Page 32 - 2025 April Report

Grant Program Committee minutes (draft) (6)
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The Committee voted unanimously to approve as presented an application from Providence St. Mel School for a 1:1 matching grant of $500,000 over 5 years for scholarships through the Providence St. Mel Knights of Promise Scholarship in honor of Paul J. Adams, III.
e. American Indian Science and Engineering Society
Kathy DeerInWater, Vice President of Programs and Research; and Johnny Poolaw, Director of Student Success, joined the meeting via Zoom. A proposal requesting $300,000 over three years had been circulated along with a report from a November 20, 2024 Zoom meeting and a JSF summary of applicant financial information. AISES is a previous JSF grantee.
ASIES has 4 focus areas: Student Success which is for pre-K to 12th grade students, Student Success for College students, Career Support, and Informing STEAM. They recently completed their new strategic plan which places slightly more focus on the pre-K to 12th grade programs like their Full Circle Mentorship Program which is the subject of their application to the Foundation. They have had a relaunch and expansion of the Full Circle Mentorship Program including more professional connections and setting up 5 college chapters offering 1:1 mentoring for high school students. They want to see positive differences for both the college students and the high school students.
AISES has 7 regions in the US and are in the process of establishing non-profit status in Canada. Their recent Canada gathering had 425 attendees.
Threats to federal funding are forcing them to make contingency plans as 20% of their budget is federal funding. They are looking for private and corporate funders for their annual conference. Future funding through the National Science Foundation may not be available for them and they rely heavily on these grants for their research work.
When asked how this program helps with completing a college degree Johnny explained that they are promoting interest in college and in a degree in STEM. For college students, it contributes to retention and persistence through a STEM college and career pathway. Mentorship is a mechanism that helps students stay in their programs and complete their degrees.
Kathy and Johnny were thanked and the Zoom link disconnected.
It was noted that in 2023 there was a significant deficit shown on the audit regarding unrestricted funds, however their equity was in a positive situation because of the restricted dollars. President Sarah Echohawk had written to Sherry with a full explanation of the accounting practices that lead to those audit reports and explained that she had added 3 years of audits to clarify the details.
Bobby reminded the Committee that AISES had submitted an LOI before the December meeting which was outside of the Foundation’s mission.
The Committee voted unanimously to approve as presented an application from American Indian Science and Engineering Society for a 1:1 matching grant of $300,00 over 3 years for support the Full Circle Mentorship Program.