The City of Rancho Mirage has joined a group of individuals, businesses, and public agency partners in helping to brighten the future for young women throughout Greater Palm Springs through its partnership with the JFK Memorial Foundation’s Ophelia Program. By supporting mentorship and leadership opportunities, the city is playing a vital role in empowering girls to discover their confidence, achieve their goals, and become leaders in their communities.
For Rancho Mirage High School senior Dayanarra Diaz Fernandez, the program has been life-changing. “I’ve learned how I feel within myself and what it takes to be a woman, honestly – and how your confidence comes from within,” Dayanarra said. “Ophelia is the most welcoming thing in the world. It’s the best thing you can join. I’m going to be an Ophelia girl the rest of my life.”
Over the past three years, Dayanarra has grown under the guidance of her mentor, Dr. Paula Kinney. “This is my third year with Ophelia, and I’m so committed to working with these young women and seeing them blossom,” Dr. Kinney said. “Ophelia helps them take away a feeling that they can do anything they want.”
Dayanarra’s journey is a testament to the program’s success. She plans to pursue nursing at a university, with aspirations to become a traveling nurse and eventually a pediatric nurse practitioner. Her story is one of many behind Ophelia’s 100% high school graduation rate among participants.
The additional support from the City of Rancho Mirage has been instrumental in making stories like Dayanarra’s possible. City funding and partnership have helped the program continue to expand into local schools, recruit and train mentors, and provide enrichment programming to help girls build the skills and confidence needed to succeed and lead.
Peter Sturgeon, president and CEO of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation
“Partnerships with cities like Rancho Mirage are essential,” said Peter Sturgeon, President/CEO of JFK Memorial Foundation. “They recognize that when cities invest in their young women, they strengthen families, schools, the city, and the entire region.” This premise drives the program’s focus on practical change.
The Ophelia Program, serving young women in grades 8 to 12, has achieved its greatest stride in recent years, annually yielding significant benefits to hundreds of families, schools, and the broader region. Groups meet during school hours, so young women who must care for siblings or work after class to support their families are not excluded, a design choice that explains why many participants are eldest daughters who carry heavy responsibilities at home. Sturgeon says, “The program starts with a simple promise from the mentors with the premise, I see you, I am with you, you have got this, then turns that encouragement into advice for daily habits that keep students moving forward.”
The need for that steady presence is clear when considering the regional data. Local surveys consistently show that about 37 percent of female students lack a caring adult relationship. Roughly one in twelve will drop out of high school. Approximately a quarter are chronically absent, among the highest rates in the state. For girls who drop out, 26 percent become pregnant as teens; for Latinas who drop out, the rate jumps to 46 percent, pushing most of their families deeper into poverty. The Ophelia Program’s north star answers those realities directly, keep girls in school, help them avoid teen pregnancy, and make sure each graduate leaves with a clear plan for community college and/or university-level degrees, military service, trade school or a productive direct entry to a local career.
Inside the room, the curriculum is grounded and specific. Counselors invite girls in grades eight through twelve who show promise amid tough circumstances. Then, the mentor team meets with them twice a month to work on self-worth, self-care, healthy relationships, confidence, bravery, financial management, and effective goal setting. Surveys at year’s end almost always return the same request: more time with the amazing mentors.
The Ophelia Program is now in its 27th year. According to Sturgeon, “More than 7,000 girls have participated, and the program reports a 100 percent high school graduation rate among its students, a point of pride given local dropout and absenteeism rates. A volunteer corps of about 118 mentors powers the weekly and monthly commitments, and 49 guest speakers visit schools to widen horizons with real stories from real jobs in the valley.” Examples of speakers include a civil engineer who explains how bridges and roads get built, conservationists from The Living Desert, and the marketing vice president at Acrisure Arena, whose behind-the-scenes view of arena life, including one memorable Harry Styles anecdote, never fails to spark questions about how to get started.
Those visits also carry a second message. The path to meaningful work is rarely smooth, and the qualities that matter are bravery, tenacity, and persistence. The Ophelia Program wants girls to hear that truth from women who have lived it, then see that there are strong careers in the Coachella Valley, not only in distant cities.
Since its incorporation in 1973 the City of Rancho Mirage has been a leader in local philanthropy.
Scale is rising. The Ophelia Program served 493 students last year and is tracking toward roughly 530 to 540 this year, growth made possible by city partnerships that help campuses start and sustain new groups. “Scholarships are part of the safety net for seniors, so a plan does not collapse over the cost of books or transportation,” said Sturgeon. Last year, the program awarded more scholarship dollars to more girls than at any time in its 27-year history, thanks to the program’s donors. “People invest in us so that we can invest in them,” added Sturgeon.
The Ophelia Program’s demographics reflect who is most affected by the region’s headwinds. Approximately 86 percent of participants are Latinas, and many are eldest daughters who have limited access to after-school activities, which is why meeting during the day is important. In that context, the presence of a consistent adult is a force multiplier. Mentors often say they are not sure who benefits more, and the Foundation has even paused advertising for volunteers because word of mouth fills the roster.
For schools, the Ophelia Program becomes a reliable partner that reinforces attendance, effort, and follow-through. For families, it helps daughters stay on track to graduation and move toward the next step they choose. For the community, it strengthens a future workforce that already calls the valley home. That arc is what Rancho Mirage chose to underwrite, not in theory but in the quiet logistics that make mentoring possible.
Which brings the story back to Dayanarra and Dr. Kinney. City backing means their group has a room, a schedule, and a pipeline of guests who make faraway dreams feel local. It means Dayanarra can picture a hospital corridor and see herself walking it with purpose because she has practiced purpose. “It is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life,” she said, a sentiment that sums up the aim of all the many individual, business, and public agency partners who support the promise of the Ophelia Program.
