Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano

What Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano does

Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2006 that operates a tuition-free college access program serving underrepresented middle school, high school, and college students in Orange County, California. The organization is one of 25 affiliate sites within the national Breakthrough Collaborative network and the only affiliate in Southern California, currently serving 270 students with a cumulative reach of more than 330 since inception. Its student base is 95% first-generation college-bound, 84% low-income, 99% students of color, and 76% from households where English is not the primary language, addressing educational inequity and the cycle of intergenerational poverty through college degree completion.

The program operates on a near-peer teaching model in which college students recruited from elite universities (Harvard, Stanford, Brown, Columbia, and others, with 80% identifying as teachers of color) serve as paid Summer Teaching Fellows, supported by a small three-person full-time Breakthrough staff plus executive management drawn from the host institution. Service delivery spans a six-week intensive summer academic program, twice-weekly after-school tutoring during the school year, monthly college preparation workshops for high schoolers, a College Mentor Program pairing seniors with adult volunteers, and a College Access and Completion Program that supports students through college graduation. Recent additions include a STEM curriculum partnership with Dreams for Schools (coding, web development, Arduino) and a regional partnership with Simon Scholars announced in December 2023.

The financial model is donation-funded rather than tuition-based. Approximately 50% of the budget is underwritten by host institution St. Margaret's Episcopal School, which provides facilities, transportation, utilities, community outreach, fundraising support, and administrative salaries through its role as fiscal sponsor (Tax ID 95-3408913). The remaining ~50% is sourced from gifts and grants from a diversified base of corporate donors (Applied Medical, Fluor Engineering, Kingston Technology, GMU Geotechnical, Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund, Deloitte) and foundations (Samueli, Wells Fargo Foundation, Orange County Community Foundation, Sun Family Foundation, The Nicholas Endowment, BNY Mellon, Orange County's United Way), augmented by individual donations. Reported outcomes include 100% college enrollment for 2023 high school graduates (versus a 21% national benchmark for comparable low-income, first-generation students), a 3.62 average GPA across the cohort, and 90% assessment improvement during the 2023 summer program.

Name

Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano

Legal name

Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano

Website

https://breakthroughsjc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano is a tuition-free nonprofit college access program serving 270 underrepresented middle, high, and college students in Orange County through academic enrichment, mentoring, and near-peer teaching, hosted and primarily funded by St. Margaret's Episcopal School.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

College Access and Academic Enrichment Services

NAICS

Exam Preparation and Tutoring (611691), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Summer School & Extended-Year Academic Catch-Up (EDANAJAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Credit Recovery & Learning Loss Catch-Up Programs (K–12) (EDAJAGAI)

Keywords

• College access programs
• Academic enrichment services
• College readiness mentoring
• Tuition-free education
• College completion support

Headquarters

HQ city

San Juan Capistrano

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Individual and Business Donations: Gifts and grants from individuals, businesses, and foundations support approximately 50% of the budget. Every dollar donated directly supports students and teachers.
2. St. Margaret's Episcopal School Sponsorship: St. Margaret's underwrites more than 50% of annual operating costs, including facilities usage, transportation, utilities, community outreach, fundraising, and administrative salaries and operations.
3. Corporate and Foundation Grants: Support from corporate partners (Applied Medical, Fluor Engineering, GMU Geotechnical, Kingston Technology, Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund, Deloitte, etc.) and foundation partners (Orange County Community Foundation, Samueli Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation, etc.)

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano delivers tuition-free, year-round college access programming for students from underrepresented backgrounds, spanning middle school through college graduation. Offerings include an intensive six-week summer academic program taught by college Teaching Fellows, in-session after-school tutoring for middle and high school students, a College Mentor Program pairing seniors with adult volunteers, the College Bound Program for rising high school students, and College Access and Completion support for currently enrolled college students. All academic programming, materials, field trips, and meals are provided at no cost to participating students and families.

