During the March Quarter 2024 funding cycle, the AJA Foundation continued its steadfast commitment to education. The foundation recently donated $434,000 to new and legacy grantees, bringing the total commitment to the education pillar to over $4 million. This ongoing investment underscores the AJA Foundation’s dedication to supporting educational opportunities for low-income and first-generation students, instilling hope and optimism for a brighter future.
The Pathfinder Program at the Hopkins School has been attracting bright students from underserved New Haven, Connecticut areas since 1993. The academic enrichment program received a new $75,000 unrestricted grant from the AJA Foundation. An additional $25,000 matching grant was specifically allocated to help attract new donors during the school’s annual week of giving campaign. The AJA Foundation’s strategic approach to its investments, demonstrated by its support to Pathfinder since 2007 and a total contribution of $925,000 to date, reflects confidence in the program’s growth.
In 2021, The AJA Foundation initiated a partnership with Dean’s Future Scholars (DFS), a unique homegrown academic outreach program within the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Nevada, Reno. The Foundation’s initial unrestricted $50,000 grant and subsequent $30,000 capacity-building grant for data collection and analysis marked the beginning of a relationship that has yielded a great return on investment. DFS provides mentoring and educational opportunities for low-income, first-generation college students and has seen significant growth over the past three years. With the most recent grant of $100,000 plus a $50,000 matching grant for 2024, the AJA Foundation’s total investment in the program has reached $330,000.
Fulfillment Fund Las Vegas was awarded $50,000 to continue providing much-needed college access and success programming to high school students in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is the non-profit’s third grant from the AJA Foundation, totaling $150,000. In 2024, Fulfillment Fund Las Vegas is expanding its programming to include ten new Clark County schools.
Fulfillment Fund, which serves high school students in the Los Angeles area, was granted $75,000 for college access counseling and scholarships. The gift will be divided evenly between the two programs. Past gifts total $250,000, bringing the total investment in the program to $325,000.
AJA Foundation awarded Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation (MHOF) $50,000. Although the AJA Foundation primarily funds education programs focused on measurable college access outcomes, we support MHOF because it fills a gap in the U.S. education system that can only be addressed by an organization with deep experience in arts in education. The Foundation has supported Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation since 2008 with $425,000 in grants.
The new grantee in this cycle of funding is Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust. This scholarship program is for highly marginalized orphaned girls in Mambwe in the Eastern Province of rural Zambia, similar to the Three Angels Scholarship program funded by AJA Foundation in Haiti. The grant will allow a cohort of ten girls to receive three years of secondary school education in a boarding school. Upon completion of secondary school, post-secondary will be an option available to this set of girls. All of their lives will be transformed by the opportunity to receive a quality education.
