For the kids: While handling a multi-million-dollar portfolio for the rich and famous may sound like it should be the highlight of Wornel Simpson's day, his heart is with the young. Simpson '80 owns a financial business management firm, Wornel Simpson and Associates, and is on the board of directors of Walden House, a drug rehabilitation center in San Francisco, the YMCA in Sacramento and the Cal Aggie Alumni Association. But his pet project is working with students from McClatchy High School in Sacramento as the co-chair of the Capital Links Committee. "I probably get more enjoyment from that program--from the actual hands-on involvement with high school kids--than from all the others."

This is Simpson's second year co-chairing the Capital Links Committee, a program administered through the Sacramento Rotary Club designed to help at-risk teens by bringing a positive influence into their lives and by helping them succeed in high school and college. Students are paired with an adult working in a field the student is interested in pursuing. The mentor introduces them to the field and offers them internships and employment. Along with school counselors, the mentors also walk the students through the college application process and help them apply for financial aid. When Simpson began as co-chair, the program had 12 mentors and 50 students; this year the number of mentors has grown to 45 for 50 students. The program has been a tremendous success, he says. "Grade-point averages have gone up, and no one has dropped out of school."

Simpson's business client roster includes sports figures and entertainers such as long-time friend Dave Stewart, a former Oakland A's player, and actors Jamie Foxx of "The Jamie Foxx Show" and Mark Curry from "Hanging with Mr. Cooper." The high-profile contacts he's made through his business have proven to be a treat for the young people he assists. Last year he took the students to Great America and an A's game, and he introduced the students to Color Me Badd, Mark Curry, Dave Stewart, Mohammed Ali and Carl Lewis.

Simpson is committed to his community service endeavors and shows no signs of quitting. "I think that I have been able to touch some lives and help people in the same way that a lot of people helped me when I was younger. The fulfillment you get from helping other people, that's not something that you can get from material things."

-- Laura Walls '97

Photo by Laura Chun/Sacramento Bee©