Product overview

Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano operates as a single, unified educational access program with multiple interconnected service components rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The organization's offerings center on a six-year comprehensive pathway from middle school through college graduation, comprising: the Summer Program (intensive six-week academic sessions), the Middle School In-Session Program (after-school tutoring), the High School Program (tutoring and college prep workshops), the College Mentor Program (one-on-one volunteer mentorship for seniors), the College Bound Program (high school-to-college transition support), and the College Access and Completion Program (support for enrolled college students). Additionally, the organization runs a Summer Teaching Fellows Program that recruits college students as instructors, creating a near-peer teaching model. All programs are tuition-free and focused on serving students from backgrounds underrepresented in higher education.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% of 2023 high school graduates attending college vs. 21% national rate for low-income, first-generation students
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Dreams for SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 April 2024STEM education partnership teaching students coding, web development, and Arduino. 37% of students had no prior CS/Engineering experience. 87% found topics beneficial for their future. Students showed 6.4% improvement in focus (Grit) and 4.3% increase in creative self-concept.
• Simon ScholarscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 December 2023Partnership announced December 2023 to broaden reach throughout South Orange County. Simon Scholars provides support from high school through college and career. Goal is to provide robust support system for students throughout their college journeys. Simon Scholars has provided nearly $100 million in combined financial aid and program support to date.
• Breakthrough CollaborativeflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017National nonprofit network. Breakthrough SJC is one of 25 affiliate sites and the only Breakthrough site in Southern California. Collaborative founded in San Francisco in 1978, has served over 40,000 students. Program efficacy confirmed by Stanford University and American Institute of Research.
• St. Margaret's Episcopal SchoolflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2006Lead sponsor and host of Breakthrough SJC since 2006. Founded the program under leadership of Marcus D. Hurlbut. Underwrites more than 50% of annual operating costs including facilities, transportation, utilities, administrative salaries, and operations. St. Margaret's has strong commitment to financial aid, awarding nearly $3 million annually.
• Boys & Girls Club of Capistrano ValleycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganizational partner supporting Breakthrough SJC programs. Provides facilities for family interviews and community events.
• Marco Forster Middle SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary feeder school. Breakthrough SJC was founded with students from this school in 2006. Students attend classes on campus during school year programs.
• City of San Juan CapistranominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCity partner collaborating with Breakthrough SJC for community outreach and support.
• Ocean InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partner providing enrichment experiences for Breakthrough students.
• University of California, MercedminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner in the college access network supporting Breakthrough students.
• GMU GeotechnicalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate partner. CEO Greg Silver also serves as College Mentor and donor. Provides internship and job shadowing opportunities for students.
• Fluor Engineering Corp.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate partner supporting Breakthrough SJC through donations and community investment.
• Applied Medical Resources CorporationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate partner providing financial support for Breakthrough programs.
• DeloitteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate partner providing professional services and support to Breakthrough SJC.

Scale indicators18 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• QuestBridge: QuestBridge connects high-achieving, low-income students to top colleges and provides college access and persistence support — a close parallel for the first-generation, low-income college access mission Breakthrough SJC serves in a single region.
• College Track: College Track is a national college access and completion nonprofit serving underrepresented high school and college students through academic programming, mentorship, and college success support — directly comparable to Breakthrough SJC's middle-school-through-college graduation model.
• Summer Search: Summer Search is a youth development nonprofit combining summer experiential programs with year-round mentoring and college access for low-income high school students — comparable in mentoring-led model and target population to Breakthrough SJC.
• Bottom Line: Bottom Line provides college access and persistence advising to low-income, first-generation students from high school through college graduation — directly comparable mission and longitudinal model to Breakthrough SJC.
• OneGoal: OneGoal runs a multi-year college access and success program for low-income high school students with intensive program staff embedded in partner schools — closely aligned with Breakthrough SJC's high-school-targeted programming.
• uAspire: uAspire focuses on college affordability advising and financial aid support for low-income students — overlapping with Breakthrough SJC's college access work, particularly financial aid guidance and application support.

Broad incumbents

• Year Up: Year Up is a large workforce-development nonprofit serving young adults from low-income backgrounds with training and corporate placement — adjacent in mission (breaking cycles through education-to-career pathways) but serves an older cohort and is much larger.
• AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination): AVID is a national K-12 college readiness system serving millions of students through school-based programming focused on underrepresented students. Broader in scale than Breakthrough SJC but addresses the same college-readiness gap through schools.
• Breakthrough Collaborative (national affiliate network): Breakthrough Collaborative is the parent network of 25 affiliate sites using a near-peer teaching model for college access — the umbrella organization whose operating model Breakthrough SJC instantiates locally.

Others

• Boys & Girls Club of America (Capistrano Valley affiliate): Boys & Girls Club of Capistrano Valley is a local organizational partner of Breakthrough SJC; structurally comparable as an out-of-school youth-development nonprofit serving similar Orange County communities, though with broader programming focus.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/BreakthroughSJC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/break-through-san-juan-capistrano
• Instagraminstagram.com/breakthroughsanjuan

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano