HSF Foundation Support

The Hispanic Scholarship Fund collaborates with foundations at every level in order to advance our urgent mission of reversing the pattern of Latino under-education. Our foundation collaborations support outreach and scholarship programs as well as providing general operating support, which is so critical for a not-for-profit organization.

Thanks to foundation support, here is a snapshot of some of our projects:

Alumni Engagement

The HSF Alumni Network was established to stimulate support for current and past scholars, connecting over 50,000 alumni nationwide through newsletters and regional gatherings. Additionally, HSF created the HSF Alumni Mentor Program, which pairs alumni with current Scholar Chapter members to aid in the students’ academic and professional development. The responsibility of mentors in the HSF Alumni Mentor Program is to offer support and encourage HSF scholars by sharing their experiences, both as former students and working professionals. Mentors serve as sounding boards, volunteer partners, and advisors for students preparing to enter the professional world. Since its inception, nearly 800 alumni-student matches have been made.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Ford Foundation, HSF is developing the opportunity for alumni to serve as mentors for Latino parents whose children are the first generation in their families to attend college. Alumni volunteers can play an important role in supporting the success of Latino students by reaching out to these parents with the support they need to assist their child in navigating the transition to college. This year, HSF will host a registration campaign designed to raise awareness and promote the benefits of maintaining contact with HSF. Registered alumni will also receive an engaging monthly e-newsletter filled with job opportunities and other services related to professional development and social networking.

University Alliance at the University of Georgia

Funded from a grant through the Lilly Endowment Foundation Inc., the University Alliance program at the University of Georgia has been a notable success since its inception as a pilot program in the spring of 2006. The University Alliance program is an initiative to conduct a five-year pilot program, in collaboration with the University of Georgia, to develop relationships within the university community, to improve the enrollment and retention of Hispanic students through community outreach, involvement and presence, and to support the HSF mission of increasing the college graduation rate.

The awarding of scholarships for incoming freshmen and current undergraduates is a major contributor to increasing the number of Hispanic applicants and facilitating their retention through graduation. The UA pilot establishes the presence of HSF within the university community by providing a manager who is housed on campus, working with Admissions, Financial Aid, and Student Services to aid HSF scholars in a nurturing and informative way.

Art Dunning, Vice President for Public Service and Outreach at the University of Georgia recently commented in the campus magazine that: "The university’s reach into a growing segment of our community continues to expand through our partnership with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. I am pleased we can continue to provide support to academic units, public service faculty, and student organizations that wish to create academic opportu- nities for Latino students. Our partnership with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund supports our mission of strengthening connections to communities in the state of Georgia, as well as collaborates among UGA’s outreach, research, and teaching missions."

The University Alliance program at the University of Georgia is only one example of HSF’s continually expanding network. Through its Scholar Chapter network that spans 27 colleges via registered student on-campus groups, HSF provides connections that make the campus life transition easier for Hispanic students. The University Alliance program at the University of Georgia was able to found a local chapter as part of its program.

HSF, working in tandem with a university, is exploring the challenges and developing solutions required to help Hispanic families and students.