Romi Lassally is the co-founder of Ready to Succeed (RTS), a career and personal development program that provides youth impacted by foster care and low-income, first-generation college students with the resources, relationships and opportunities they need to thrive both personally and professionally.
Lassally co-founded the program with her friend Pat McCabe in 2016 after learning that many young college students across California who had aged out of foster care were dropping out at an alarming rate. It became clear to them that without support, these students faced uncertain and often bleak futures. Many would struggle with homelessness, minimum-wage jobs and teen parenthood. The odds of them succeeding and building stable lives were far lower than those of their peers who had the security of a stable home.
Next month, on May 15, the two partners will celebrate the graduation of their students. In the nine years since its inception, every youth in the program has graduated from college, with some continuing to graduate school. All of them are now working and thriving. Without the program, their chances of success would have been slim — only 3% of foster youth graduate from college.
Lassally was working as an entertainment executive and producer when she decided to make a complete shift in her career. Since then, she has helped over 500 students and many of them, eager to give back, serve as mentors to other RTS youth who are going to college.
“We wanted to leverage our network for good. Pat and I knew how challenging it was for them to get anywhere in life. We realized that those who get to college, no one supports them when they are there. Ten percent of them drop out in their first year,” she said. “It seems like they have made it so far, but they are failing, and it’s not only college but what it represents — economic mobility and a future.”
The partners started with a group of six students, working around their dining room table. They asked them a simple question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The high school students, who had probably never been asked that before, responded with dreams like: “I want to be a veterinarian,” “I want to become a lawyer,” or “I want to go into finance.”
At first, the students likely didn’t believe these two adults were actually going to help them get there. They had been disappointed too many times before. Many foster kids are moved from home to home throughout their lives, frequently changing schools and lacking stability. This time, however, proved to be different.
“We said, ‘OK. We’re going to help you get there,’” Lassally said. “We’re going to make introductions and help you apply to college. Pat literally drove our first scholar, Natalie, to an internship interview, and she’s now working at a big finance company and is on the board.”
The program took off from there. It begins in a student’s sophomore year and lasts four years.
“Everyone is assigned a career advisor, so it’s a very proactive career advising program. We created something to fill the gap we saw in schools. These kids have no family. If I’m going to college and my school wasn’t helping me career-wise, at least I could turn to my family for support but these kids don’t have that, and schools don’t provide institutionalized career support. We’re making up for that lack of family and resources.”
All it took for these students to succeed was someone to believe in them and show them the way. Without RTS, the chances of them completing four years of college would have been slim. Some of them even became lawyers — an incredibly difficult achievement, even for those with a stable home, a quiet place to study, and parents to cover tuition. “They are very motivated. They want a better life,” said Lassally. “And they know that the way to achieve that is by completing their education.”
She attributes their success to the confidence they gained through the program. Some students have told her, “I didn’t believe in myself because so many people overlooked me and didn’t believe in me. But you guys actually saw me.”
The nonprofit has 23 full-time advisors and runs “Camp Ready” each summer, a two-day residential bonding experience designed to prepare students for college. The program includes speakers and volunteers who help build students’ confidence and readiness for the challenges ahead. They also run “Project Dorm Room,” where Lassally personally helps students transition to college life by providing dorm essentials and creating a sense of home.
In January, Lassally lost her home in the Pacific Palisades fires. She now lives in an apartment until she can move back and rebuild. This didn’t slow her down for a moment — she continued running RTS programs full force.
The rewards for her have been immense. She recalled receiving emails from young people in the program excitedly sharing that they had been accepted to Harvard Law School, Stanford Law, or Columbia Law.
“One wrote, ‘Sorry to flood your email box, but I was just accepted to Harvard’ and it’s like, ‘Oh my God!’” Lassally said, sounding like a proud mom.
Her three children, ages 34, 27 and 24, serve as mentors to the students in the program. The ability to talk to someone who has graduated or is successful in their career does wonders for their confidence, showing them that they can achieve the same.
“We are keeping them away from being homeless,” said Lassally. “They have no safety net, nothing to catch them. We are that net for them.”
To learn more about Ready to Succeed, visit: readytosucceedla.org
