Three alumni share how the support they got from SFSU gave them the boost they needed to succeed
In February, SFSU announced a huge expansion of its Presidential Scholars Program. Thanks to millions of dollars in support from philanthropist and alumna Neda Nobari (B.S., ’84), the program — which covers the costs of tuition, housing, books and more for first-generation, low-income students from the Bay Area — will more than double its size. Founded in 1995, the program had been serving about 20 students per year. With the additional funds from Nobari, the program will serve 30 more.
That was exciting news for the University to share. But as comprehensive and impactful as the program is, it isn’t unique at SFSU. An array of other programs, scholarships and initiatives are making a difference for students every day.
This issue of SF State Magazine focuses on the many ways the University supports students. We start by telling the stories of three Gators whose journeys to success were shaped by the help they got from SFSU.
Jessie Peterson (B.A., ’14)
From foster care to City Hall
As Daniel Lurie prepared for his inauguration as mayor of San Francisco in January, he told his staff he wanted to be sworn in by a San Franciscan who represented the ideal of service. He remembered someone who’d spoken at an event for his nonprofit Tipping Point Community 14 years before — a young woman who’d grown up in the foster care system and graduated from SFSU with the help of the Guardian Scholars program — and thought she might fit the bill. What was she doing now?
It turned out that Jessie Peterson (B.A., ’14) still exemplified service. As a student at SFSU, she’d received it from Guardian Scholars, which helps former foster youth navigate the challenges of college. And now, as an alumna, she’d committed herself to providing service to others through her work as an appellate, criminal defense attorney at the Office of the State Public Defender.
“Many of my clients have been victims themselves,” she says. “Everyone deserves to be treated with humanity and dignity without exception.”
Peterson’s experience with the legal system goes all the way back to her infancy: When she was just two weeks old, she was placed in foster care due to her parents’ drug use. Her experiences over the next 18 years varied wildly, smoothing out for a time with a loving and supportive foster mother followed, after she passed away, by tough times in an exploitative and abusive foster home. Peterson grew determined to take control of her life by going to college, and she found an ally in Xochitl Sanchez, co-founder of SFSU’s Guardian Scholars program.
“She spent hours on the phone with me, talking about college in general, and how [Guardian Scholars] at SFSU specifically could support me,” Peterson says. “I knew that if I went to SFSU, I’d be supported. I just didn’t know how much!”
As a Guardian Scholar, Peterson received guaranteed housing, academic support, priority registration, access to scholarships and stipends and intensive personal support from Sanchez, Professor Sonja Lenz-Rashid and fellow students who understood what she’d been through
“The most important thing I got out of the Guardian Scholars program was a family,” Peterson says. “I got a place to call home and people I could be myself around, who understood me, didn’t judge me, loved me unconditionally, and supported me.”
Today her extended Guardian Scholars family includes an actual sister. Peterson’s biological sister, Billie Beard, followed in her footsteps, coming to SFSU through Guardian Scholars. She graduated with a B.A. in Sociology in 2017 and then a Master of Social Work in 2019, like her sister choosing a path that would allow her to give back.
Leslie Valencia (B.S., ’14; M.S., ’16)
A TV M.D. inspires a Ph.D. (with help from SFSU)
Leslie Valencia (B.S., ’14; M.S., ’16) is a project toxicologist at Genentech, a member of the Roche Group. As part of the Department of Translational Safety, she ensures the safety of drug candidates from preclinical studies through clinical trials and beyond. She’s come far from her first day at SFSU. Back then, she wanted to become an M.D., following in the footsteps of Dr. Addison Montgomery from “Grey’s Anatomy.”
“As a first-generation Latina, I was very unfamiliar with what those three letters [Ph.D.] even meant and the possibilities of having any other scientific track aside from the medical one,” she says.
Thanks to the University’s Student Enrichment Opportunities office, not only did she earn her Ph.D., but she followed a path of leadership and community — and met her husband to boot. The office’s fellowship programs prepare students for STEM careers through research experiences and academic and financial support.
Valencia was part of Student Enrichment Opportunities’ Maximizing Access to Research Careers fellowship and California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Bridges programs as an undergraduate and graduate student, respectively. These programs provided partial tuition, a stipend, research experience and support to attend scientific conferences.
“A lot of us were first-gen, low-income students. It was helpful to understand that all of us were trying our best to navigate a system we weren’t exposed to growing up,” she says. “I believe we were each other’s biggest advocates.”
Student Enrichment Opportunities provided Valencia with her first research experience with SFSU Professor Diana Chu, who emphasized precision in research, science writing and communication. Professors Frank Bayliss and Raymond Esquerra introduced her to the concept of a Ph.D. and STEM career opportunities. Dean Carmen Domingo, as director of the CIRM Bridges program, played a crucial role in her application process for graduate school.
“I love that Dr. Domingo is always proud that she was our matchmaker because I met my husband through the CIRM program,” Valencia laughs. “I often run into my SF State professors at SACNAS conferences, which gives us a chance to catch up.”
In 2015, Valencia went to her first scientific conference ever — a Society for Advancement, Chicanos/Hispanic & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) conference — and met a recruiter from Stanford, where she earned her Ph.D. She became founder and president of the Stanford chapter of SACNAS and now co-leads the Genentech chapter. But this all started at SFSU.
“The professors at SF State are amazing,” she says. “I really wouldn’t be here without them.”
Meaning, hope and the confidence to help
Juan Carlos Arredondo’s journey has been one of perseverance. After losing his father at a young age, he moved between the U.S. and Mexico, balancing school with long hours working in his mother’s food truck. He dropped in and out of college while pursuing an associate’s degree, finding it difficult to continue his education due to financial instability. But his determination to graduate — and make a difference — didn’t falter despite the setbacks.
“I want to help families and use myself as a resource I did not have during my youth,” Arredondo says.
A resource that was critical to him after he started at SFSU was the Willie L. Brown, Jr. Fellowship. Arredondo won a slot in the competitive program, which places SFSU students in internships within various City and County of San Francisco agencies. Arredondo served as an intern at San Francisco’s Human Services Agency. There, he helped emancipated foster youth access a guaranteed-income pilot program, shadowed social workers and assisted with biopsychosocial assessments. He also led a qualitative study amplifying the voices of San Francisco’s unhoused population, presenting his research at the 2024 Social Work Social Development Joint World Conference.
Arredondo’s passion for social work was sparked even more when he learned about an agency providing counseling to migrants incarcerated at the U.S./ Mexico border. Now, he is determined to be a role model and advocate for
Juan Carlos Arredondo (B.A., ’24)
He’s well on his way: Arredondo earned a B.A. in Social Work from SF State in 2024, graduating with a 4.0 grade-point average. He returned last fall for a Master of Social Work and received the CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement, the highest honor CSU bestows on students.
“Education radically transformed my life,” says Arredondo, who interns at Manzanita SEED Elementary School, providing bilingual behavioral therapy. “It has given me meaning, hope and the awareness that I have always been capable.”
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