By Adrienne Luce

Sara Nelson and I attended the Alliance College-Ready Public Schools career networking event last night in downtown Los Angeles. It was a fabulous event and we both enjoyed the opportunity to meet so many bright and talented college students and recent graduates. The Alliance College-Ready Public Schools is a network of 22 high-performing charter schools. More than 97% of the students who attend Alliance schools graduate from high school and go on to attend Ivy League schools and top universities throughout the country. I met Catherine Suitor, the Alliance’s Chief Development and Communications Officer, last year when I was on a site visit at Susan & Eric Smidt Technology High School that was part of the Southern California Network, Leadership LA program.

HMC sponsored the event last night and our firm was thanked and publicly acknowledged for providing the generous support. At the event, I had a very nice conversation with Alliance board member Gayle Miller, retired President of Anne Klein II, who told me about the Alliance’s plans to build many new schools over the next few years as part of their ambitious expansion efforts.

I staffed the nonprofit table and Sara manned the architecture table and we didn’t stop talking to students for two hours! It was rewarding to see so many diverse professions represented throughout the room. Sara summed up the experience best:

“When we step into something we also step into the unknown. For college students this can be very daunting as they think about their futures and how they will get to them. Being a part of the Alliance Alumni Career Networking Night was a great opportunity to bring many of the unknowns for these college students into the light.”

Catherine Suitor, the Chief Development and Communications Officer for the Alliance, HMC ‘s Sara Nelson and me with two Alliance alums, one who graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design and the other from Dartmouth College.

After two hours of providing career guidance and advice, Sara and I finally relax for a moment.

Judy Ivie Burton, the Alliance College-Ready Public Schools President and CEO, welcome a packed house of diverse industry professionals and Alliance students and alums.