A recent grant from Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF) through the Riverside County ARPA Fund has allowed Rising Stars Business Academy (RSBA) to pilot a unique culinary career pathways initiative that guides and assists teenagers and young adults along their career paths.

Benedito Orduno, Director of Development of RSBA, said the IECF resources were a big asset to the nonprofit youth development organization, which offers leadership development, life skills training, education, counseling, support services, and various career pathways to those ages 16 to 24.

“The goal is to get our young people into careers where they can get a livable income and give them the transferable skills that they need and get them career-ready,” Orduno added. “We had construction as one of our pathways and we know that the culinary world is another pathway that a lot of our sister programs offer.”

Orduno said attendees of the program cooked at least two to three days out of the week and every Friday for the organization’s staff and their own peers.

“They were able to also cater at an outside event, and earn money,” Orduno said. “We wanted them to get stipends for learning that trade.”

It’s one of many stand-out components of the nonprofit, which was established in 2010 in Moreno Valley as a stand-alone YouthBuild program.One significant focus has been to motivate, educate, and train individuals to become leaders and positive members of the community.

​As of 2024, RSBA has helped 600 students graduate from their YouthBuild program. Many of those students went on to pursue college, professional vocational training, entrepreneurship, military, and employment with great success.

This year, the organization hits a new milestone.

“We will be celebrating our 15th year,” said Alicia Berridge, RSBA Executive Director. We actually opened up in 2010 right here in Moreno Valley. “We’re excited to offer life skills, and wanted to make our program different, almost like a one-stop shop.”

It was also important for the nonprofit to include leadership development and mentorship in its agenda.

“What we figured out is not every young person is going to go straight into college, but that they can still be successful,” Berridge added.

To that end, the nonprofit incorporated what it calls the “Four Tracks to Success.” 

“We introduce them to college, vocational training, military, and business/entrepreneurship,” Berridge noted. “And of course, jobs. Because we figure by the time they leave us, they’re going to be introduced, or they’ll go into, one of those fields.”

The nonprofit’s partnership with YouthBuild Charter School of California is also key.

“Any young person that is accepted into Rising Stars Business Academy, because we are a youth leadership development program, they also have the opportunity to gain an accredited high school diploma,” Berridge explained. “We really want to see our young people have a second chance because some of them just don’t fit into the traditional high school.”

“That being said, they come to our program, which is a smaller environment, more intimate, and that way, they can continue their education, and we can support them,” she added.

Learn more at rsbacademy.org.

This article originally appeared in the Press-Enterprise, March 2025.

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