Adaptis Scholarship Drive Supports Local College Teen
Partnership with Seattle-based Technology Access Foundation Inspires Grassroots Giving
August 26, 2008
Seattle, WA – Adaptis, a leading provider of business process outsourcing (BPO) solutions for health payers, today announced that it has named company intern and Technology Access Foundation (TAF) student Luis Barrera, recipient of the first annual Adaptis Achievement Award. Through a grassroots effort initiated by Adaptis employees, Barrera will receive more than $8,000, in addition to $4,000 provided by the nonprofit TAF, to use for college tuition starting this fall. A celebration ceremony and presentation of the scholarship award is planned for Thursday, August 28, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at Adaptis headquarters in Seattle, located at 999 Third Avenue, suite 1700.
Barrera was encouraged to participate in TAF by his highly educated parents who fled El Salvador and have had to start over in Seattle working minimum wage jobs. Barrera is a prime example of a TAF success story. Lynn Demarco, TAF program director, noticed Barrera’s dedication from the start. “Encouraged and supported by his family, Luis started with TAF during the summer before ninth grade and committed to the technology training and internship program through his high school years, which helped prepare him for a college-bound path,” Demarco said. “He is an exceptional student and we expect him to continue on to even greater success. Not only does Luis have the technical skills to be successful, he also has a great attitude and positive outlook, as well as a good work ethic that will serve him in the years ahead.”
For 11 years TAF, which focuses efforts on underserved children of color, has offered free after-school programs emphasizing technology, math, writing and science: TechStart serving grades K-8; the Technical Teens Internship Program for grades 9-12, providing job readiness training six hours a week; and Higher ED Bound, comprised of college preparation workshops with mentorship and a $1,000/year scholarship for each year of completion. Barrera completed four years of Higher ED Bound, earning himself $4,000. The TAF programs have been so successful that an agreement was recently signed with the Federal Way School District to jointly launch TAF Academy, a public school serving sixth through 12th grades emphasizing science, technology, engineering and math. TAF Academy at Federal Way is scheduled to open in September and similar partnerships for more schools in Washington state are being pursued.
Adaptis and its staff recognized the value of TAF from the onset, providing corporate support through internships and volunteering to teach courses. Yolanda Webster, Adaptis human resources administrator, praised the value TAF is having on the community. “We were excited to build an internship program and subsequent scholarship drive around TAF because of the great impact the organization is having with local youth who not only provide value to our organization as interns today, but will undoubtedly become prime candidates as potential employees in the future,” she said. The TAF organization’s stunning statistics prove their approach works. One hundred percent of TAF high school seniors graduate from high school and 100 percent of students like Barrera who stay in TAF programs through high school have entered college. Through TAF, over 300 teens have secured paid summer internships at local corporations.
After interning at Adaptis for three consecutive summers, Barrera’s dedication to education and work personally touched many employees, who initiated the scholarship drive, ultimately raising more than $8,000. Darryl Means, Adaptis director of healthcare solutions, got to know Barrera and helped lead the effort. “After visiting TAF and seeing the value of their programs first hand, coupled with the dedication of their students, many of us wanted to do more,” Means said. “We set up a process for donations and put together a highly successful company fundraiser which brought in significant funds.” The Adaptis Achievement Award will be an annual employee-driven effort. In addition, Adaptis has adopted a TAF TechStart classroom for the 2008-2009 school year, providing a forum for Adaptis employees to volunteer educational time and share their skills four days a week.
