Leslie Castaneda’s first internship helped bring her community together. Working for the group
Main Street Canoga Park, she helped promote the annual Dia De Los Muertos Family Festival —
creating flyers, a survey and a bingo-type lotería game for the event, which draws tens of thousands of people each year.
It was a rewarding professional experience made possible through a grant from the Max Factor Family Foundation to CSUN’s Bridge to the Future Scholars Program.
“Being able to gain so much experience before getting into the real world is going to benefit me,” said Castaneda, a senior marketing major in the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics.
The Bridge to the Future Scholars Program is a collaboration between CSUN and the community of Canoga Park. It provides a tuition-free, undergraduate CSUN education to 25 scholars admitted to the program each year.
The Max Factor Family Foundation assisted these students by providing $45,000 for scholarships for Bridge to the Future participants pursuing internships, including a new $25,000 gift in 2025. The foundation was established by descendants of the late cosmetics mogul Max Factor Sr.
“I am proud to advocate for the CSUN’s Bridge to the Future Scholars Program, helping students from Canoga Park High School to realize their dream to go to CSUN,” said Art Salter, family representative to the Max Factor Family Foundation Board.
The foundation’s financial support enables CSUN scholarship recipients to pursue internships, which are often unpaid, so they can develop critical work skills. Recipients complete a total of 50 hours in a community service engagement internship.
Castaneda’s internship and other Bridge to the Future activities have built her confidence and
reduced her anxiety around making career connections.
“I learned to be extroverted, to build connections, because one thing about marketing is that in
order to secure a job or internship, you need a lot of connections,” she said.
For more information about supporting CSUN’s Bridge to the Future Scholars Program or creating a fund of your own, contact the CSUN Office of Development at (818) 677-7586 or development@csun.edu.
