About Unlocking Doors

Unlocking Doors was founded in August 2005 by Accenture colleagues who share the concern of the working class' social advancement and educational opportunities.  Unlocking Doors is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit scholarship foundation that aims to help low income, high school female seniors living in the San Francisco Bay Area who will be first generation in their families to attend and graduate from college.  It is open to all ethnicities, backgrounds, and majors.   

Now more than ever, a college education is critical in order to achieve the "American Dream" that the United States prides itself in; it has become a requirement for social and economic advancement.  We believe that higher education is the key to success and are dedicated to fostering equal opportunity by empowering underprivileged women with higher education.

Extensive research has found that income inequality - a measure of how equally income is divided among members of society - has increased dramatically in California over the last two decades. We extend that argument and propose that the San Francisco Bay Area has even greater economic disparities due to the high salaries of college educated white collar workers of Silicon Valley and the astronomical home prices that have shut even the middle class out of the housing market; the median house price in Santa Clara County as of January 05, 2008 was $670,000.

With these outrageous prices, low income families are forced to live with other families or are working multiple jobs to care  of their family’s basic needs.  Often times, teenage girls in low income families have greater responsibilities for the care of family members and therefore are pressured to enter the workforce or advised to juggle their job with classes at the local community college.  Most students that enroll at a community college plan to eventually get a four-year degree, but few actually do. 

Research has shed light on the poor curriculum and lack of resources that are to prepare a community college student for a transition to a four-year university.  Some drop out for the short-term goal of earning money or are scared away by the increase of educational costs. 

• The University of California estimated that for the 2007-2008 school year, costs have risen to an average of $23,980

• According to the College Board, the national tuition average for the 2007-2008 school year of a private four-year for university rose six percent from the previous year to $23,712

• California's private university tuitions are well above $30,000 a year

Increased costs in education present a major obstacle and deters low income females to attend a four year university and as a result are likely to settle for a low-wage job that offers little opportunity for advancement.  Unfortunately, women workers are more likely to be stuck in the lower class and more likely to repeat the cycle of poverty with their children. 

It has become increasingly more difficult to advance from one economic class to another; the middle-income jobs that once acted as a stepping stone for the lower class are diminishing at a rapid rate as jobs are being sent offshore in order for companies to stay competitive. 

We live in a socio-economically segregated society where the family one is born into plays a major role in determining our opportunities and life chances.  Unfortunately, the low-income class has become an invisible part of our society who      struggle every day to provide for the family's basic needs all the while holding onto the dream of unlimited opportunities for educational, social and economic advancement.    

A college education matters more now than ever in shaping one's future and chances of achieving the American Dream.       The nation's top universities have acknowledged this severe social problem that Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Stanford are  all offering free tuition for students from low income families.  The grants from Unlocking Doors will re-instill the belief of a meritocracy - the foundation and core of America - the notion that one can have a dream, pursue it, and achieve it.