Career readiness flies high with new gift from the business world

For its first substantial contribution to the California higher education system, Alaska Airlines selected a program far from its Seattle headquarters but close to its values.

It’s San Diego State University’s Career Services program, which Alaska is supporting with a $145,000 gift following a campus tour and meetings with students who made a strong impression on the company. 

Daniel Newell, Career Services executive director, said the gift will be used for a variety of career readiness programs, including initiatives and industry events that forge connections among students, recruiters and employers.

“The primary objective is to enhance employment outcomes, our top Key Performance Indicator,” Newell wrote. 

J’Keren Sears, a senior manager with Alaska, said the gift is intended to add value to students’ time at SDSU. “lifting them up and removing barriers” through access to programs and support.

The airline’s decision to support Career Services followed a wide-ranging visit to campus in February that included trips to the Fowler College of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Arts and Letters Center for Regional Sustainability, and a talk with students involved with the Green Love initiative, part of a commitment to offset SDSU’s carbon footprint. 

The tour manifested SDSU as a launching pad for change, and Sears said it conveyed students’ “desire to move things forward … what’s the next step?” For Alaska, she said, the question became “how do you take these incredible young people who are seeking to make positive change in the world and give them the skill set so they can do that in a really profound way.” 

Alaska Airlines previously sponsored SDSU athletics, Snapdragon Stadium and women’s professional soccer team San Diego Wave. Sears said her company’s new gift to SDSU was sparked in part by listening to President Adela de la Torre speak of her commitment to students from “multitudes of backgrounds,” not just in education but lived experiences as well ― a “perspective of the whole student that resonated with us.”

The partnership with Career Services will provide support for one-on-one and group advising, workshops, webinars and special events covering employment readiness and professional skill building, among other topics. An “Alaska Day” will showcase career paths in aviation and transportation.

Newell noted the five-year strategic plan for SDSU implemented under de la Torre set a goal for 75% of graduates to have work experience, preparing them for the workforce or further education. Career Services surpassed this target in the 2023-24 academic year with a 83% rate. 

Career attainment also is seen as a key component of student success by the leadership of the California State University system, of which SDSU is a part.

Apart from the gift to Career Services, Alaska has pledged an additional $50,000 to support Family Weekend, a fall semester tradition at SDSU providing students with an opportunity to show off their campus to parents and other family members.

Why Family Weekend? “To be supported by the people that you love in a really transitional period in life is vital,” Sears said, “and if we can have a small piece of making that more accessible to folks, we know that in the end that's going to benefit them.”