Acknowledgements

Funding and support:

Major funding came from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of University Partnerships called the Community Outreach Partnership Center Program (COPC). The grant is administered by the University of Massachusetts, and includes Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Holyoke Community College along with community partners Nueva Esperanza Inc, Enlace de Familias, Nuestras Raices, and the Community Education Project.

Matching funding and other support came from: Amherst College; Hampshire College; University of Massachusetts Extension 4-H Program; and University of Massachusetts Student Bridges program. The Holyoke Planning Network, a group representing local institutions of higher learning and Holyoke organizations, helped to initiate the COPC grant and provided ongoing support in planning, evaluating and implementing the COPC project.

The College-Career Project Partners and workbook contributors:

Amherst College Community Outreach office: Scott Laidlaw, Director and Co-Coordinator of COPC College Prep and Youth Development; Eddie Garcia
Amherst College: Karen Sanchez-Eppler, Professor of American Studies and English
Amherst College Center for Community Engagement: Molly Mead, Director Hampshire College Community Partnerships for Social Change: Mary Bombardier, Director and Co-Coordinator of COPC College Prep and Youth Development, Cinamon Blair, Assistant; Marlem Landa, Fellow; Karina Fernandez Fellow; Eddie Fermosa
University of Massachusetts, UMass Extension 4-H Program: Karen J. Barshefsky, Extension Educator
University of Massachusetts, School of Public Health and Health Sciences: Shirley A. Mietlicki, EdD, Extension Assistant Professor, Public Health
University of Massachusetts Student Bridges Project: Mishy Leiblum, Jelisa Difo, Vanessa Snow
Holyoke Community College
Avanza (a higher education community partnership): Gustavo Acosta, Program Manager
Enlace (ENgaging LAtino Communities for Education): Isolda Ortega-Bustamante, Director
El Arco Iris Youth and Community Arts Center: Jose Colon, Co-Director and Imre Kepes, Co-Director and Co-Coordinator of COPC College Prep and Youth Development
NEARIJumpstart: Steve Leiblum
Girls Inc: Leah Ubeseder, Teen Program Specialist
Nuestras Raices: William Aponte
Marken Properties: Julia Rivera
The Teen Resource Project: Carlos McBride, Director
Youth Leadership in the Arts
Salvation Army

College Student volunteers and workstudy:

College volunteers and workstudy students too numerous to list by name from Amherst College, Hampshire College, University of Massachusetts Amherst and Holyoke Community College.

These students put in innumerable hours of their time to assist with the workshop design and implementation, and acted as mentors for the youth participants.

Youth Program Peer Leaders:

Peer Leaders from El Arco Iris, NEARIJumpstart, and Youth Leadership in the Arts contributed by advising on the workshop design and helping to implement the workshops.

Workbook Editors:

Imre Kepes, Co-Coordinator COPC College Prep and Youth Development
Vilay Senthep, Massachusetts Campus Compact AmeriCorps*VISTA

Production:

George Barham, Production Coordinator, Outreach Marketing & Communications, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Nathanael Schildbach, Outreach Marketing & Communications, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Elizabeth Adams, Copy Editor, Outreach Marketing & Communications, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Workbook layout and Design:

Mary Zyskowski, www.designmz.com

Website funding:

Website design and development:

Joey Morgan, website
Beth Armour, Web Production Coordinator, Outreach Marketing & Communications, University of Massachusetts