​Exciting Updates from Barrier Breakers!

We hope your summer has been as rewarding as ours! At Barrier Breakers, we’ve been hard at work advancing our mission to support first-generation and marginalized students on their journeys to higher education. We’re thrilled to share some of our key wins from this summer:
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New Grant Fuels Pro Bono Work: We are proud to announce that Barrier Breakers has received a $10,000 grant from the New Jersey Community Foundation. This grant will support our Barrier Breakers Scholars Program, which offers free college and law school counseling to students with significant financial need.

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Spotlight on Homeworks Trenton

Through this grant, we’re kicking off a partnership with HomeWorks Trenton, the first residential after-school program for marginalized girls in Trenton, NJ. We will provide free comprehensive college counseling to these students from the 11th grade through high school graduation. We're so thankful for volunteers from the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) who are helping us support these students for the next few years. Sydney held an in-person orientation for the girls and their families in mid-August. This partnership is just the beginning of what we hope will be a long and impactful relationship!

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This summer, we also had the opportunity to work with the Yale Launchpad Scholars Institute, supporting 25 non-traditional law school applicants, many of whom are military veterans, DACA students, assault survivors, and more, navigate the law school essay process. It was such a treat getting to live, dine, and support the students for a full week this summer, and we're excited about the continued support Barrier Breakers is providing to these students this fall.

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​Support Our Partnerships​

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We love cheering on our Barrier Breakers high school students! One of our standout students, Aaron Owusu, had the extraordinary opportunity to participate in the Men's 50M Free, representing Eritrea. We are so proud of Aaron, who trained during his 12th-grade year, mainly on his own, to qualify for the World Aquatic Championships in Doha and later the Paris 2024 Olympics. This experience showcased his athletic talent and provided invaluable leadership, perseverance, and international collaboration lessons. He has just started on a full-tuition merit scholarship at The Ohio State University this fall, and we could not be more proud!

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​Sponsor a Student​

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We’re delighted to celebrate two of our outstanding students:

• Eastwood Yeboah was named to the Obama Foundation’s Summer Voyage program.
• Victoria Belle was selected for the Obama Foundation Leaders USA Program.

Stay tuned for more about these incredible scholars in the coming months!

Updates and Growth to our Admissions Team and Services!

We’re thrilled to share that our college counseling program now has its own dedicated site: college.barrier-breakers.org. Through our expanded Give the Gift program, for every college counseling package purchased, we donate free college counseling to a student on free or reduced lunch.

We’re also excited to announce that our team has expanded! We now have six current and former deans and directors of admissions serving as law school advisors. Their expertise is an invaluable resource for our students.
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​Check Out Our Team Here​

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Thank you for your ongoing support for our students!

We are incredibly proud of these accomplishments and their impact on the students we serve. But there’s still so much more to do. Your support can make a significant difference in the lives of first-generation and marginalized students. If our work inspires you and you want to be a part of our mission, we invite you to join us.

Whether through a donation, sponsoring a program, or spreading the word, your contribution will help us continue to break down barriers and create opportunities for the next generation of leaders.

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​Click Here to Support Barrier Breakers​

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And best wishes to all our fantastic students starting a new school year this fall!

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