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The path from high school to higher education and into the
workforce isn’t always a simple progression from A to B to C. For
many, especially Black
and Latinx students, this pipeline is broken. In 2019, CEO
Maria Medrano co-founded the equity-driven startup Inspirame to repair these
critical gaps in college enrollment and workforce development.
Previously, Medrano worked as chief diversity executive at major
tech companies, including Cisco, Visa and Google. Her husband and
co-founder, Mauricio Gonzalez, spent 20 years as a tenured
counselor at Sacramento City College, Gavilan College and San
Jose State University.
“I took it upon myself to digitize my husband’s brain around how
he provides intrusive academic and career counseling,” Medrano
says.
The result is Inspirame’s primary product, TecoGuide, a college
and career navigation platform. Free to anyone 13 and older,
Medrano says, this tool is designed to teach and guide learners
through the most affordable certificate and degree pathways
available in California.
By teaming up with businesses, charities, high schools and
colleges, TecoGuide seeks to address workforce gaps as a one-stop
shop for learners, offering information on majors, credit
transfers, degree requirements, financial aid, support services
and more. Medrano hopes to refute the
prediction that by 2030, California will be short about
1.1 million bachelor’s degrees to meet economic demand.
“Ninety-eight percent of Black and Latinx students face
challenges in completing a community college program within two
years, and colleges report a 34 percent success rate after six
years within the California Community Colleges, the largest
higher education system in America,” Medrano says. “This level of
achievement is unacceptable to us.”
This is also a personal endeavor for the couple, as they each
were the first in their families to graduate high school, college
and graduate school. They know many Mexican American individuals
and those from various marginalized communities aren’t so lucky.
This is why Inspirame (Spanish for “Inspire me”) is built
specifically for people facing challenges in education, such
as first-gen students, those with low incomes, incarcerated
individuals, foster care and refugees and anyone who feels stuck
in their life or career.
“Education attainment is the great equalizer in our society,”
Gonzalez says. “Earning a college certificate or degree is like
wearing a bulletproof vest against racism and discrimination.”
Currently, TecoGuide serves about 3,500 users in Sacramento
County, with the expectation to hit 20,000 users by the summer,
Medrano says. Customers include nonprofits, high schools,
community colleges and universities, with yearly contracts
ranging from $25,000 to $100,000. The startup has raised $500,000
to date, including winning $7,500 for first place in the Spark
Venture Competition at Sacramento State.
Not everyone has expressed support, Medrano says. She adds that
college leaders have called her to say, “What are you doing
trying to fix this pipeline issue? We can barely service the
students who are currently on campus. If they can’t figure out
the website, they shouldn’t be on this campus.”
But others, such as Franklin Reed, saw the need and potential
right away. Reed and Medrano had previously served together on an
advisory board for a workforce development nonprofit. After
learning about Inspirame from Medrano and Gonzalez, he came on
board as an investor in 2022.
“I come from the southside of Chicago where you didn’t see a ton
of your friends go to college,” Reed says. “The biggest obstacle
wasn’t they weren’t smart enough. But they didn’t have resources
or didn’t have guidance at home. Those who did go to school were
forced to do it with debt, and without guidance they didn’t
complete.”
Inspirame helps fill this education gap, he says, offering not
only access but also understanding of how to navigate waters of
higher education.
“What’s wonderful about what they’re doing is they’ve found a way
to create an intersection of a great tech solution and a social
equity driven challenge,” Reed says. “I think it’s great when you
have a solution that addresses both.”
Inspirame’s mission to “mend the broken pipeline that exists from
high school to high education” can have a ripple effect with
wide-reaching benefits. “Once we do that, everyone is bound to
win,” Medrano says. “Companies, societies and everyone will
participate in the economy.”
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