This United Way director keeps kids on path to graduation, careers

Sergio Contreras sees education as the great equalizer. Raising the county’s high school graduation rate and helping students find their calling has been his mission for several years at the Orange County United Way, where he leads the education initiatives.

“It’s the path out of poverty,” Contreras said. “And that’s why every student in Orange County deserves an opportunity to succeed and thrive.”

A recent report from the Orange County Business Council indicates a person needs to earn $40.63 an hour to afford a one-bedroom apartment in much of the county, he points out. So getting students through high school and onto the path to sustainable careers is especially important for Contreras because the cost to continue living in their community is so high.

“Housing is not getting any cheaper,” Contreras said. “We want to make sure students have options and opportunities that go from college and career.”

He develops programs through the United Way to help students navigate the often Byzantine process of accessing college and get them exposed to well-paying careers they might not know about, whether a degree is required or not. Just this year, more than 3,000 high school students participated in the nonprofit’s programs and, today, more than 90% of students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds graduate from high school in Orange County.

Contreras has been with the United Way since the nonprofit set its goal 10 years ago to cut the county’s high school dropout rate in half. With Contreras’s efforts, the United Way hit the mark in five years, said CEO Sue Parks.

In 2016, just 84% of students in the communities the United Way targets were graduating. Now the nonprofit is closing in on a goal of 95%.

“Sergio brings his whole being into his work,” Parks said. “He’s focused. He’s driven, but he has a huge heart that comes through.”

Showing opportunities

There’s not one approach to guiding students in going to college or finding their career path. The United Way focuses on partnering with schools in cities where it’s needed most, including Anaheim, Garden Grove and Santa Ana, but its work extends beyond those into Orange, Fullerton, Costa Mesa and Tustin, Contreras said.

For colleges, the nonprofit will host events to “demystify” higher education. Everything from parent workshops focused on financial aid to guiding students to find good schools to apply to and careers they might be interested in.

The nonprofit’s Youth Career Connections exposes students to industries they can get into without necessarily having a college degree; they visit workplaces, hear from professionals and get mentors at businesses they’ll temporarily work at.

Many of the companies that participate are based in the county, including ViewSonic, Edwards Lifesciences and the Automobile Club of Southern California, he said. This summer a couple dozen teens spent a day at the U.S. headquarters of Falck Mobile Health in Anaheim trying on a career as an EMT. Falck awarded scholarships to several of the students to pay for a formal training course with hopes of hiring them at the end.

Contreras has had to coax some employers through their anxieties over letting high school students into their workplaces, but it’s a “sweet challenge,” he said and, “they all come back with the same story. ‘Wow, these kids are brighter than some of our college students. These guys are super smart.’”

“But it takes time,” he said. “It takes a really long time to break down those assumptions.”

But before students can take advantage of the career and college opportunities the United Way’s programs are introducing them to, they have to earn that high school diploma that is so important in opening doors.

United Way officials estimate almost 3,000 students aren’t graduating in Orange County each year.

So Contreras and the United Way connect with high schools as well.

But you can’t waltz into a school and tell its people  what they should be doing, Contreras said, rather they ask the educators what they need to encourage students so they can achieve. With that information the United Way provides support such as tutoring, student engagement training for teachers and mentorship.

“I think his secret sauce may be his ability to work with the schools and understand their needs,” Parks said. “Not being cookie cutter, ‘Here’s what we are going to do for you’ but, ‘What do you need? How can we help help you uplift students and so that they can achieve?’”

Needing a push

Born and raised in Westminster, Contreras attended Westminster High School. He earned his associate’s degree from Orange Coast College and got bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cal State Long Beach as a first-generation student.

At one point, Contreras almost didn’t finish school, he said. He had been at Orange Coast College for years and didn’t see an end in sight. He went to talk to his counselor, Alex Guillen.

Guillen showed Contreras what he had to do to finish and that he really only needed a few more classes to graduate and then he could transfer.

Contreras credits Guillen with giving him the push he needed to keep going and finish school – keeping open the door to more opportunities. Guillen, who retired from his job at Orange Coast College eight years ago, said Contreras worked hard for a long time and had a vision, and believes there’s still a lot more he’ll do to uplift the community.

“He is a person of the people,” Guillen said.

Contreras said another important push came from his dad, who worked as an overnight janitor at Disneyland for 44 years.

During college, Contreras worked at the theme park as well. There, seeing his father working hard late one night to clean rubber mat flooring used at restaurants, working hard for so long to provide for his family, Contreras said he was also inspired to push on and continue his education “so his work would not be in vain.”

“So just seeing him struggle the way he did to provide for his family,” Contreras said, “gave me the energy and passion to move forward and build off his work.”