The Draper Center for Community Partnerships offers an assortment of engagement opportunities through its student-coordinated programs. Each of the following provides a mutually-beneficial opportunity to get involved in the world around you. For more information, or to get involved, contact the program coordinators or stop by the Draper Center office.
Alternabreak
Alternabreak is a week-long community engagement trip during Spring Break. Students commit their break to volunteering with organizations in the larger community, addressing social issues such as environmental justice, homelessness, and hunger. Coordinators lead 3 trips each spring, in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland (in partnership with the Office of Black Student Affairs). You can sign up to participate on a trip during the fall.
Community Based Research & Learning (CBRL)
The Draper Center partners with faculty at Pomona College to design and develop Community Partnership (CP) courses to promote Community-Based Research and Learning (CBRL). CP courses are full-credit courses that incorporate a practicum-based approach to learning academic topics, and involve partnering with community organizations to establish engagement initiatives between students and communities. CBRL organizes and facilitates events that encourage faculty and student engagement with the communities and their histories, host information sessions for students interested in taking CP courses, and develop resources for faculty potentially interested in teaching a CP course.
English as a Second Language + (ESL+)
Isaac Warshaw '24, Sara Garza Gonzalez '24
Email: pomonaesltutors@gmail.com
The English as a Second Language + (ESL+) Tutoring Program gives staff at Pomona College the opportunity to improve their English speaking, writing, reading, computer literacy skills though one-on-one meetings with students. Interested staff sign-up and are paired with one or more 5C students who put together weekly lesson plans. The program is a great opportunity for staff and students to build valuable relationships and learn from each other.
Health Bridges
Coordinators: Melissa Seecharan '24, Dylan Blackett '24, Emily Dong '25
Email: healthbridgesclaremont@gmail.com
Health Advocates work side by side with low-income and/or Low English Proficiency (LEP) patients in their native languages to navigate the hospital system and obtain health resources for which they are eligible.
Hunger and Houselessness Initiatives/Food Recovery Network
Coordinators: Stefanie Howard '26, Ireland Griffin '26, Gina Yum '25 (Fall),
Email: drapercenter@pomona.edu
The Food Recovery Network works with the Pomona College Dining Halls to distribute leftover food to our community partners that work with the unhoused community. Volunteers coordinate pick up and drop off each day to ensure that no food goes wasted and unhoused communities have access to fresh food.
Latine-Identity Empowerment, Advice, and Friendship (LEAF)
Coordinators: Nancy Hernandez '25, Alexa Tapia '26
Email: uncommongoodatdraper@gmail.com
The LEAF Program, in partnership with Uncommon Good, is an identity-based, non-academic mentorship program that pairs current college students from the 5Cs with youth from the Inland Empire from grades 4-12. This program creates a safe space for specifically Latine-identifying individuals to explore themes of friendship and advice.
Music Mentors Program
Coordinators: Rachel Corbett SC '24, Sydney Godwyn '26
Email: musicmentorsofpv@gmail.com
Music Mentors is a student led organization that partners with Uncommon Good to connect 5C students with youth from surrounding underserved communities to provide free music lessons.
Leadership and Engagement in Gender and Sexuality (LEGS)
Coordinators: Miriam Clement y Caridad '26, Noon El Mosalami '24 (Fall), Katherine Rivas '25 (Fall), Paul Yan '26,
Email: claremontlegs@gmail.com
Leadership and Engagement in Gender and Sexuality (LEGS) is a collaboration with the Queer Resource Center of The Claremont Colleges that brings local LGBTQA high school students and Claremont Colleges students together on a weekly basis. College students and high school students both develop leadership and facilitation skills while establishing sustainable community bonds and exploring aspects of their own and others' identity.
Learning IN Collaboration (LINC)
Coordinators: Cecilia Ransburg '25, Aisulu Malik '25, Katie Stuart '25
Email: learningincollaboration@gmail.com
LINC partners Pomona College tutors with local under-resourced schools. Volunteers will work one on one with elementary school students during and after the school day to help students develop their literacy skills and improve their overall performance in school. The program hopes to both engage students in reading and to make learning more inclusive for families.
Next Level
Coordinators: Veronica Banuelos '24, Brandon Karagozian '24, Tati Jaimes '26
Email: nextlevelprogram@gmail.com
Next Level is an after school program intended to create a group of students who can articulate what their next step to achieving educational and personal goals are, as well as their hopes for the entire group. Through college visitation field trips, standardized test preparation, mentor relationships, and teambuilding activities, students work together to form long term visions and short term goals based on their values., strengths, and experience. It also seeks to include families in a long-term plan for the future.
Pomona College Academy for Youth Success (PAYS)
Coordinators: Ximena Alba '24, Brisa Salazar '24, Alayna Nonhomme '24, Giovanni Tovar '24, Cecilia Ransburg '25, Adriana Vazquez '25, Leo Torres '26
Email: pays@pomona.edu
The Pomona College Academy for Youth Success (PAYS) yearlong program works to support high school students in their preparation for postsecondary study and to inculcate a culture of college-bound achievement. During the summer, PAYS participants engage in a rigorous, four week liberal arts curriculum intended to push students’ academic boundaries and to foster community among students and college mentors. College students can volunteer to be a College Advisor or Tutor while seeking summer employment as a Resident Assistant, Teaching Assistant, Writing Tutor or Math Tutor. To get involved, or to find out more, send an email to the coordinator team or drop by the Draper Center.
Pomona Mountain Project
Email: pmp.pomona@gmail.com
Pomona Mountain Project is a non-academic mentor program for Pomona High School students focusing on promoting mental health and self-care through outdoor immersion trips. Draper Center student coordinators and volunteers curtail curriculum that include weekly hiking trips and workshops to address the students interest and needs. To get involved, send an email to the coordinator team or drop by the Draper Center.
Pomona Partners
Coordinators: Lauren Cassou '23 (Fall), Lawrence Stampino-Strain '26, Leo Torres '26, Rachel Ma '26
Email: pomonapartners@gmail.com
Pomona Partners is a non-academic mentor program for Fremont Academy students focusing on self-realization, empowerment, and social awareness. With coordination through the Draper Center for Community Partnerships, volunteers design and implement a curriculum that includes weekly visits to Fremont as well as two off-site field trips per semester. Pomona Partners hopes to cultivate mentor relationships and foster a peer group for success in high school and a college future. To get involved, or to find out more, send an email to the coordinator team or drop by the Draper Center.
Rooftop Garden Project
Coordinators: Lena Abed '25, Daniella Hernandez '25, Diana Castellanos '24, Joanna Lam '27
Email: rooftopgarden47@gmail.com
The Rooftop Garden Project is a collaboration between Pomona College and Teen Green, a part of Uncommon Good. The program aims to increase activism and awareness around environmental justice, sustainability, and gardening; build leadership and presentation skills; and develop positive mentoring relationships between Pomona and Teen Green students. Environmentors and mentees work together to develop short workshops and collaborate with other members of the program to cultivate a garden on top of Sontag Residence Hall. We meet biweekly on Thursdays from 4 pm to 5:30 pm.
Sista-2-Sista
Coordinators: Precious Omomofe '24, Nadiya Muhammed '25 (Fall), Edidya Solomon '26, Werlie Cius '26
Email: pomona.sista2sista@gmail.com
Sista-2-Sista plans to encourage unconditional sisterhood, growth, and self-reliance. Through mentorship, workshops, and discussions, this program plans to heighten students’ understanding of what it means to be a Black Woman in American society, and how to see this as a blessing, rather than a deficit.