There is a broad range of Promise programs, but there are a small number of large comprehensive programs that supply millions of dollars in scholarships each year. The Richmond Promise in California is about to join them.

The Chevron Corporation — which has committed $35 million in agreement with a $1 billion modernization of its Richmond refinery — recently handed over its first check, a large one of $8 million to get the Promise started. The first recipients are expected to be the rising high school seniors of the Class of 2016.

Richmond City Manager Bill Lindsay — who was part of a six-person exploratory team at PromiseNet in November — told the Richmond Standard that college readiness was going to be an important component to the programming. He also said that the city hoped to leverage the Chevron commitment into $150 million in additional funds from foundations and private individuals.

Community leaders and school officials have yet to determine how funds will be distributed, but there is a call to make college both “attainable and affordable” for the most possible students. Vice Mayor Jael Myrick — who led the charge for the Richmond Promise as a city councilor — called the opportunity “transformative” and “game-changing.”

“This is real; this is happening,” Myrick said. “We expect young people after high school to still be in school.”