Your Gift Opens Doors to Opportunity

When one door opens, a thousand more can follow.

In 2012, Stephanie Holloman began mentoring students from the LA Harbor area—one of them being a student in EXP program, Elizabeth “Liz” Machuca (Phineas Banning HS ’09). Liz went on to study engineering at Cal Maritime and later interned under Stephanie at the Port of Los Angeles. That experience helped launch Liz into her career.

Today, Liz is a project engineer at SPEC Services, a mother, and a mentor who now hosts EXP interns herself, including Isha (Beckman HS ’25), who is now studying engineering at UC San Diego, and, most recently, Rachna, also from Beckman HS, who discovered her place in engineering through hands-on experience.

Meanwhile, Stephanie—now Assistant Chief of Human Resources at the Orange County Fire Authority—continues to lift young people, hosting six EXP interns this past summer. Their reunion at the Tustin Unified Internship Celebration became a powerful, three-generation moment: Stephanie leading, Liz lifted, and Rachna rising—each inspired by how one opportunity can grow into many, and determined to pass it on.

Every internship funded creates a new story like Liz’s, Isha’s, and Rachna’s. One student lifted. One future unlocked. One door opened to possibility.