Featuring, renowned performer, Chris Botti!

Since the release of his 2004 critically acclaimed CD When I Fall In Love, Chris Botti (pronounced boat-tee) has become the largest selling American instrumental artist. His success has crossed over to audiences usually reserved for pop music and his ongoing association with PBS has led to four #1 Jazz Albums, as well as multiple Gold, Platinum & Grammy Awards.

Over the past three decades, he has recorded and performed with the best in music; including Frank Sinatra, Sting, Josh Groban, Michael Buble, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, John Mayer, Andrea Bocelli, Joshua Bell and Aerosmith's own Steven Tyler.

Hitting the road for 250 plus days per year, Chris and his incredible band have performed with many of the finest symphonies, at some of the world's most prestigious venues, including performances at the World Series and Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony.

People Magazine voted Chris one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in 2004.

To learn more about Chris Botti, go to www.chrisbotti.com where you can listen to music samples, browse through photos, and more!

Thanks to our Master of Ceremonies, Ramsey Jay Jr.!

RAMSEY JAY, JR. is a professional at Ares Management where he supports the firm?s institutional marketing efforts. In the community, Ramsey serves on the Board of the New West Symphony and the Cedars-Sinai Sports Spectacular Steering Committee.

Ramsey graduated from California State University, Fresno with a BA in Business Administration and from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College with an MBA.

A Word from our Scholars...

Good Evening, My name is Berhane Azage.

I lived most of my life in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. Poverty is pervasive and opportunities are limited. When I was 15, I fled my home country to embark on a brighter journey by way of Los Angeles. Coming to south Los Angeles nonetheless became an opportunity and a challenge.

I once believed that the United States was uniformly rich. I thought all Americans could easily pay their rent, phone, and electricity bills. I sure learned that wasn?t true; Los Angeles destroyed the myths of America, and opened my eyes to the reality of another kind of poverty.

Of the 500 honored guests of today in the audience, how many of you have been to a Jungle before? (Pause) Great. I have seen the kind with trees and vines, and I also lived in an area of Los Angeles endearingly called the ?Jungle.? The Jungle did not seem like a place where I wanted to take the liberty of making the wrong turn. Soon after I arrived, a few teenagers mugged me, which taught me to take as little cash on me as possible. I avoided the streets for constant fear of being engaged by gangs. During the day, I was somehow unfazed to hear gunshots, and witness bouts on the streets. While I studied every night, I also grew accustomed to the hum of the ?ghetto bird?, the police helicopter.

To make things worse, my first few days at Manual Arts High School were disturbing. When I was in Ethiopia, schools meant a safe environment for social and intellectual growth. High schools meant a stepping ground for college. My first few days at Manual Arts did not seem to indicate as such. I saw broken windows, dirty floors, and graffiti. Code 1000 alarm propagated through the school sirens, to warn about violent activity. I also saw students hiding handguns in their lockers. The classrooms were often chaotic, with students throwing things at each other instead of working on assignments. Most of my instructors, jaded and frustrated, looked like they just wanted the day over. I wanted my day over too.

So when I later heard the staggering statistics of graduation, I was not surprised. Only a third of my class earned a diploma. 1 in 10 students attended four-year colleges. Many bright students never made it out. Some very smart classmates often found it hard to pursue educational success while trying to escape discouraging surroundings and some past involvements in gangs. Even those who made it into college often struggled with traumatic experiences of seeing their friends or family members shot in front of their eyes. Those who got into college had to figure things out on their own. They usually didn?t have the luxury of relying on the help of others.

For those fortunate enough to attend college, many found it very challenging. Some are doing very well. But, some have dropped out. Some are going to finish within 5 or 6 years. Our high school often did not prepare many of us for college.

I believe that one of the most wonderful gifts of the South Central Scholars Foundation is exactly in filling that huge gap. The gap is not only in fixing our high schools, but also in making sure those students who make it to college are then afforded the opportunity to be successful. The foundation provided me help for my educational expenses such as books, and transitional personal expenses. And having chosen Stanford University due to its great combination of engineering and liberal arts education, Dr. London matched me with mentors from Silicon Valley: Eric & Anne Harrison and Tim Ranzetta.

Through such help and encouragement, I am glad to be here today speaking to you. I have had a great college experience. I studied electrical engineering in my undergraduate years, and I am currently completing my masters in Management Science and Engineering. During my summers I did research in Medical Imaging and worked for Lehman Brothers in Investment Banking, before the bust. Following this school year, I will begin full-time work with McKinsey & Co. in Atlanta.

