Page 16 - 2022 November Report

November Report 2022
Entrepreneurship Scholarship representatives’ annual meeting report (2)
PROGRAM DETAILS
Rick began by saying that JSF is the fifth largest scholarship provider for Native students in the country. He explained the eligibility requirements for students receiving scholarships, adding that these are things that JSF will look for during the annual site visits. He noted that an eligibility letter from the Financial Aid office will be helpful to see during those visits. JSF does this to ensure the awards are being used for educational purposes. Additionally, JSF would like to see information on graduates to know we are making a difference. He acknowledged that this might be the most difficult part of the job for those in attendance.
NATIVE SCHOLARSHIP ORGANIZATIONS
Sherry introduced Angelique Albert, CEO of Native Forward Scholars Fund. Native Forward is a member of the National Native Scholarship Providers, a group of 4 scholarship providers that recently teamed up to produce a study on college affordability for Native students. The other 3 providers were AISES, the American Indian College Fund and the Cobell Scholarship Fund.
Angelique said her entire life has been very connected with JSF. Her stepfather was a cofounder of Salish Kootenai College, where Angelique earned her bachelor’s degree and worked for a time as Executive Director of the SKC Foundation. She later enrolled in the MBA-AIE program at Gonzaga University as a member of Cohort IX. She said her MBA transformed her life.
She talked about Native Forward’s 53-year history. It has become the largest direct scholarship provider to Native students in the country, awarding $11 million to $15 million in direct scholarships annually and more than $350 million since inception. More than 20,000 scholars from 500 tribes in all 50 states have received support at the undergraduate, graduate and professional levels. She noted that JSF is helping to fund scholarships for Native CPAs. Because her organization has funded undergraduate scholarships for the past 23 years, the former name, American Indian Graduate Center, no longer fit. Also, many felt that the term American Indian was limiting.
The National Native Scholarship Providers came together and discussed the fact that Native students are often represented as an “asterisk” in research studies, a way of saying their numbers are insignificant compared to the population as a whole. They decided to do their own study using Native researchers and having NWIC serve as the review board. Angelique said the college affordability study revealed that the many of the same issues persist as when she was a student at SKC. The main takeaway is that affordability is the main obstacle to completion. She encouraged everyone to share the report, adding that students often resort to personal loans and credit cards to cover educational debt that can amount to less than $10,000. She said it’s a call to action for the world of philanthropy to do more.
During the comments afterward, it was noted that completion is especially a problem for Native male students, who often feel pressure to choose work over school in addition to facing other barriers. One solution is to reach out to them at younger ages before they get into the prison pipeline. Other possible solutions involve addressing issues like food insecurity and financial literacy. Angelique noted that Native Forward is emphasizing wraparound services because they result in 30% higher completion rates than the national average.
ENDOWMENT BUILDING
Bobby explained that endowment building is another part of our program and can be an option for the right partner organization. Those include schools with financial stability and those who are in a position to secure matching endowment dollars. The process typically lasts up to 5 years with JSF continuing to fund scholarships until the endowment is built. It speaks to JSF’s commitment to create lasting change in Native communities.
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