uAspire

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Heather D. Adams

College Affordability Advisor

Heather is a College Affordability Advisor for our New York Succeed Program. In her role, Heather advises college students from New York who attend the state universities (SUNYs) or other private colleges in that region as well as students who attend several other colleges outside of NY. In collaboration with our CollegeBound Initiative (CBI) partners, Heather advises these students on financial aid logistics and major aspects of their transition to college life. Heather is a Posse Scholar with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a minor in African-American Diaspora Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Heather was born and raised in Pasadena, CA near Los Angeles. At UC Berkeley, Heather worked several jobs, was a strong advocate for mental health awareness and held leadership positions in various campus culture groups and community organizations.

Prior to uAspire, Heather has worked in the corporate sector and extensively in the non-profit sector including the West Contra Costa & Oakland Unified School Districts, the Crisis Support Services of Alameda County, and UC Berkeley's Cal Performances.

Why uAspire?

At uAspire, we tackle college access and affordability on an institutional level and an individual level. I believe this is necessary because there are many systematic factors that have disenfranchised and denied groups of people access to equity in education, impacting the quality of their lives. I’m proud to be a part of such a thriving, student-centered team and I'm SUPER juiced to use my experience & platform to help disenfranchised and underrepresented individuals with their financial aid and college application process. I went through many unnecessary and unexpected twists and turns in my high school and college careers being a minority, having a diverse heritage, being a first generation university graduate, and being raised by a single mother. I was fortunate to find many mentors and advocates who pushed me to strive for excellence and take advantage of financial and enrichment opportunities that optimized my college experience. Everyone, especially the youth of today, has a purpose and something that drives them. I want to empower everyone I can to not only make their goals a reality, but capitalize on the process.