The Scholarship Foundation is proud to be named the 2017 Community Partner of the year by Prosperity Connection. This beautiful award was presented to the Foundation with a thoughtful introduction provided by John Windom, Prosperity Connection board member and former administrator with Saint Louis Public Schools:
Since the summer of 2015, Prosperity Connection has been fortunate to work in cooperation with The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis. Through a mutual partner and funder, Equifax, The Scholarship Foundation has been able to provide Prosperity Connection with summer interns, as well as technical expertise to create unique financial education curricula for college bound and existing higher education students.
The Scholarship Foundation is known for its high-quality services and exceptional staff. However, their greatest asset lies in the students with whom they invest time, resources, and development services. Prosperity Connection has hosted three summer interns to assist with fundraising, marketing, and events. Each of these talented individuals has enhanced our ability to better serve the community, as well as broaden their skills set.
Throughout 2016 and into 2017, Prosperity Connection joined forces once again with The Scholarship Foundation to cooperatively develop a new curriculum aimed at building the financial efficacy of high school students. The curriculum, “Financing Your Future” spans seven chapters and covers a diverse set of topics; some of which include Credit and Identity Theft, Predatory Lending, and Understanding Financial Aid.
This collaborative, which featured the dedicated work of three talented students, Alnita Smiley, LaTwuanna Troupe, and Emily Fieser, has generated a new set of educational tools for Prosperity Connection and The Scholarship Foundation to use with their constituencies. As a side note, you may recognize the name Alnita Smiley. She was hired as one of our financial coaches in the spring of 2016 because of her stand-out work in this project.
Prosperity Connection will begin using the curriculum this summer to train personal finance instructors in the Saint Louis Public School System. We look forward to expanding the dissemination of the curriculum as we build capacity and new partnerships with schools throughout the region.
None of this would be possible without the talent, passion, and dedicated service of the staff and students from The Scholarship Foundation. We are proud to call them partners, and pleased to present them with this special recognition today.
