Supporting first-generation college students is a passion for Maira Oliva Hernandez, a Colorado State University graduate student in the Student Affairs in Higher Education program. That passion was recently recognized with an $18,000 grant from the 2023 Women & Girls of Color Fund.
Oliva Hernandez is one of 27 women and nonbinary leaders across the state to be awarded a grant from the fund. She was selected because of her work with the First Generation Near Peer Mentoring Program for Larimer County. In partnership with The Access Center at CSU, the project pairs Spanish-speaking students in local K-12 schools with mentors and mentees who share similar experiences and backgrounds. The mentoring program is designed to create a framework of support for the mentors in the program, as well as the mentees, providing academic and socioemotional support for students along their educational path.
“I am very thrilled,” Hernandez said after receiving many congratulations from those in her department. “I was not aware this was not a common achievement as a graduate student!”