When Jaime Rodriguez-Estrada (CAS’26) was applying to colleges as a high school senior in Hood River, Oregon, he didn’t know much about the college application process. But he did know about QuestBridge, a program connecting exceptional low-income students with leading institutions. Through QuestBridge, Jaime matched with Boston University and received a Fulbright scholarship to pursue his studies in Philosophy, Economics, and International Relations.
Now a junior at BU in the College of Arts & Sciences, Jaime is working to ensure that other students from his hometown don’t face the same uncertainties he did when applying to college. Through his participation in Innovate@BU’s Enlight Fellowship program and Project Action initiative, he’s developing Latino Inspire, a program that provides college access resources to low-income, Hispanic first-generation students in Hood River.
“One of the biggest issues we identified was that students lack free time to study for college admission tests. We wanted to provide a stipend to replace the need to work, allowing them to focus on improving their standardized test scores and becoming more competitive applicants.”
With mentorship from the Innovate@BU team, particularly his mentor Katie Quigley-Mellor, Jaime successfully secured funding from local nonprofits to launch the program. Latino Inspire will provide test prep resources, college admission coaching, stipends, and mentorship to help students access fully funded college education at top schools.
The journey to creating Latino Inspire began during Jaime’s participation in the Enlight Fellowship program at Innovate@BU. During the summer program, fellows stay in Boston, splitting their time between working at local nonprofits and developing their own social entrepreneurship initiatives at the Innovate@BU IDG Capital Student Innovation Center. For Jaime, this meant distributing essential supplies at the Family Nurturing Center and laying the groundwork for Latino Inspire.
“The Enlight Fellowship program does a really good job of building community. You’re together with a tight cohort of people several days a week, and I’ve even found some of my best friends through the summer program.”
Beyond the immediate impact of Latino Inspire, Jaime’s experience with Innovate@BU has opened his eyes to career possibilities in social entrepreneurship. “Before, I really didn’t know what kind of career opportunities existed in social entrepreneurship,” he says. “Through Project Action, I learned that you can make a difference while also having a sustainable business model.”
When asked about his favorite part of working with Innovate@BU, Jaime immediately points to the environment and people in the space. “Their welcoming nature and their desire to help you make your actions come to fruition really stands out,” he says.
Looking forward, Jaime remains focused on expanding Latino Inspire’s impact in his hometown community. His advice to future Project Action participants? “Don’t limit your imagination in terms of what you think you can and cannot do,” he says. “When it comes to making a difference, there are a lot of resources available and people who want to contribute to the world. You just have to take advantage of them.”