I hope to give back as I have been given to. I hope many of you will continue to support in closing the gap for my colleagues and me before and during college. I have been able to escape poverty from the third world, and now I?ve escaped it in the first world. However, the path to a successful life without help, the help of people like you, my mentors and South Central Scholars, would be a much more difficult journey.

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Good Evening, my name is Brian Martinez, I am an Alumni of South Central Scholars.

My story is a little different. I actually used to think I was lucky.

When I was young, I always felt like I was one of the few fortunate children living in South Central. I had two happily married parents, my parents had a stable source of income, and my family owned a home. Though typical by American standards, in South Central, it was a rare and beautiful dream. But that dream slowly faded and was replaced by a horrific nightmare.

My parents belong to a religious cult, and since my birth, they have raised me to have one purpose in life: full-time service to religion. However, as my siblings and I grew up, full-time service to a religion became less appealing. My sister preceded me in graduating from High School as valedictorian, and was offered a full scholarship to UCLA. But my parents did not let her go. They told her that college was a waste of time, and that she?d be better serving God.

I quickly realized that full-time religion was not what I wanted. While I tried hard to be a good person and fulfill my responsibilities to others, I wanted to use my talents to get to college and not to spend 20 hours a week in church studies. This goal was completely opposite to what my parents had in mind, so they did everything they could to stifle my dream. They cut me off financially, giving me nothing more than the bare necessities of life. My father would not permit me to study educational materials at home. He would make me put my books away and read the bible instead. I resorted to studying in the early hours of the morning to complete my assignments. My father would drive to the school and physically remove me from any extracurricular activities, even if those activities were required by my teachers. I snuck out of the house to take my SAT exams, paid for my AP exams with my own money, and forged my parent?s signatures so I could attend field trips to Universities. Sadly, I began to wish that I did not have a family. I envied those that did not have parents; did not have homes; did not have futures.

Nevertheless, I was accepted to a University during my senior year. However, due to my decision to pursue higher learning instead of religious goals, I was excommunicated from my family, both immediate and extended.

I arrived at UC Santa Barbara with nothing more than $35 and a dream. The odds were immediately against me. I quickly realized that the determination I showed to get to college did not compensate for years of mediocre inner-city schooling. My financial aid package did not come anywhere near the actual cost of my education. I found myself doing poorly in classes. I was depressed, and barely getting by in the midst of classmates who did not have a care in the world.

But I had something that they didn?t. In high school, a wise counselor who was aware of my situation gave me an application to South Central Scholars. Having applied and been accepted, I knew that I would be receiving a scholarship award each year for four years. These funds I used to purchase a computer, books, and materials I would have otherwise gone without. What I did not know at the time was that along with the scholarship came a professional network of caring individuals with the goal of helping me succeed.

SCS board members kept constant tabs on me and my progress. They created an open line of communication that I could always trust. So during my sophomore year, when I was taking 16 units, working 30 hour weeks, and considering dropping out, my mentors where my saviors.

Over the next few years of my college career, SCS hosted numerous events that were geared towards preparing me and my fellow SCS members for professional careers. I attended the south central scholar?s summer business conference numerous times. Through this event, I was able to meet many professionals and form a better idea of the career I wanted to pursue. SCS taught me how to manage my time more efficiently, budget my money correctly, and study more effectively. I was able to attend numerous networking events and develop my soft skills. I was taught interviewing techniques, and even schooled on public speaking.

Thanks to the skills, work ethic, and perseverance that SCS has helped me develop, I am happy to say that my future appears bright. In one of the worst economies a graduating senior has ever had to contend with, I was offered a full-time position as an accountant before I graduated. Currently, I am an associate at CBIZ MHM, the eighth largest and fastest growing accounting firm in the nation. I am Co-Founder of an early stage Medical Device company that is attempting to combat Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, the leading cause of infant death. Also, this Spring I am applying to the Riordan Fellows program at UCLA to begin preparations for business school. My involvement with South Central Scholars has not lessened since I graduated. I am actively involved in the Alumni Association, which is determined to help younger students get to college, and succeed in life.

Now let me tell you, Melva, Behane, and my experiences are very unique and personal to us. Many of the students in the audience did not have to face the same challenges as we did. Perhaps their adversary was a teacher, counselor, or high school coach. No matter what specific challenges were that we have had to overcome, we are present because we have come to a clear understanding of what SCS has done for us, and what it can do for future Scholars. As I look at other students, such as my 13-year-old brother, struggle to get to college, I feel real pain. But through these students, I see that there is a generation of young leaders in coming of age in South Central Los Angeles. Their determination, intelligence, and potential cannot be ignored, nor can we allow it to be defeated by the cynics who say they cannot overcome. Therefore, it is our responsibility to continue to grow this program, so that as they continue to develop and reach out for assistance, South Central Scholars is there, ready and willing to reach back. Thank you.

