Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Azzara.
Hi Karen, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was born and raised in Guadalajara, Jal, Mexico. Growing up, I saw how hard my father worked to build his career as a chemical engineer in Mexico to then come to the United States for a better life.
At the age of 14, I arrived in this beautiful country full of dreams and hopes for my family. With English being my second language, I never imagined I could accomplish so much from the academic perspective. However, despite my internal confidence struggle, I managed to do very well in school. I astutely finished high school and consequently earned a series of degrees, including an Associates Degree from East Los Angeles College, a B.S. in Human Resources from California State University Long Beach, and an MBA from Claremont Graduate University.
Over the years, my kinship with academia paired with a heartfelt connection to the local community continued to grow. Eventually, my commitment and resolve matured into a responsibility to support and give back to society. That is when the idea for Achieve a Dream was born.
I started to Achieve a Dream in 2010 to provide educational scholarships. The vision is to empower disabled or low-income youth and adults in Southern California with educational scholarships to help them build a brighter future. This started as a self-funding mission because I truly believe in empowering people who need resources. Since 2018 we have been accepting donations from individuals and corporations who share our passion and dedication to this work.
In partnership with East Los Angeles College, my alma mater, we commenced with giving out ten scholarships the first year. We are honored to still work in partnership with East Los Angeles College and have provided over a hundred educational scholarships directly to East Los Angeles College students.
In addition to the Achieve A Dream educational scholarships, I have worked hands-on as a Student Assistant at the Disabled Student Services Dept. at East Los Angeles College. This involvement inspired me to work directly with the university leaders, counselors, and students. Through this work, I had the opportunity to tutor students and help them realize that their dreams can become reality. Regardless of their obstacles, income, or the life journey they started with, we uncovered opportunities for a brighter future.
Through Achieve a Dream, I’m able to empower individuals to help transform their lives. Our scholarships are available to kids, young adults, men, women, and veterans who have overcome difficult circumstances. Recipients are granted access to attend school, fight for their future, and make their once unthinkable dreams become achievable.
When I’m not dedicating my time to Achieve A Dream, I’m working as a devoted wife, mother, and full-time HR Director at a Fortune 500 company. In the past, I’ve contributed to organizations such as ITT Industries, Grainger, PPG, Safran, and now, iHerb. I am deeply grateful for the mentors and leaders who have guided me through my career. However, the best mentors are still my mother and father.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Life is an uncertain roller coaster.
I believe that when you go through a challenge, there is a choice of two paths to take. On one hand you can choose to embrace it and enjoy the ride, learning and growing from your experiences along the way. This positive “overcome to become” mentality embraces that challenges in life are a given, and they can be used to your advantage. Each one is an opportunity for personal growth and self-improvement. Ultimately, the goal is to use what you learn as you grow to become the best version of yourself.
On the other hand, you can choose a victim mentality. Letting the trauma or hard times define you. As a result, you develop a negative view of life – rebelling against all of life’s challenges, resenting every moment of your journey. This robs you of any growth or development.
I can share many challenges. However, through every challenge whether migratory, language barrier, financial, medical, etc., I would prefer to focus on the parts of my journey that challenged and strengthened me to do more. Even back when I was new to America and needed to save money for two years in order to afford an attorney to help with citizenship. And you might think the financial burden was the challenge, but the real challenge was when the attorney vanished after receiving payment. This robbery could have crippled my spirit, but it only strengthened my resolve and determination.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Overall, I’m most proud to have the privilege of being a mother to a beautiful ten years old girl who gives me purpose and inspiration each day. I have been in Human Resources my entire career and worked for incredible organizations who allow me the opportunity to grow professionally, personally and become a more impactful leader.
In 2010 it was brought to my attention that there were increasing low high school graduation rates, high unemployment, and lack of resources to improve the situation. That’s when I started to Achieve a Dream.
Over the past ten years, we’ve empowered over 100 people with educational scholarships in order to discover their strengths and make a positive impact on the world.
A couple of examples that are near and dear to my heart include:
Working with a quadriplegic student who would need someone to walk to class and take notes for her. This young woman was determined to become educated and complete her associate’s degree
Providing tuition for a student that came from a low-income and abusive family. Plus, this young person was working multiple jobs at night to help keep a roof above their head. The scholarship was a life-changing opportunity
Supporting a student with the dyslexia learning disability who struggled with both reading and math. Achieve A Dream was able to provide tutoring and extra instruction
Looking to the future, I’m determined to continue working diligently to drive this non-profit forward and help as many people as possible to achieve their dreams.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Something surprising that most people don’t know about me is that I never learned how to ride a bike. As a child, my mother was overprotective and viewed bikes as “unsafe” for little girls. As an adult, I had a few failed attempts. To this day, I’m still fearful. But I’m determined to try again until I conquer this challenge.
We all know life is not always an easy ride. Sometimes it is just like riding a bicycle. It can be scary, intimidating, and challenging. But like Einstein said, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
I will learn how to ride and bike and inspire others to believe in themselves, push outside their comfort zones, and achieve greatness.
If you or someone you know needs an educational scholarship then we encourage you to get in touch today. We work directly with educational institutions and can do our best to support you.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.achieveadreamglobal.com
Image Credits:
ELAC – DSP&S & EOPS Teams, Directors and Founders dear to my heart
