SFSU Guardian Scholars celebrate 20 years of helping former foster youth earn degrees and build their futures
Alumnae Kesia Williams and Jessie Peterson reflect on the friendships and support that have remained with them long after graduation
Kesia Williams and Jessie Peterson met 16 years ago through San Francisco State University’s Guardian Scholars Program. They were participating in Fostering Art, a photography program for former foster youth, when they were paired for an exercise meant to help them get to know one another.
The conversation was fairly routine until Peterson asked Williams when her birthday was.
“Dec. 12,” Williams answered.
“No, it’s not,” Peterson said.
Williams remembers giving her a look. Peterson insisted. Her birthday was Dec. 12, too. They pulled out their IDs to settle the matter and discovered they were, in fact, born on the same day.
They have called each other “Twin” ever since.
In the years that followed, Williams and Peterson studied together, celebrated birthdays and traveled together. After Williams returned to San Diego, they stayed close, regularly visiting one another in San Diego and San Francisco.
Their friendship was one of many stories shared Thursday, Oct. 1, when they returned to SFSU for the Guardian Scholars Donor Appreciation Luncheon. Hosted by longtime supporters and San Francisco State Foundation directors Dana Corvin and Amy Chan, the event brought together alumni, University leaders, friends and family to recognize a program that has served more than 400 students since it was founded in 2005.
Williams came to SFSU after spending six years in San Diego County’s foster care system and left shortly before she graduated from high school. She earned an associate degree at a community college before transferring to SFSU, where she joined Guardian Scholars and earned her bachelor’s degree in 2011. She later received a master’s degree from the University of Arizona.
After graduation, she stayed in touch with Guardian Scholars co-founder Xochitl Violetta Sanchez. At one point, Williams was between jobs and trying to figure out what she wanted to do next. Sanchez listened, offered advice, connected her with a mentor and even offered her a job.
Then Sanchez called and asked Williams to speak at a Guardian Scholars gala.
Williams agreed before she had given much thought to what she might say. Preparing for the event forced her to take stock of where she had been and what she had accomplished.
“Xochitl wasn’t just asking me to speak; she was helping me see what she already saw in me,” Williams said. “My resilience. My dedication to learning. My ability to inspire. And my strength to keep going even when I didn’t yet know exactly where I was headed.”
Williams went on to build a career supporting students, including young people who had experienced foster care. She began her career in the nonprofit sector before moving into higher education in 2016 and has since led Guardian Scholars programs at San Diego State University and UC San Diego. Today, she is a student conduct officer at SDSU.
She also created the Future Leaders Career Program, a weeklong summer program that introduces former foster youth attending California universities to career opportunities. Participants have visited companies including Google, Meta, Apple, LinkedIn and Salesforce, where they take part in workshops and meet people working in a range of professions.
When Williams was developing the program, she called Sanchez for advice.
After graduating from SFSU in 2014, Peterson worked as a paralegal at a corporate immigration law firm in San Francisco while serving on the San Francisco Juvenile Justice Commission, eventually becoming its chair. She went on to earn her law degree from the University of San Francisco. Today, she is an associate deputy state public defender with the California Office of the State Public Defender, representing clients in appeals before the California Courts of Appeal and California Supreme Court.
Peterson still lives in San Francisco, which she calls her “forever home.” She is also the mother of a young son.
“I would not be the person or professional I am today without the Guardian Scholars Program,” Peterson said. “GSP is my family. It provided me, as a student at SFSU, with financial, academic and housing support. Most importantly, it gave me community, unconditional love and long-lasting relationships.”
One of the stories she shared at the luncheon took place during her freshman year, when Guardian Scholars helped her land her first job, an internship with the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services.
Peterson was sitting in the front office at City Hall on her first day when the first constituent she was expected to help walked through the door.
It was Sanchez.
Peterson remembers turning bright red, worried that her new colleagues would figure out that her mother figure had come to check on her. Sanchez played along, pretending she had a problem involving plumbing or a housing permit. When no one was looking, she snapped a picture of Peterson and left.
David Knutson, SFSU
“At that moment, I was so embarrassed,” Peterson recalled. “But I also felt so much love.”
Years later, Peterson returned to City Hall after being selected to administer the oath of office to San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie. She had first met Lurie 14 years earlier when he was CEO of Tipping Point Community, which supported Guardian Scholars.
When Peterson was invited to bring family members to the January 2025 ceremony, everyone she chose had a connection to the program: Sanchez and Guardian Scholars co-founder Sonja Lenz-Rashid, Williams, fellow Guardian Scholars alumnus Bonta Hill and mentors Jason and Abby Porth, whom Peterson had met through Guardian Scholars.
“When I think about that moment, I can’t help but think back to that nervous freshman sitting in the front office of City Hall on my first day,” Peterson said. “Years later, I was at City Hall again. This time, to administer the oath of office to the mayor of San Francisco. And, again, I was not alone. My GSP family was standing beside me.”
That kind of lasting connection has been part of Guardian Scholars since its beginning.
The program, which is part of SFSU’s Educational Opportunity & Pathway Programs and works in collaboration with the School of Social Work, serves undergraduate and graduate students who are current or former foster youth. Its support is tailored to individual students and can include priority access to campus housing, scholarships, priority registration, financial aid assistance, academic and personal support, peer mentorship and connections to internships and jobs.
Guardian Scholars also uses a clinical model, with licensed clinical social workers providing case management and dedicated mental health therapists working with students. Staff help scholars navigate University services and maintain connections with community organizations and social service agencies.
“Access has always been central to SFSU’s mission, but opening the door to a university education is not enough,” said Anjali Billa, interim vice president for University Advancement and president of the San Francisco State University Foundation. “We have a responsibility to make sure students have the support, resources and sense of belonging they need to earn their degrees and build meaningful lives and careers.”
Donors have contributed nearly $20 million to Guardian Scholars over the past two decades. The money has not come from a single transformational gift. It has been built over time through contributions large and small, in-kind gifts, alumni support, foundation grants and donors who have stayed involved with the program over the years.
“Guardian Scholars shows what is possible when a community continues to show up for students,” said Don Endo, chair of the San Francisco State University Foundation. “We are deeply grateful to the donors whose generosity gives students the support and opportunities they need to earn their degrees and build successful futures.”
The program is still growing. Fall 2026 brought its largest incoming class to date, while SFSU recently established a guaranteed-admission pathway for eligible current and former foster youth attending San Francisco Unified School District and City College of San Francisco.
About 70% of SFSU Guardian Scholars graduate, according to Sanchez. More than 400 students have participated in the program since it was founded
“When we started Guardian Scholars more than 20 years ago, we knew getting young people into college wasn’t enough — they needed a community that believed in them and stood beside them,” Sanchez said. “I am incredibly proud of our students and alumni, and deeply grateful to everyone who has helped build and sustain this community.”
Lenz-Rashid puts it more simply.
“We could not change what happened to them, but we could change what happens next,” she said.
Williams and Peterson graduated years ago, but both remain closely connected to Guardian Scholars and the people they met through the program.
Guardian Scholars have a phrase for it.
“Once a GSPer, always a GSPer,” Williams said. “That’s because we are a family, forever.”
Additional links:
Learn more about the Guardian Scholars Program and how to support its students.
Watch Guardian Scholars alumnus Bonta Hill share how the program helped him earn his SFSU degree and launch his career in sports broadcasting.
Read more about Guardian Scholars alumna Jessie Peterson and her journey from SFSU to a career in public service.
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