College Bound Dorchester Graduation

Since 2009, College Bound Dorchester has helped 63 students to earn their HiSet certification (high school equivalency diploma) and move on to college. This year was no exception to their success, as 41 students graduated in the basement of St. Cecilia’s in Back Bay.

The nonprofit is focused on students who are not likely to succeed, including gang members, inmates and dropouts. As one student pointed out, it “is not full of people who don’t want to try or don’t want to work. College Bound is really recovery for your life.”

Several of the graduates have children, some didn’t speak English when they started and many held jobs in addition to attending school. All of them suffered hardships of different kinds, which makes it all the more impressive that they were able to graduate and now they are moving on to college.

The speakers at the graduation ceremony, including Greg Shell from the investment firm of GMO LLC, told the students “I want you to be the reason that somebody can persist and move on and graduate.” These students are certainly an inspiration to many and College Bound Dorchester is a major reason for their success.

SheGives connects committed, inquisitive, engaged donors with a slate of diligenced nonprofits in the Greater Boston area. We provide members with relevant data about the nonprofits in our portfolio and an opportunity to meet directly with our nonprofits’ Executive Directors and senior staff in small settings that promote in-depth q&a’s and, ultimately, informed giving. Giving is personally driven, but because we give side-by-side our collective impact is greater. See a list of the vetted nonprofits selected for our slate here.