Connecting Community College Opportunities

Through its Inspired Pathways program, Hormel Foods provides free community college and one-on-one college advising for all children of its team members.

Edel Fernandez, Director of Admissions at South Central College, spreads awareness about educational opportunities across South Central Minnesota. With campuses in Mankato and Faribault, Fernandez is often on the road visiting area high schools and businesses. “I tell everyone I meet that education is the greatest equalizer,” says Fernandez. “I know this is true because I’ve seen it in my students and in my own life. Education opens doors—perhaps doors you never even thought to knock on.”

At the invitation of the Hormel Foods Inspired Pathways program, Fernandez recently visited JENNIE-O^® Turkey Store, which employs over 700 workers and reflects Central Minnesota’s changing demographics, with significant East African and Latino populations, including recent Venezuelan immigrants. For Fernandez, the Inspired Pathways scholarship program has become a crucial tool in his recruitment drives. Fernandez, along with Nate Lockett, Inspired Pathways Program Director, and other program staff, frequently visits facilities to meet with team members and talk about the benefits and services offered, helping to build awareness and trust in the program.

When Fernandez reminds Hormel Foods team members about the Inspired Pathways program during plant visits, they often respond with disbelief. “‘Are you serious?’, they ask me. ‘My employer will send my kids to school for free? I heard about it, but I didn’t think it was real.”’ Fernandez has found that it often takes some convincing because the program seems too good to be true. “Just because an opportunity exists doesn’t mean people will embrace it if they don’t believe it’s real. Simply having a program isn’t enough—you need to build trust.”

For first-generation college students, the challenges are often complex and deeply personal. Many face what Fernandez calls a “cultural identity crisis,” struggling to integrate their family’s heritage with their American experience. “They might look like their parents but don’t necessarily connect fully with their parents’ culture,” he says. “They’re expected to be proficient in two languages and two cultures, constantly navigating between worlds.”

Fernandez often must explain education’s value to families focused on immediate economic stability. “We must remember that some folks here define success as having money in their pocket and providing for their family,” Fernandez notes. “Many come from countries where they lacked access to resources or education.”