Our Beginning

The CAASSIE Scholarship fund was founded in November 2016 to honor the memory of my late sister Lavern Cumby, a school nurse who lost her battle with cancer on November 8, 2016. Lavern and I shared a passion to close the opportunity gap, which was inspired by our late sister Lurie Center (April 28, 1945 - December 12, 1996) who was a distinguished educator. 

The opportunity gap is the disparity in access to quality schools and resources needed for all children to be academically successful. As an African-American woman, it is very real for me. As a teen, I had to leave my friends and neighborhood school behind to attend a school an hour’s drive away because my neighborhood school did not offer college prep classes. When I enrolled in my neighborhood school in the summer to get a jump start on Algebra II the book used was the same one I had for Algebra I. When I pointed this out to my teacher she said, "stay in this class and you will get credit for Algebra II." I received an "A" on my transcripts for having taken Algebra II, however without the benefit of actual Algebra II instruction Calculus was more difficult. 

My older sister emphasized the importance of Advanced Placement (AP) classes for college prep, however, they were only offered to students in the magnet program, which included non-neighborhood students bused in to integrate our school. However, we never saw them because they had a different start time, end time and separate classrooms. This is an example of the opportunity gap and why we focus on African-American students.

Our initial goal was to raise $5,000 by Lavern's birthday on April 15, 2017, the minimum required to establish an invested scholarship fund at the Southwestern College Foundation.  Our goal was attained a month early, on March 15 with contributions from over 70 donors in San Diego and across the U.S. who knew and admired Lavern and Lurie. As of May 2017, we have raised over $8,000.  

Our plan for continued growth includes corporate engagement, student and community engagement in fund raising and increasing our number of community college school partners.

Our leadership team devotes their talents and skill sets voluntarily. Examples include leadership team member Mildred Center, a brand and marketing professional who has developed our brand identity, marketing collateral, website and leads overall brand development. Sun Cumby, a manager at Occulus (a Facebook company), leads social media campaigns and strategy. Linda Cumby, Jackie Jones and Tania Center cast a wide net on fund raising efforts via outreach to a strong network of donors. And Kira Hunter contributes the student perspective along with expert creative services. Overall, we aim to keep administrative, marketing and operations fees to a minimum with in-kind contributions from our team.

We believe that community colleges are where we can have the greatest student access, after all they are where 75% of African-American students begin their college studies before transferring to a four-year college. Education has the potential to lift people out of poverty and improve their lives and the lives of future generations. Please join us in shaping the future.

Sincerely,

Alison Center-Hunter, CPA, MPA
CAASSIE Founder and Fund Advisor