At MAPS 4 College, we innovate programs, research, and technologies to help youth succeed in college, career, and life
MAPS 4 College is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to preparing today’s youth to become tomorrow’s leaders through education. character, and job skills development. We focus on guiding students to obtain a four-year college degree, grow as leaders, and gain a sense of purpose and hope for their futures.
Who We Are
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Dr. Sarai Koo, PhD
FOUNDER AND CEO
For more than 18 years, Dr. Koo has helped organizations and corporations to transform their workplace cultures. She is the founder of SPICES Transformational Model™, a process-¬oriented, decision-¬making approach to transforming their lives inside out. She is a published author of Seoul Food, speaker, coach, and servant-leader.
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Helen Chiu, EdM
COLLEGE COUNSELING DIRECTOR
Helen joined MAPS 4 College as a high school sophomore in 2010. She studied sociology at the University of Chicago and earned an EdM from Harvard. Her professional expertise include counseling diverse students through the college admissions practice and founding her own educational counseling company.
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Yoseline Camarena
COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS DIRECTOR
Yoseline joined MAPS 4 College as a high school Junior in 2015. She studied sociology at the University of California, Riverside and received a bachelor’s degree. Her professional expertise includes adaptive behavioral adaptive services. She now leads MAPS as its Community Relations Director.
Our Whole Person Approach
At the core of MAPS is an integrative and holistic human development framework called Project SPICES, pioneered by Dr. Sarai Koo.
MAPS delivers whole-person preparation for college, career, and life success.
Our comprehensive College Preparatory Leadership Mentoring Program includes:
College admissions guidanceJob skills trainingLeadership trainingSocioemotional learningHealthy relationship workshopsand more
Who we serve
We serve youth seeking to transform their lives, communities, and the world at large through a higher education.
In particular, we target two populations:
Students who are first-generation, low-income, and/or historically underrepresented in higher education
High-achieving students who wish to develop as leaders, bridge social inequities, and improve their communities
In 2024, MAPS 4 College is taking a greater digital and global focus.
In just six months, our educational content reached over 100,000 students worldwide and garnered 1.2 million total views.
We provide:
Free digital roadmaps and educational content for navigating the college application process
Online college counseling programs at a sliding scale
Remote internship programs to build job skills and boost students’ admissions profile
Strategic Priority
Our History
MAPS 4 College was founded in 2006 by Dr. Sarai Koo and incorporated as a 501c(3) nonprofit in 2008. Its inaugural Board of Directors was chaired by Dr. George Taylor, a leader in higher education and student affairs who dedicated countless hours to building MAPS. During these first years, Dr. Koo developed the College Preparatory Leadership Mentoring Program-which featured a peer-to-peer college preparation model, community engagement projects, and holistic youth development training in the realms of leadership, socioemotional intelligence, and more.
Our Impact
100,000+ unique viewers reached through our educational content.14,000 students served through workshops, college fairs, teen summits, summer camps, and presentations.100+ students who received comprehensive, yearlong college admissions guidance5 peer-reviewed research articles published on effective college access programming100% of students who were in CPLMP graduated high school and matriculated to college.A 10 year follow-up study found of the students we located, 100% graduated with a college degree. At least 15% earned graduate degrees from schools such as Harvard, UCLA, and USC.Read our research documenting our impact.