Volunteer Spotlight: Engineer, Storyteller. A Match Made in Heaven

Scott and students

Each year we award the Charlie Larson award to a volunteer who embodies Charlie’s lasting impact and selfless service. Charlie volunteered for over 21 years at Hope Horizon and touched countless lives at HH and at Los Robles-Mcnair, the elementary school down the street. His legacy continues to inspire us. This year’s Charlie Larson volunteer is Scott Cunningham who volunteers as an elementary school academic tutor in our after school program.

If you ever hear laughter echoing down the hallway at Hope Horizon EPA, there's a good chance Scott Cunningham just said something completely unexpected—and totally spot-on.  

Scott isn’t your typical volunteer. For one, he’s spent most of his life building and breaking things in the world of tech, from top-secret military systems at GTE (he still can’t tell you what he worked on) to testing software at Intuit, to joining  a startup, and setting up a QA program in Mexico for Google. His résumé reads like a Silicon Valley anthology. But none of that explains why the kids—and the staff at Hope Horizon—adore him.  

“I keep coming back because this place is a good impedance match,” Scott says with a chuckle, slipping into engineer speak. “In electronics, that means the load and the power supply are perfectly matched—energy flows easily. That’s what it’s like here. No friction. Just the right fit.”  

A Circuitous Path to Hope Horizon  

After an unexpected layoff in 2023, Scott planned to join a reading program in Milpitas. But when that program was shut down, his wife suggested, “Why don’t you check out Hope Horizon in East Palo Alto?” Somehow, she knew this would be the place where all of Scott’s seemingly disparate experiences would click into place.  

“I’ve done all these things,” Scott says. “Engineering, Management, offshoring QA, Program Management—but  it sometimes felt like an odd fit. Here, I get to just be me, with the kids. I’m not trying to impress anyone. I’m just showing up with what I’ve got.”  

What Makes a Great Volunteer?  

Ask anyone at Hope Horizon what makes Scott stand out, and they’ll tell you—it’s his consistency. Rain or shine, Scott shows up. Even on the stormiest days, when others might cancel or wait for better weather, Scott is there.  

Sometimes, the kids don’t think they need help. “I’m good,” they’ll say, brushing off his offer. But Scott stays. He’s not there to push or hover—he’s there to be there. And in that quiet persistence, the kids hear something louder than words: you matter to me.  

His steady presence, week after week, is what makes the difference. It’s not flashy or performative—it’s real. And the kids know it. They see it in the way he keeps showing up, whether or not they ask him to, because he cares.  

One of his favorite classroom memories? A student who insists no one can pronounce her name correctly. “She is so indignant about it,” he says, eyes twinkling. “And she’s right. No one gets it right. But she owns it, and I love that.”  

Why It Matters  

Scott has seen firsthand how Hope Horizon creates a space where kids can just be kids. “There’s a joy here—kids are laughing, learning, figuring things out. They’re playing. You think that’s small, but it’s actually huge.”  

Looking Forward  

Scott doesn’t see himself going back into the tech world. “At 60-something, I wasn’t looking for a second career. But I was looking for a place to make a difference ,” he says. “This place gives me that.”  

When asked what advice he’d give to someone thinking about volunteering, he grins: “Just show up. Don’t worry if you don’t have the right training . Bring yourself—all of yourself. That’s what the kids need.”  

And that’s exactly what Scott does. Every time he walks through the doors at Hope Horizon EPA, he brings all of it—his humor, his questions, his years of experience, and his big, curious heart. And we wouldn’t have him any other way.   

Volunteer with Hope Horizon