SparkPoint and Career Services at Skyline College would like to extend an official campus-wide introduction to a new member of the team, Valerie Higgins. Valerie serves as a SparkPoint Coordinator and Financial Coach here at Skyline College. Valerie Higgins had her first experience with Skyline College as a student and young single mother. She relied on the support of her family and Skyline College programs like EOPS, ASTEP and the Honors Transfer Program throughout her community college career. She left Skyline College as an Honors Transfer student with an Associate’s Degree in Liberal Arts and ultimately attended San Francisco State University, where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Empowerment & Cultural Expression, as well as her Master’s Degree in Ethnic Studies.
Despite her long educational journey, she states very strongly that it was at Skyline College that she found her identity “as a woman, as a scholar, as a mother and as a conscious world citizen.” Valerie’s personal experiences and life journey inspired her to work in a career that empowers and transforms lives in her community. She has over a decade of experience helping at-risk students and parents access quality educational programs and achieve their academic goals. She believes in the power of love and human resilience and she is passionate about social justice, especially concerning foster youth, at-risk youth, students of color, working class families and low-income families.
As a SparkPoint Coordinator at Skyline College, Valerie hopes to use her passion, experience and knowledge to provide support to students and community members so that they can break cycles of poverty and elevate their lives by accessing educational opportunity and economic independence.
If you are interested in having Valerie speak to your students about financial literacy and other SparkPoint services, or if you would like to refer someone to her directly, please contact SparkPoint at 650-738-7035 or at Skylinesparkpoint@smccd.edu (Room 1-214)
Article by Chad Thompson
