Issam Hamdallah ‘12
“The greatest impact achieve has had on my life so far is that they have given me the resources to be the best I can be. ”

Miko Jones ‘11
"achieve has opened my eyes to the reality that I can go to college simply by working hard and being myself."

Vivian San ‘11
“achieve has given me an opportunity to use my skill and capabilities in helping others. They helped me understand that every second or minute that I volunteer, counts as something important to the people I serve. Helping others benefits me just as much as the people I serve. There is no better feeling than knowing that I've made a positive impact on another person's life.”

Monica Marquez ‘11
“The greatest impact that achieve has had on my life so far is giving the opportunity to attend one of the best high schools in the Bay Area. Without the help that achieve has given my family, I would probably not be able to receive such a fine education, because my mother cannot afford it on her own. ”

Analis Ibarra ‘12
“achieve has taught me that helping others is not only a great way to give back to our community but also our duty as people. I have learned that being able to help others is very satisfying and rewarding.”

Tifanny Li ‘12
“achieve has taught me many values of giving back to my community, which has been a new experience for me and it has been truly rewarding.”

Gladys Martinez ‘10
“What I find most helpful about achieve is that I always have someone at my back, pushing me towards the edge of a cliff. So far, I'm almost able to fly off that cliff with the help of achieve.”

Fernando Delgado ‘09
“achieve is a family that I can look to for companionship, advice, support and love. ”

Eia Gardner ‘09
“achieve has instilled in me characteristics that I will need in the future: to speak up for myself, to stand up for what is right, to accept change, and to be bold in every situation that I face. ”

Ian David ‘12
“The greatest impact achieve has had on my life so far is knowing that I have a second family that loves and cares for me.”

Martin Marquez ‘09
“I truly feel that achieve is a family--- my family. I can always talk to my achieve brothers and moderators because I know that they are there for me and they are there to listen to what I have to say.”

Alyssia Smith ‘09
“I like the fact that achieve gives young minorities a chance to succeed in life and beat the odds.”

Teresa Hartwell ‘10
“achieve is like an extra parent. It keeps you on top of your school business and pushes you to your potential.”

Katia Garcia ‘10
“The best thing about being in achieve is that we have someone other than our parents to go to for help. Achieve is like one loving family.”

Erika Rosas ‘09
“The best part of being in achieve is that it helps us become aware of our strengths and capabilities—but not only that, we learn how to use our strengths to help ourselves and to help others.”

Corrina Ramos ‘10
“achieve shows me that school is the key to your future and that it is very important to always give 100% in everything that you do.”

Ashley De Motto ‘12
“The summer experiences have helped me to realize that I can do whatever I want if I set my mind to it. I never thought that as a freshwoman, I would do cancer research experiments with doctors and be rewarded with knowing that my dad, who died of cancer, would be very proud.”
Our History

Barbara Bass Bakar, former Chief Executive Officer for several major retail firms, founded the achieve program in 1997. Believing that education is the great equalizer in society and that low-income and minority youth were not being adequately served by the public school system, Barbara began the program with four boys at Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco. In 1999, the girls' program began at Holy Names High School in Oakland, and in 2006 achieve added a girls' program at Mercy High School in San Francisco.

When the program began, Mrs. Bakar initially chose to remain anonymous. However, in the second year she realized that simply providing scholarship money was not producing success. She decided to get personally involved--- very involved. She visited students’ homes so that she could better understand their lives outside of school. She met individually with students to learn about their hopes and dreams for the future. She, in essence, became a “second mom” to all of the achieve students.

Mrs. Bakar is constantly striving to expand and improve the program. After asking the first achieve graduates what additional services would have improved their academic success, she took their advice and added a daily after school program at ARHS. Upon discovering that underlying reading deficiencies were hindering student achievement, she hired a full time reading specialist to work individually with students. According to Mrs. Bakar, the program continues to be “a work in progress” and she is committed to continue making any changes needed to maximize the success of every student in the program.

After graduation, students remain part of the achieve program and are invited to attend annual alumni events. Mrs. Bakar continues to advise and support alumni through letters, e-mails and phone calls. Alumni like to visit their alma maters to speak to and motivate students in the program.