Out of over 100 applicants, Bridge to a Brighter Future was awarded a $3,000 grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles for winning the ChangeMaker Challenge.  The non-profit is comprised of 15 tutors and 15 students, headed by Andrew Ravan ’15, Elijah Akhtarzad ’15 and Alan Yousefzadeh ’15. Bridge to a Brighter Future has used some of the grant money to open a second chapter at Milken Community High School.

The program’s main goal is to educate students through technology, making it easier to interact with underprivileged students. Tutors use the Skype platform and Wacom pen tablets to connect with students in lower socioeconomic areas to tutor them in math, thus eliminating the need to commute to far locations.

“We thought it would be great to provide additional aid to students through tutoring, while incorporating technology into the process,” Yousefzadeh said.

The highly interactive process helps the students with their homework and creates a strong relationship between the tutor and the tutee. Currently, there are 15 student tutors working with sixth and seventh graders from Valor Academy.

“The students are not only gaining a better understanding of their math curriculum, but also building relationships with their tutors, who become role models for these young, aspiring students,” Yousefzadeh said.

In addition to expanding the program to Milken, the organization is looking to buy more devices to help with the tutoring and connectivity like Wacom tablets, which are used to illustrate math problems.

“The $3,000 grant is enabling Bridge to a Brighter Future to buy more Wacom Tablets and accessories for our new chapter, and will be used towards Bridge to a Brighter Future expansion as an official nonprofit corporation,” Yousefzadeh said.

The expansion and creation of its second chapter, Bridge to a Brighter Future  —Milken, will begin today, where tutors at Milken will connect over Skype with sixth grade students at New L.A. Charter School.

“Bridge to a Brighter Future provides a meaningful, easy, and rewarding opportunity to give back to communities in L.A,” Ravan said.