College Prep & Career Readiness Program
All Women of the Dream college prep and career readiness students receive a Women of the Dream Scholarship!
Life Skills Program
Social & Cultural Program
Women of the Dream’s College Prep, Career & Workforce Readiness Program prepares girls in grades 11 and 12 for college, the workforce, and a broad spectrum of professional careers within the global marketplace. Girls enroll during their junior year in high school and graduate at the end of the 12th grade. Sessions occur weekly and are complemented by relevant activities such as visits to colleges and corporate sites, leadership training, and networking opportunities with successful women of color.
WOD Founder and Program Director, Leslie Morris states, “Young people in underserved areas face several challenges both in and beyond high school. This program not only helps build girls’ confidence to pursue postsecondary education and career success but also prevents girls from falling between the cracks by guiding them through the college and trade school application process and tracking their progress and offering assistance as needed after high school graduation”.
Women of the Dream participants enrolled in the senior college prep program and interested in attending William Paterson University (Wayne, NJ) visit the college campus. College tours are an essential part of our college prep program.
Women of the Dream previous scholarship recipients return to the high school campus to address current students who are college-bound. Our previous scholarship recipients – those who have graduated from a postsecondary institution or on track to graduate – provide guidance and advice, and success tips to our current participants.
Women of the Dream’s college prep instructor, Donna Baines, addressing a group of our seniors on the importance of the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) as a source of financial aid.
Women of the Dream juniors and seniors in our college prep program attend a workshop on “Minority Women in STEM.” This panel of women in STEM includes an air traffic controller, a research scientist, an entrepreneur in computer science, a medical doctor, and a nurse practitioner. This activity and exposure are an important part of our program, given that less than 5% of women in STEM are minority women.
Women of the Dream seniors actively engaged in this session on “Completing the college admission application.”
All seniors enrolled in our college prep program receive a scholarship and a college supply bin at our annual scholarship program. Since 2017, Women of the Dream has provided scholarships to 117 girls.
Serenity, a Women of the Dream 2025 scholarship recipient, is a first-year student at Morgan State University, a historically black college and university in Baltimore, Maryland.
