Our Mission Statement
ASF’s mission is to provide students from underserved neighborhoods access to education and support for academic success so that they can create a promising future for themselves and for the community in which they live.
Access to Education
Provide students from underserved neighborhoods with access to quality education.
Academic Support
Offer personalized support and resources to help students achieve academic success.
Empowering Futures
Empower students to build a promising future for themselves and their communities.
Vision
We envision a world where Tijuana’s youth are emboldened to dream about their futures and have the resources and agency they need to pursue those dreams through education.
Values
The values we hold in common – Empathy, Collaboration and Perseverance – are as important today as they were at the inception of ASF more than 40 years ago.
Advancing Students Forward (ASF) began not as an organization, but as an act of compassion. In 1984, recent college graduate and aspiring bilingual teacher Monica Santos volunteered at an orphanage in Tijuana for what was meant to be a single summer. Moved by the children’s potential, and the barriers they faced to continue their education, Monica returned with a mission to help them and to bring attention to the inequities between educational access in Mexico and the US.
What started with one child, Julio, who longed to attend middle school, soon grew into a community effort supporting dozens of students. As word spread, more donors and volunteers joined Monica’s mission, transforming her grassroots effort into a lasting organization.
Today, Advancing Students Forward continues that legacy by supporting students from middle school through university and into meaningful careers. Our alumni are breaking cycles of poverty, contributing to their communities, and inspiring the next generation to pursue their dreams.
Monica Santos
Founder and Director