About College Rising
Founded in 2019, College Rising is a nonprofit organization that helps underprivileged students prepare for and succeed in college. We provide guidance and scholarships for every stage of the college journey: testing, application, enrollment, financial aid counseling, and mentorship.
Our Mission
College Rising is a non-profit organization whose mission is to help first generation, under-represented and low-income students prepare for and succeed in college. We provide guidance, scholarships and grants to help our students pay for college preparation services within their own communities:
- Standardized testing
- College counseling
- College applications
- College enrollment
- College achievement.
Our focus is local. We help kids to connect with the right resources within their local communities to help them at every stage of the college application process.
Our aspiration is national. Under-represented populations exist in every city and town. We believe that our model of partnering locally can be replicated and adopted in every county in America. We empower local teams with the knowledge, tools and financing to launch College Rising in their own city and county.
Our Vision
More than 1 million graduating seniors never enroll in college each year. We believe that every child regardless of need or situation deserves to go to and succeed in college. Gaining access to the knowledge and skills to prepare well for college should be available to all students who have the ambition, discipline and desire.
We believe preparation is the key to improving college admission rates, graduation rates and financial aid awards.
We realize that our efforts will help generations of families to succeed and achieve their dreams.
Who We Are
Keao Caindec
Co-Founder, CEO and Executive Director
Keao Caindec is the Co-Founder of Farallon Technology Group, a technology consulting firm. Keao has spent his career helping technology startups succeed. Originally from Hawaii, Keao has seen the impact that education can have on achievement and success. He developed the idea for College Rising after seeing the need for local communities to help solve the complex challenges of preparing for college.
Dewey Wilmot
Co-Founder and Director
David “Dewey” Wilmot is the director and owner of Admissions Edge, a professional tutoring and college counseling service founded in 1999. Dewey brings deep experience to College Rising. He also serves on the board of the Western Association of College Admissions Counselors.
Chris Albinson
Co-Founder and Director
Chris Albinson serves as a Director and the Treasurer of College Rising. Chris is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Breakaway Growth, a venture capital firm. He has co-founded several venture capital firms and is an investor in DocuSign, Pinterest, Ticketfly, Good Technology and many other startups. He brings a passion for helping underprivileged youth and the experience of growing successful companies.
Todd Schneider
Co-Founder and Director
Todd Schneider is the founder of Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky LLP. He has an extensive background in complex litigation, consumer rights, financial service, ERISA and antitrust. He has argued cases in courts at every level from trial courts to the US Supreme Court. Todd shares our passion and mission for helping students to succeed in college.
Help Us to Create a Better Future
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