Brewer Foundation Celebrates Graduates of Its Future Leaders Program

April 28, 2025 – The Brewer Foundation honored its 2025 Future Leaders Program (FLP) graduates this weekend, celebrating a milestone achievement for 18 seniors, including two students awarded the prestigious QuestBridge National College Scholarship and one student awarded the Gates Scholarship.

Founded in 2001 by the Brewer Foundation, the FLP provides year-round academic courses, leadership training, and cultural enrichment to more than 150 Dallas Independent School District (DISD) students, ages 12 – 18, at no cost. Designed for students, many of whom are the first in their families to pursue college, the FLP prepares future leaders to succeed in school, excel in college, and become pillars of their community.

The 2025 FLP graduates were recognized in a special ceremony on Saturday, April 26, at the Episcopal School of Dallas, attended by FLP faculty, families, and professional staff from Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors.

“We created FLP to help promising students reach their full potential,” said William A. Brewer III, FLP founder and Brewer Foundation Chairman. “Seeing these students achieve this extraordinary graduation milestone is incredibly rewarding – proof that hard work and educational access can transform lives."

A Vision for Success

Students are selected for the FLP based on scholastic aptitude, civic engagement, and leadership potential. The curriculum supplements the education students receive at their home schools, with coursework that includes humanities, advanced mathematics, and psychology. Each class is co-taught by both a private school and public-school teacher — a unique collaboration designed to bring together diverse ideas and perspectives.

The program partners with DISD several of Dallas’ top private schools, including St. Mark’s School of Texas, The Hockaday School, Greenhill School, and the Episcopal School of Dallas.  

Since 2009, FLP seniors have received more than $20 million in scholarship offers. FLP alumni are graduates of many elite colleges and universities, including New York University, Yale University, Northwestern University, Pomona College, The University of Texas at Austin, Southern Methodist University, and Texas Christian University.

2025 FLP Graduates

Maya Alvarez

Juan Cabellero

Marian Cuenca

Elizabeth Espinoza

Alfredo Fuente, QuestBridge Scholar

Estrella Garcia

Madison Johnson

Andres Juarez

Juan Leos-Reyna

Anaya Martinez, Gates Scholar

Jonathan Martinez

Isaac Molina, QuestBridge Scholar

Lizbeth Ojeda

Lindsey Rodriquez

Jazmine Salinas

Shruti Sharma

Evelyn Sida

Julissa Zuniga

Learn more about the QuestBridge National College Scholarship here.

Explore the Future Leaders Program here. 

Support our mission to expand opportunity for promising students here. 

The Dallas Morning News Reports on Brewer Foundation Future Leaders Program (FLP)

June 14, 2024 – The Dallas Morning News reports on the Brewer Foundation Future Leaders Program (FLP) holding a session on mental health for FLP high school students participating in the program’s summer camp.

Founded in 2001, the Future Leaders Program (FLP) provides academic resources and leadership training to deserving students from the Dallas Independent School District (DISD).

Instructor Mayra Salinas-Godsey, an FLP graduate who now works at New York University, taught the class, “Rise & Thrive: Building Mental Strength for College Success and Beyond.” The course is intended to assist students with anxiety about applying for and transitioning to college.

“So like most of you, I know, are first-gen or second-gen,” Salinas-Godsey told the students. “We’re pioneers for our family. We are doing things that they may not have ever experienced before. It’s a little scary.”

FLP intern and graduate Erica Salazar, now a student at Northwestern University, said she advises her peers to give themselves grace.

“I know a lot of these students are top A students, like the top of their class, and they’re doing the best that they can do … but once you’re in college, it’s completely different,” Salazar said. “And if you’re doing your best and you still somehow end up stumbling across a small obstacle, it’s OK. It’s OK to feel stress, and it’s OK not to be OK. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

Read more here.