Developing Leadership and Career Skills
The Jim Burke Education Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing students with opportunities to excel. We believe the cooperative efforts of businesses, teachers, students, parents and our community make a difference in the quality of education for our local students by preparing them to be successful employees and impactful leaders. Our signature programs, The Ford Dimension and Dream Builders, provide outstanding high school seniors in the Bakersfield area hands-on opportunities to develop leadership, life and career skills.
The Ford Dimension
The Ford Dimension is our original youth leadership program, created in 1975 by Jim Burke, his daughter Mikie Hay and employee Russ Lenk to help foster a business-youth connection. Until 2003, The Ford Dimension was our sole leadership program for high-achieving seniors from the Bakersfield area’s fifteen high schools. Representing the dealership, these students met bi-monthly to learn about different facets of business and volunteer in the community.
In 2003, seeing the many outstanding seniors we were turning down because of the limited size of the Ford Dimension, the Jim Burke Education Foundation launched Dream Builders, increasing the number of student participants each year from 10 to 32.
As we continue to have events where we cannot take all 32 students, a group of ten seniors is still chosen each year to serve as The Ford Dimension. Even though we choose only ten, all in the program are worthy of representing the dealership. Thus, we have coined the term “Ford Dream Builders” to communicate how all of our students serve as team members together.
Dream builders
Created in 2003, Dream Builders is our current leadership program. It is funded by the Jim Burke Education Foundation and consists of 22 high-achieving seniors with hearts for service.
Ford Dimension and Dream Builders are combined into one program, affectionately known as “Ford Dream Builders.” These student leaders learn the meaning of “Service Over Self” while serving in our program. Students are split into four teams of eight, each sponsored by one of four corporate sponsors. On those teams, they create an original event or project to benefit people in our community. Often, they join with another non-profit and help support a cause that is important to them.
This program not only introduces our students to leaders in our community in the business, government and non-profit sectors but also gives them leadership and life training. Most importantly, our program facilitates lasting friendships and makes everyone a part of our Ford Family.