KARLA SALAZAR
Executive Director
ScholarMatch
Karla Salazar is the executive director of ScholarMatch, an organization with the mission of supporting underserved, first-generation college students from lowincome backgrounds to earn a bachelor’s degree within five years. ScholarMatch serves 1,300 students annually, with an emphasis on students in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. When Salazar joined ScholarMatch in June 2021, the organization and the students it serves had been through some deeply challenging circumstances caused by the pandemic. Even as its students struggled with their virtual classes, funders decreased their support due to fears of a recession while an increasing number of first-generation students nationwide paused or set aside their dreams of college. Despite these challenges, Salazar’s leadership has brought ScholarMatch to new levels. She ideated a vision to expand the organization’s programming to community college transfer students and secured funding from Genentech to support this dream. She also developed a partnership with UC Scout to offer free A-G classes – required courses in high school for a student to be eligible to apply to schools in the University of California system. In 2024, Salazar launched a new initiative to provide 1:1 college coaching to firstgeneration students in Southeast LA. This year, the organization plans to serve up to 200 students and reach 600 students annually in Southeast LA by 2027. She spearheaded partnerships with funders, school districts and school officials to bring this launch to fruition, including a $1.2 million grant from the Ballmer Group that provided seed funding for college persistence services for Southeast LA students
