Each of us discovered Coro in different ways. Some of us heard of Coro from attending a job fair, from the career center in our university, from mentors who recommended the program, and a few of us from alumni we knew personally. Since it always seems hard to say what Coro is until you experience it firsthand, it is probably most accurate to say that we didn’t learn what Coro really was until we participated firsthand. Our understanding of Coro crystallized during bi-weekly seminars, hands-on experience at placements, and interviews with leaders in the Bay Area. We found that Coro means making progress and creating solutions in a society with so many different interests and points of view that it boggles the mind.

Since our graduation a year ago, we remain deeply involved with Coro. Several of us who stayed in the Bay Area have participated in the numerous alumni events that Coro hosts, including the brunch for the very first Coro class, the current class’ Social Enterprise presentations, and this year’s Leadership Luncheon. Additionally, we’re all proud of our classmate, Yolanda De La Paz, who was hired as the Coro Outreach Manager. The rest of us have moved to such diverse places as New York, Ecuador, Minneapolis, Pakistan and Boston.

Although some of us are hundreds of miles from Coro and can’t participate directly, our commitment to the organization and its ideals has not faded. We decided to get together as a class and donate to the 15th Annual Leadership Luncheon. The reason we did was because Coro was such a rich experience for us, that we hoped that by making our small contribution to Coro there can be many more classes like our own in the future. Attending the Coro Fellows Program opened up many opportunities for us, and it is our pleasure to donate to the organization that has given us so much.