Making a Difference: TELACU Education Foundation’s Vision

L to R: SHINE Students Maylin, Luis, and Ashley.

Three of our SHINE students come to USC Viterbi after being nurtured by the TELACU Education Foundation. As participants in TELACU’s College Success Program, these SHINE students have earned excellent grades, laudatory teacher recommendations, and good test scores. Ashley from South Gate High School is helping program robots to assist children with autism in Professor Maja Mataric’s computer science lab. Maylin from Bell Senior High School is part of Professor Burcin-Becerik’s Civil Engineering research team deploying Virtual Reality to study how people use personalized temperature controls in smart buildings. From Bell Gardens High School, Luis is contributing to innovative cybersecurity research specific to cyber-physical systems in Professor Pierluigi Nuzzo’s electrical engineering laboratory. Each of these vibrant students brings enthusiasm and energy to the entire SHINE experience.  

In full support of the Foundation’s mission, SHINE first partnered with the Lauren Lizárraga, Senior Vice President of the Foundation, last summer in sharing the costs of adding two TELACU students to SHINE’s summer research program. This year, expanding to three TELACU students has been easy to manage because each student possesses a drive for knowledge and passion for success.  

TELACU stands for The East Los Angeles Community Union, a nonprofit community development corporation founded by Dr. David C. Lizárraga in 1968 with the vision of using economic development to service under-resourced communities located in Los Angeles’ eastside Latino neighborhoods. TELACU’s Education Foundation seeks out promising first-generation students and offers a range of academic and financial support services, including their College Readiness Program, a College Success Program, Graduate School Support, and also a Veterans Upward Bound Program.  

To the Lizárraga family, we say thank you for Ashley, Luis, and Maylin this year, and for Omar and Alejandro last year.