On Thursday, April 25, the Long Beach Post hosted an event to honor young people from around the city who are doing great things to better their community and beyond. Out of hundreds of nominations from our readers, judges chose 40 winners who run the gamut from educators to artists to business owners to community activists, all of whom represent just a selection of those who are today contributing to the betterment of Long Beach.

A proud Trojan, Erica saw that Long Beach was home to hundreds of fellow USC grads and yet, had nothing to connect them together—seemingly antithetical to the school’s well-known reputation of social networking. She then took it upon herself to create the USC Alumni Club of Long Beach that, beyond its reach in Long Beach alone, has now connected thousands of Trojans throughout L.A. and Orange Counties. Even further, the club offers seven scholarships to local high schoolers who will make SC their college home.

For more about the USC Alumni Club of Long Beach, visit longbeachtrojans.com