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Good Evening, my name is Melva Quintanilla.

For far too long, South Central Los Angeles has been written off by the surrounding communities. These surrounding communities know very little about South Central, fewer still have ever been there. Half a million people live in South Central. Yet amidst the drugs, gangs, and violence, there are many young people growing up in South Central who are creative, focused, intelligent and intent on achieving their goals through a means of higher education. However, these young people are poorly served by their families, schools, and community. Far too often they grow tired, fail, and ultimately never achieve their dreams. I wish to speak for them tonight.

I wish to tell you about my journey and how South Central Scholars helped me, and how they are still helping me.

When I was growing up, I wanted to know everything. When I was growing up, I wanted to know everything. To know a little of everything wasn't enough. To know a lot about just one thing was laughably insufficient. I quite literally wanted to know everything. I wanted to know everything: politics, astronomy, art and literature . These are just a few examples of things that interested me. The fact that my goal for limitless, all encompassing knowledge might be impossible never crossed my mind.The truth of the matter is that my mind had no conception of barriers. I had not yet confronted one. My mind thought in terms of books. A book held everything there was to know about one thing, my younger self-reasoned, therefore a house of books, a library, would hold all the information there was to know about everything. All I needed to do was to read every single book my school library held. Simple enough.

My school library was a bright little room with small red tables and blue chairs. The books were lined up against the wall in cabinet?s two shelves high. I was highly disappointed. Goodnight Moon, while mildly entertaining, had none of the answers I was looking for. My elementary school library was just the first of the disappointing libraries that I would encounter prior to college. The libraries did not improve as I grew older. My high school library, when not closed

7 months out of the year was a dim room housing battered romances and ?Let?s Go!Europe? books. Despite this, my desire to learn continued to grow.

In 2008, I graduated from high school in South Central Los Angeles. The subpar libraries are just one of the many flaws in the educational system in my high school. But libraries ? libraries were my fight. Outside the library, my high school fared little better. My teachers were disinterested and cynical, administrators perpetually suspicious and disdainful and I began to believe that I would never transcend my surroundings. The statistics did not assuage my fears: less than 1/3 of my entering freshman class would graduate. The few of us that would gain entrance to college would be again divided in two- half of us would graduate and half would drop out of college.

 Amidst the daily frustrations, I found hope. Actually hope came recruiting at my high school auditorium at lunch one day. In my junior year I was introduced to South Central Scholars by Mr. Randy Winston. He assured us that despite the mounting obstacles we could go to that proverbial college somewhere. Be that proverbial someone. SCS would help us. I signed up immediately.

It was with that confidence that I submitted 17 college applications and received 17 acceptance letters in April. When I chose Cornell, I did so because of the 17, it had the largest library.

Cornell was amazing. Never before had I encountered an environment so saturated with the idea of learning. My professors wanted to teach me. The administrators wanted to help me. And of the 18 libraries on campus, I could not for the life of me find a single copy of Let's Go! Europe.

Cornell was hard. The academic challenge posed to me seemed nearly impossible ? in my 13 school years prior to Cornell, not one night had I gone home with more than 20 minutes worth of homework. The shock was huge and for the 1st month, I felt betrayed by my high school. I now knew the extent to which I had been neglected as a student and how unprepared I was. But I remembered the SCS workshops and conferences. The advice they had given me as a high school student that no one else had given me: study groups, office hours, tutoring, note-taking tips and more. Also, a card or an e-mail seemed to arrive just when I needed it the most. ith the help of SCS I was able to not just catch up, but to excel.

I am proud to say that I have made multiple Dean?s lists, attained a 4.0 last semester and have declared majors in both China and Asia ?Pacific Studies and Art History. I am currently learning Mandarin Chinese. Of the 2000 characters needed to learn to be considered proficient, I know 750. I remain hopeful that I will be able to read a Chinese newspaper by the time I apply for Graduate School In the next 2 years I hope to study in both Washington DC and in Beijing, to hold internships in both cities and maybe even write the thesis on Chinese propaganda art that has been idly developing in my mind.

SCS is now helping me narrow down a career path. Due to their seemingly infinite network, I was able to intern at LaFollette Johnson, Fesler and DeHaas, a medical malpractice defense law firm in Los Angeles with Mr. Don Fesler. My new challenge is to somehow combine my interests in China, Law and business into a career that I will enjoy.

Thank you so much for being here and supporting South Central Scholars, and I ask that you continue to support students such as myself. Thank you so much.

To see more photos from the event, visit the 2010 Benefit Event Image Gallery!