Alumni Success Stories | Fulfillment Fund

"To this day, I still seek the advice and counsel from the mentors I met through the Fulfillment Fund internship program and I use the lessons that I learned through the internships to help me today."

Keith Barnett is a Partner at Sutherland, a major law firm in Atlanta, Georgia. A graduate of UCLA and Duke University School of Law, he focuses his practice in the areas of business litigation and securities enforcement, and has also litigated jury and bench trials in state and federal courts against individuals and companies. Read more

Nichole Harris Blackwell

"My family expected me to be the first to go to a four-year college ... but didn’t know how to help me navigate through choosing a school or completing applications and financial aid forms. The Fulfillment Fund was invaluable in helping me to successfully enroll in Spelman College."

Nichole Harris Blackwell, a graduate of Spelman College and Claremont Graduate University, is a professor of English at Santa Monica College. Read more

Judith Flores Carmona

"I know that I owe much of my success to the Fulfillment Fund and especially to my Fulfillment Fund mentor Dee Nasatir and her husband Mike. My mother Josefina’s unconditional support and love is also irreplaceable and continues to be necessary."

Judith Flores Carmona, Ph.D., was the Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Critical Social Inquiry at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts from fall 2010-spring 2012. In fall 2012 she will relocate to Las Cruces, New Mexico to become a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and in the Honors College at New Mexico State University. Read more

Dr. Christine Dauphine

"Toward the end of my high school career, I found myself with a lack of good female role models in my life. It was then that I was connected with the Fulfillment Fund and my mentor, Karen Baynard."

Dr. Christine Dauphine is an academic surgeon at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, specializing in breast diseases. She is a graduate of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and University of California Riverside. Read more

Veronica Estrada

"The Fulfillment Fund gave me hope that my life could be different, and that it WOULD be different. It taught me that I could survive and then come back and actually make some changes. And I do think anything is possible, thanks to my mentor Michelle, and to the Fulfillment Fund."

Veronica Estrada is an Assistant Vice President and Junior Private Banker at Deutsche Bank's Private Wealth Management Group. Read more.

Nancy Ramirez

"As I continue to move up the ranks of corporate America, one of my goals is to be able to create internship opportunities for Fulfillment Fund college students. Another one of my long-term goals is to become a wonderful mentor for the Fulfillment Fund. I only hope that I can be at least half the mentor I had."

Nancy Ramirez, a graduate of Smith College, is Supervisor of Product Safety Surveillance at Herbalife, where she is responsible for overseeing report collection and supporting safety surveillance in 80+ markets where Herbalife products are commercialized. She will receive her master's degree in public health from Benedictine University in fall 2012. Read more

Devery Rodgers

"I was chosen as a Fulfillment Fund Scholar during my junior year at Carson High School. At the time, I was an honors student who was involved in everything from the Interact Club to being the captain of the Pep Squad. I was also devastated by my father's recent passing from cancer."

Devery Rodgers received her doctorate degree in Education Leadership in May 2012 from the University of Southern California and has been appointed as the Fritz B. Burns Endowed Chair of Education and Director of Instructional Leadership at Mt. St. Mary's College, Los Angeles. Read more.

Rafael Romero, Psy.D.

"I have nothing but gratefulness to the Fulfillment Fund for believing in me, and helping me to see my life outside of myself. They saw great dreams for me. Now I work in the neighborhoods where I grew up, helping other people see those great dreams for themselves."

Raphael Romero is a clinical psychologist with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. Read more