ASPIRA New Jersey

ASPIRA’s mission is to empower the community through advocacy, education & leadership development. In 1961, Dr. Antonia Pantoja and a group of educators and professionals created ASPIRA (Spanish word for “aspire”), to address the exceedingly high dropout rate and low educational attainment of Puerto Rican youth. They were convinced that the only way to free the Latino community from poverty and to promote its full development was by focusing on the education of young people, and developing their leadership potential, self-esteem, and pride in their cultural heritage. ASPIRA promotes leadership through education by offering guidance, career counseling, college placement, and assistance in obtaining financial aid for a college education.