About Us 

"FACE Your Future San Diego: Fostering Access to College Education" is a registered unincorporated nonprofit association in the State of California. Its purpose is to provide free college admission counseling in San Diego County to current and former foster youth, homeless youth and emancipated youth; and to promote a college-going culture among our youth in foster care.

"FACE Your Future San Diego: Fostering Access to College Education" was launched in the fall of 2009. Our endeavor is a collaborative effort with San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) Foster Youth & Homeless Education Services (FYHES) and Casey Family Programs. We appreciate the opportunity afforded us and we are pleased to join other community partners in the Youth and Family Transition Center at the Casey Family Programs building in Old Town San Diego on Thursday afternoons.

If you would like more information on SDCOE FYHES, see their webpages: http://www.sdcoe.net/ssp/support/fys/?loc=home. For more information on Casey Family Programs, see their website: http://www.casey.org/.

What We Do

We meet with San Diego County youth in foster care and provide guidance as they plan for college enrollment. We host college application and FAFSA filing workshops. We offer college admission information to youth service providers (including foster, adoptive and kinship parents), CASAs and CASMs (Court Appointed Special Advocates and Mentors), social workers, school personnel, mentors and group home administrators.

We encourage youth in foster care to begin planning for college early by taking strong academic programs in middle school. In high school, we urge them to take the college-preparatory courses required by the UC and CSU systems (the "a-g" classes--see our FAQ page for a description), provide timelines, offer test-taking and essay writing guidance, and assist with the filing of college admission and financial aid applications.

We encourage all of our students to take advantage of school-based resources, including support programs that assist first-generation college-going and low-income students (click on the "Student Resources for College Admission" tab above for a list of some of these programs, located in the right margin).

Our College Counselor

Joanne Higgins Leslie is the founder of "FACE Your Future San Diego: Fostering Access to College Education" and its College Counselor. 

Joanne has worked as an Admissions Officer at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and the University of San Diego. She was previously the Director of College Guidance at a college-preparatory high school in the metropolitan Washington D.C. area. Currently, Joanne evaluates freshmen applications for UCSD as an External Reader, and she serves on the Planning Committee for the annual NACAC-sponsored National College Fair at the San Diego Convention Center.

In addition to three decades of experience in college counseling, Joanne has a Master’s degree in School Counseling and a California State school counseling credential (a Clear Pupil Personnel Services credential). She is a member of NACAC (the National Association of College Admission Counseling) and WACAC (the Western Association of College Admission Counseling). She attends the annual UC and CSU Counselor Conferences.