Youth Leadership Institute. The Phoenix-based nonprofit, which prepares youth for college admission and graduation based on cultural understanding, encouraged her to apply as she prepared to attend college.
Today, more than 10 years later, Lopez Aldaco is the first graduate of the program to sit on AGUILA’s board of directors. She serves the board as a graduate of the University of Rochester, an engineer and a representative of SRP.
“What’s really funny is that I actually joined SRP because of an employee, Nick Quinones, who I knew in the AGUILA program,” Lopez Aldaco said. “It’s an incredibly intertwined story.”
Holocaust survivors, veterans share stories with students
Teenage members of the Aguila Youth Leadership Institute were given the ultimate history lesson as they met face-to-face with seven Holocaust survivors to hear their stories.
More than 100 student members of Aguila attended the organization’s summer symposium to learn from Holocaust survivors at the Arizona Jewish Historical Society on Thursday, July 18.
Aguila is a college preparatory program that just celebrated 15 years of service, with students from its program all over the world. The institute’s CEO and founder, Rosemary Ybarra-Hernandez, said that the organization tries to offer more than just preparation for higher learning. “We want our students to go to college with a purpose.”