Our History

A Need Identified In The Beginning

Kate Young first observed the need for tutoring services accessible to low income families in Palo Alto, while working in her capacity as Director of Resident Services at Palo Alto Housing Corporation, a nonprofit organization providing affordable housing to low-income families in Palo Alto.

Partnerships Formed Spring 2008

For years Kate struggled to find a tutoring service in Palo Alto accessible to low-income families. In Spring of 2008, Kate approached Sharon Murphy, the Director of Family Resources at the City of Palo Alto. Together, the two got in touch with Stanford University's Haas Center for Public Service to find a Stanford student who would recruit a sustainable pipeline of tutors to help these students. Stanford student Sarah Mummah was brought onboard to take the lead, later becoming the organization's first Executive Director. The three women connected with Carol Zepecki, Director of Student Services at Palo Alto Unified School District, and Kara Rosenberg, Principal of Palo Alto Adult School, to launch DreamCatchers, an after-school tutoring program for underserved students in Palo Alto.

Tutoring Program Launched November 2008

DreamCatchers' first tutors were Palo Alto community adults and Stanford University students. These first tutors were trained and individually matched with their middle school student tutees when the program began in November of 2008.

Shortly after the program's launch, Stanford student Fagan Harris came on board as the program's chief advisor, and a team of Stanford undergraduates was brought on to help operate the program. In its first year, the program successfully supported approximately 20 PAUSD middle school students.

Recognition from City of Palo Alto June 2009

After one year of operation, the City of Palo Alto recognized Sarah, DreamCatchers and its community partners with a Proclamation and Community Star Award for "Outstanding Public Service".

Board of Advisors First Convene Summer 2009

Recognizing the immense resources available at Stanford and in Palo Alto, DreamCatchers built a Board of Directors comprised of experts and leaders from the two communities. The Board convened for the first time in the summer of 2009. With the help of the Board's expertise and guidance, DreamCatchers overhauled its tutoring program to rebuild it based on best practices established by leading research in the field.

New Fellows Program Launched Fall 2009

After leading the DreamCatchers tutoring program, the Stanford student team began to see an opportunity to also make a difference by engaging other Stanford undergraduates in caring about K-12 education. In the fall of 2009, DreamCatchers launched the Fellows Program to explore how it could build a pipeline of undergraduates who would become future leaders in positively influencing K-12 education.