Kassandra Mendez is pictured at Yakima Valley College Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, in Yakima, Wash.
College wasn’t always on Kassandra Mendez’s mind growing up. She is a first-generation immigrant from Mexico and the youngest of four siblings.
One of her siblings enlisted in the military after high school. The other two earned their GED diplomas and entered the workforce to help support their family.
Mendez’s parents, however, wanted a different path for her. Her parents supported her pursuit of higher education, but wanted her to be realistic about the cost, she said.
In high school, she found the College Success Foundation, a nonprofit that works with students to help them achieve college success.
After receiving her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, Mendez began working for the foundation to support underserved Yakima Valley students in achieving their college dreams.
“The biggest thing for us was affordability,” Mendez said. “We would always try to do our best in order to help (my parents) so we could afford living here.”
Working at the College Success Foundation
The College Success Foundation helped Mendez understand the college experience, academic programs, how to find scholarships and more, she said.
She first did a college tour of the University of Washington that was hosted by the foundation, and stayed involved for the information and support it provided.
“Seeing how they helped me is really what is pushing me to help these students,” Mendez said.
As a soon-to-be first-generation college student, her family couldn’t help her understand college life. Her parents were agricultural workers, and her siblings never went to college.
The College Success Foundation offered her the support she needed to move on from high school to college, she said.
Her undergraduate degree was in athletic training, but she wanted a more public-facing career.
Mendez now works as a college success coach, supporting Yakima Valley students who plan to attend Central Washington University and Yakima Valley College. She mainly works with underserved students with backgrounds similar to her own.
“My main role is to support them through the transition, be an adviser (and) a guide,” she said.
Mendez is an all-around support system. She assists students with everything from scheduling to transferring to a different college or university.
Helping students achieve success
In the nearly four years Mendez has been working for the College Success Foundation, she said she has worked with more than 400 students. She usually has a caseload of 130-200 students.
The most common barriers she sees between students are finances and family responsibilities.
For low socio-economic and first-generation students, those responsibilities can look like taking care of siblings or helping parents pay bills. The effect of those barriers depends on whether a student is pursuing a community college or a university.
Whether a student chooses a two-year or a four-year institution can depend on whether they need to financial support their family or siblings, or have reliable transportation, Mendez said.
“A lot of us who were born here in the Yakima Valley have similar stories,” Mendez said. “But there are a lot of unsaid things that really no one can grasp.”
Mendez said she sees her work’s impact in students’ incremental progress, which eventually adds up to a degree.
Her favorite aspect of her job is giving students opportunities and supporting them, whether they want to go to college, learn a trade or join the military.
“The biggest impact that I see is in their daily successes,” Mendez said. “Seeing them progress, no matter what, and move on ready, eager to learn and set up for success.”
Read more on Yakima Herald-Republic
