TRANS4M 2015 : i.am.angel foundation

will.i.am Hosts Fourth Annual i.am Angel Foundation’s Grammy Week Celebration with Special Performances by Moby and DJ D Nice

Global music artist, frontman for The Black Eyed Peas, entrepreneur and philanthropist will.i.am hosted his fourth annual TRANS4M event at The Future, his creative compound in Hollywood, benefitting the i.am Angel Foundation, which raised more than $800,000 dollars last night, February 5, 2015. Proceeds from the evening benefit the i.am Angel Foundation that funds and operates youth education programs. The mission of the i.am Angel Foundation is to drive positiveTRANS4Mation in the Boyle Heights community of East Los Angeles through the promotion and expansion of STEAM education (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) education.

The intimate dinner gala hosted 230 VIP guests, including major patrons from technology, financial service, travel, entertainment and community organizations, featured a performance by award-winning singer/songwriter, Moby with Mindy Jones, followed by DJ D Nice who capped off the evening.

“Thanks to the generosity of our patrons and volunteers who donate funds, goods in kind, services and programs, the i.am Angel Foundation can continue its work with 180 amazing young people in Boyle Heights who are on their way to becoming the leaders of tomorrow in business and civic life,” commented will.i.am. “This year’s gala was very special and because many of our top achieving i.am College Track students participated in the evening to show guests their robotics, app development, 3D printing and GIS mapping projects.”

During the evening, three of the four original i.am scholarship students, Barien White, Darien White and Jaiquann Beckham, who were awarded the first-ever college scholarship funds by will.i.am on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 2009, surprised will.i.am during the dinner program to thank and update him about their progress, highlighting the benefits of how a college education and the scholarship funds have had a positive impact on their lives.

i.am Angel Foundation Chief Philanthropy Officer Tatiana Litvin, i.am College Track founding Site Director, Tina Kim, and i.am STEAM Program Advisor Lilly Kam spoke during the dinner program about how the i.am.angel Foundation and its programs have yielded actionable results that are responsible for changing lives and positively impacting the Boyle Heights/East Los Angeles community.

“The i.am College Track program’s success is due to all those who believe in the future of our students and community,” says Tina Kim. “Especially, to those who give hope to our at-risk students, helping them realize and firmly believe that education is the pathway to making their dreams of having a rewarding future a possibility.”

Major patrons who helped make the evening possible included The Yucaipa Companies Chairman Ron Burkle; Chairman and CEO of Salesforce, Marc Benioff; SV Angel founder Ron Conway; Napster co-founder Sean Parker; The Emerson Collective Founder & Chair, Laurene Powell Jobs; ESRI Founder Jack Dangermond ; Nuance; Nigro Karlin Segal Feldstein & Bolno; Virgin America; and Hertz Lichtenstein & Young LLP. The i.am Angel Foundation also wishes to thank beverage sponsors Avion Tequila, The Coca-Cola Company and Medea Vodka.

The TRANS4M gala was an evening of celebration, thanks and acknowledgment of many patrons, donors, staff and volunteers who support and manage the i.am Angel Foundation’s programs that are helping to enhance will.i.am’s hometown neighborhood of Boyle Heights/East Los Angeles.

i.am Angel Foundation Program Results

The foundation’s i.am College Track program has raised community expectations, with student attendance now greater than 96%, and grade point averages are rising with an average student GPA of 3.0. i.am College Track is currently working with 180 students, and plans to increase this number in the next year. With support from the i.am College Track staff, parents, teachers at Roosevelt High School and community volunteers, students in the program are engaging in positive activities including robotics teams, civic hackathons/appathons and meaningful summer projects, rather than succumbing to the pressures of gangs, violence and drugs. i.am College Track students are well on their way to finishing high school, and achieving grades required to apply to, and then attend college. 98% of these students will be the first in their family to attend college.