Our History

HISTORY

A group of high school and community college counselors in the San Francisco Bay Area founded EUREKA as a California non-profit organization in 1977. Our founders were called the Bay Area Computer Educators (BACE).

BACE wanted to provide better career and college advising services to their students. In 1977, even though the computer was in its infancy and not widely used in typical educational environments, BACE decided it would be an ideal delivery mode for these services.

BACE researched and found a software program being developed at the University of Oregon that would meet their needs. An agreement was negotiated and the program was brought to California.

The group began by replacing the Oregon information with California data. All work was done by volunteers while Contra Costa and Diablo Valley Community Colleges provided free computer support.

Initially, only schools where BACE members worked received EUREKA. As other districts became aware of the program, they also wanted access for their students. The program became too much for volunteers and as a result, the first paid staff was hired in 1979.

This marks the beginning of what has become one of the most widely used systems of its kind in California.

Until 1997, EUREKA was only available in California. Today, EUREKA is available both nationally and internationally.

OUR MISSION

To provide results oriented self-assessment strategies, as well as accurate, up-to-date career and educational information in easy-to-use, attractive formats.

OUR PRODUCT

EUREKA is a career guidance resource which has at its core a career development concept that views human beings as continuous learners with a wide array of interests. It presents career and educational options within the context of who users are as humans first, then links them to a world of options designed to fit their desires and preferences. Users can save and retrieve their personal results and information for later use.

The EUREKA system provides the following:

• Six Self-Assessment or Career Exploration Strategies.
• 13 Career and Educational Information Databases.
• Filtering, search, and storage capabilities designed for easy information retrieval.
• Administrative tracking and reporting component.
• Available online with some features available in hard copy.

EUREKA sponsors professional development conferences, workshops, and free webinars. We also distribute Inner Heroes, True Colors, and Scholarship resources.