When Rosa Ruiz, Norma Salcedo-Campos and Nohelia Gavarrete were in high school, the thought of them going to college was like a dream.
“I knew I wanted to attend college,” Gavarrete said, “but being a first-generation eldest daughter of immigrants, I had no idea how to get there, pay for it and what would happen after.”
But then Cameo, the mentoring program of the Assistance League of Long Beach, came into Gavarrete’s life — and turned her dream into a reality.
And Cameo did the same for Ruiz and Salcedo-Campos. Although the three graduated from the Cameo program at different times – Ruiz in 1995, Salcedo-Campos in 2012 and Gavarrete in 2019 – each graduated from college and have had successful careers.
And in a payback for all that Cameo did for them, these three have become mentors themselves, helping young women who have the same dreams as they did.
This year, all three also took on the critical roles of development co-chairs to lead the important annual fashion show gala that raised more than $100,000 for the program, said Colleen Bragalone, executive director of the Assistance League.
“When we invest in a student, we’re not just helping them succeed today,” Bragalone said. “We’re opening the door to a future filled with possibilities. Cameo gives students the encouragement, guidance and belief in themselves to see that their potential is truly limitless.”
Margaret Warren, chair of the mentoring program for the past 10 years, agreed.
“We are helping students to not only get into college but also to help them envision a future they may not have thought was possible,” she said. “Watching a student grow in confidence, graduate and continue their education and ultimately succeed, makes every hour we volunteer worthwhile.”
Cameo was organized as an auxiliary of the Assistance League with the mission of mentoring academically talented students from Long Beach high schools and Long Beach City College.
From left to right, Norma Salcedo-Campos, Nohelia Gavarrete, and Rosa Ruiz were development co-chairs of Cameo’s annual fashion show gala in 2026. The former mentees have become mentors themselves for the auxiliary’s mentoring program. (Courtesy of Assistance League of Long Beach)
Blanche Brewster Cannady in 2010, wearing a cameo brooch to commemorate her charter membership in Cameo. She was the auxiliary’s first president. (Photo courtesy of Marni Farmer)
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From left to right, Norma Salcedo-Campos, Nohelia Gavarrete, and Rosa Ruiz were development co-chairs of Cameo’s annual fashion show gala in 2026. The former mentees have become mentors themselves for the auxiliary’s mentoring program. (Courtesy of Assistance League of Long Beach)
Many of the charter members would wear cameo jewelry brooches as a symbol of their participation.
Blanche Brewster Cannady was Cameo’s first president. Cannady, who died in 2022 at the age of 101, was a longtime educator who valued the importance of mentoring. She was a trailblazer, the first woman to be assistant superintendent for elementary schools in Long Beach.
The member volunteers of this auxiliary are traditionally individuals from a variety of professional backgrounds who are still actively involved in the workforce. Because of this, their meetings and mentorship activities are concentrated in the evenings and on weekends, so they can meaningfully volunteer even while having their own professional commitments.
An estimated 326 students have graduated from the mentoring program since it began in 1987, Bragalone said.
Under the program, students get recommended by their school counselors and then must submit an application and do an interview. Once selected, they get paired with volunteermembers.
Ruiz remembers that when she went through the Cameo mentoring program, she was a re-entry student at LBCC, and the mother of two daughters and a son.
“All these experiences were new to me,” she said. “I grew up in Mexico and wouldn’t have been able to have these opportunities without Cameo. The activities and experiences I had motivated me, made me strong and helped me stay in college and guide my children to college.”
Her family had said they thought she was too old to go to college, but she persisted and made it through a difficult time at about 38.
Ruiz completed her bachelor’s degree in Spanish, got a teaching credential at Cal State Long Beach and then became a Spanish tutor for children and seniors.
After her children graduated from college, she became a Cameo mentor in 2012 and has been one several times since. Now 68 and retired from teaching, Ruiz said she wanted to help other students the way she had been helped.
“Giving back to the students makes me feel like I am helping them and doing something important with my life,” she said.
She also was proud of the fact that she made significant contributions to “Fiesta Mexicana Elegante,” this year’s theme of Cameo’s annual popular fundraising fashion show gala.
It was at that fundraiser where Gavarrete was the alumni keynote speaker. She had a dream when she was a student at Jordan High of being the first in her family to go to college.She said her going to college was like a domino effect with other family members. Her younger sister and brother have earned their college degrees, and her youngest brother is incollege.
“I told them,” she said, “if I could do it, you can do it, too.”
She has worked for seven years with Expeditors, a customs broker and freight forwarder. She is also currently enrolled at Cal State Long Beach, working on a master’s degree in business administration.
Her first mentoring opportunity came when her mentor asked her to come back and mentor with her. They got to co-mentor, but her mentor died that year. Now Gavarrete wants to continue her mentor’s legacy and is very proud that her first mentee just graduated — and will go to college.
Salcedo-Campos was also the first in her family to go to college.
She now is Dr. Norma Salcedo, an accomplished higher education professional with more than16 years of service to students. She is the director of the Dream Success Center and executive director of Student Advocacy at Cal State Long Beach.
She graduated from Jordan High in 2006 and then earned a bachelor’s degree in social sciences at Cal State San Bernardino, a master’s degree in higher education administration atthe University of Kansas, and a doctorate of education at San Francisco State University.
What was the biggest benefit of being a Cameo mentee to Salcedo?
“They helped me with interviewing skills, bought me my first suit and got me my first job,” she said. “I was a first-generation student who didn’t really think college was possible until I met the mentors at Cameo. They saw something in me.”
Salcedo said she came back to Cameo when she was approached by her former mentor who asked her to become a mentor.
She said that getting students connected, giving them skills and watching them grow was exciting — and she was grateful for the opportunity to help them.
In addition to mentoring support, the Cameo program provides financial support, including an annual stipend for work-appropriate clothes and school-related expenses.
Upon completing the program, students receive a laptop computer, a printer and a continuing education scholarship. Cameo also partners with businesses, nonprofits and government offices to provide internships for students.
For more information, go to assistanceleague.org/long-beach/cameo-mentoring.