St. Margaret’s Breakthrough SJC Executive Director Alex Serna was honored this month by the Hispanic Education Endowment Fund with the 2019 Scholar Alumnus Award. The award was presented at HEEF’s 26^th Annual Celebration at the City National Grove of Anaheim along with other HEEF award honorees including Arte and Carole Moreno, owners of the Los Angeles Angels, and Al Mijares, Orange County superintendent of schools.

The Scholar Alumnus Award is presented annually to a past HEEF scholarship recipient who is a pillar of the community dedicating themselves to the shared mission of building bridges to educational opportunities for underserved youth.

“Alex Serna exemplifies the best of what evolves when we invest in a talented and deserving first generation scholar who needs a hand in reaching his or her academic goals—we uphold future leaders and educators who make an exponential impact in the community. In 2007 the Hispanic Education Endowment Fund invested in the future of a promising student transferring from Santa Ana College to UC Berkeley. This investment eventually came full circle in the impact that Alex is making through his work with Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano,” said HEEF Administrative Director Monica V. Guillena.

Mr. Serna received a HEEF scholarship in 2007 when he was a student at Santa Ana College. Inspired and supported by mentors and organizations like HEEF, he successfully transferred to University of California, Berkeley where he became the first in his family to graduate college, earning a Bachelor of Arts in American studies. Later, he earned a master’s degree in urban education and secondary social studies at University of California, Los Angeles.

As Breakthrough SJC’s executive director, Mr. Serna leads the program’s work in the local community providing students whose backgrounds are underrepresented in higher education with tuition-free, academic enrichment and college access programming.

“Alex is a testament to what it means to be a first-gen college student. He has experienced the journey himself, done the work, understands the inherent ups and downs, and is a model for Breakthrough students and their families. We are very proud of Alex and congratulate him for this well-deserved honor,” said Victor Cota, St. Margaret’s director of equity and inclusion.

See the HEEF film recognizing Alex Serna and presented at the awards ceremony here.

In attendance to support Mr. Serna at the special ceremony were longtime Breakthrough supporters and program advisors Jim Berens, Ira Hermman and Stacey Nicholas; Dean of the School of Education at University of California, Irvine Richard Arum; along with Breakthrough and St. Margaret’s staff.   

Mr. Serna serves as a Trustee on the Breakthrough Collaborative’s National Board, is a 2017 New Leaders Council Fellow, and served on the Millennial Commission on Education as a Senior Fellow. He also serves on the advisory board for the UCI School of Social Ecology field study program.

In the past two years, HEEF has awarded scholarships to four Breakthrough SJC students to continue their education in college. HEEF serves students who live in Orange County with a mission to improve access to higher education for Hispanic/Latino students. HEEF offers competitive academic scholarships for OC high school and community college transfers, awards tuition grants for students at selected Santa Ana Catholic grammar schools, and provides scholarships for college graduates to attend law school.