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Dear Friend of the Imagine Fund,
Welcome to The Imagine Fund! You are receiving
this email from a close friend of IFund who would like to
introduce you to our state-wide organization.
As a scholarship granting non-profit, our mission is to ensure access
and increase equal opportunity in higher education. The Imagine
Fund promotes attainment of a college degree through scholarship
awards to students, particularly Black and Latino, who are
academically qualified and economically challenged and who attend Michigan's
public universities.
We invite you to learn more about us and to support our
cause. Perhaps these statistics will peak your interest in The
Imagine Fund...
Did you know?
Only 24% of Michigan
residents 25 years and over have completed a bachelor's degree or
higher(Lumina
Foundation).
Michigan
seeks to increase its college going rate from 34% to 60% by 2025 (Lumina Foundation).
Only 13% of Black and
13% of Latinos overall have a bachelor' s degrees (U.S. Census Bureau 2000).
Comparing
the graduation rates from
Michigan's 15 public universities,
underrepresented
minorities experience a 20 percent
lower rate than Whites
(The Education Trust, College Results
Online 2010 - Comparison chart by race
and
gender of Michigan15 public
universities).
One barrier to attaining a college degree is
affordability. As a statewide organization, our unique niche is
providing scholarships to students who are academically qualified but
have been traditionally disenfranchised...and are even more so due to
passage of Proposal 2006-2. We are confident that IFund
scholarships will change the lives of the student recipients and move
our entire state forward, one college graduate at a time.
We will continue sharing important
pieces of information about higher education in Michigan, particularly with a diversity
lens. So, please subscribe to our communiques and forward this first
issue to your family, friends and colleagues to help spread the word
about The Imagine Fund, as we launch our first major scholarship fund
raising drive. Also, we'd be glad to hear from you at [log in to unmask].
Nanette Lee
Reynolds, Ed.D.
President & Co-Founder
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Cause for concern?
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The enrollment of minority students at
Michigan's
public universities has already seen a documented decline since
passage of Proposal 2.
(National Center for Educational
Statistics - IPEDS site 2003-2008)
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Thank you to our
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W.K. Kellogg Foundation
which has lent generous financial
support from IFund's launch to implementation of the scholarship
process during spring 2010
DTE Energy
Foundation
&
Battle Creek Community Foundation
which both shared our early vision and
supported our pioneering organization
and
AT&T (Michigan)
Capitol
National Bank
Health
Alliance Plan
Public
Policy Associates Inc.
Steelcase
Inc.
The
Remington Group
and individual supporters!
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IFund Scholarship Program:
A Snapshot
During this past spring, The
Imagine Fund piloted its scholarship process and has made several
awards for the 2010-11 academic year. You will meet
the recipients in our next newsletter! Acknowledgement
is due to the Detroit Health Alliance Plan, Mark & Elizabeth
Murray, Laura Trudeau, and David C. Hollister for
supporting IFund with these first awards. IFund
Signature Scholarships average $5,000 and are "last
dollar" awards for students to leverage other available
resources and to preclude them from incurring private loan debt.
Steelcase, Inc., an
international furniture corporation headquartered in Grand Rapids, has
established IFund's first endowed scholarship. The Steelcase
Scholars award will begin the next academic year. Steelcase
is committed to cultural acceptance; and donates time, talent
and treasure to programs which specifically focus on things the
corporation values most -- including education, community and
economic development.
Pictured (L to R) are Willard K.
Walker, IFund Board Chair, Brian Cloyd, Steelcase Vice President
of Global and Community Relations, and Nanette Reynolds, IFund
President & Co-founder signing the scholarship
agreement.
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DONATE NOW
The
Imagine Fund invites you to join our cause - advancing diversity in Michigan higher
education. Donations can be made to:
The Imagine Fund
222 North Chestnut Street, Suite 200
Lansing, MI
48933
or contact us at
[log in to unmask]
[log in to unmask]ℑ_url=ACCOUNT.IMAGE.5&return=&cancel_return=&item_name=Donation&amount=0&shipping=0¤cy_code=USD&item_number=&cmd=_xclick"
target="_blank" shape=rect>
We
would be pleased to discuss our other options with you, including
hosting a "house party fundraiser" for The Imagine Fund
Signature Scholarship or establishing a personal or
corporate named or endowed scholarship, which IFund will
administer. We ask only that your criteria be aligned with the
IFund focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.
The Imagine Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization. All donations are tax deductible as allowable by
law and at least 80 percent of all on-line donations go directly to The
Imagine Fund Signature Scholarships.
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 Benefits to Michigan
A gift to The Imagine Fund's Signature Scholarships will:
- Translate into a better quality of life for the
college graduate and his/her family
- Ensure an educated, competitive and diverse
workforce for our state
- Facilitate expanded inclusion and diversity on
our Michigan
college campuses
- Help move the Michigan economy forward
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IFund Board Profile
Paula D. Cunningham is President & CEO of
Capitol National Bank, having served previously as President of Lansing
Community College from 2000-2006. She served on the Lt.
Governor's Commission on Higher Education and Economic Growth
("Cherry Commission"), whose report to the governor in December
2004 challenged our state to double the number of postsecondary degree
holders in Michigan
within 10 years. As part of this goal, Ms. Cunningham feels that
IFund will raise awareness so that "young folks of all colors
will understand that they have access and opportunities to receive a
college education."
She believes, further, that lack of access to
resources is the greatest obstacle facing minority students today,
in realizing their dream of a college degree. This includes
financial resources, mentoring, knowing how to navigate the system and
lack of being able to "IMAGINE" what they can be.
Ms. Cunningham is gratified that there was an immediate response
to Proposal 2, and that she served as the organization's first
board chair. Formation of The Imagine Fund was affirmation for
her that "people in Michigan
have not lost their sense of educational social justice"; and she
feels confident that IFund can be a part
of statewide efforts at expanding college access and
success."
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About Us
IFund Board of Directors:
Kenneth Cole - Lansing
Paula D.
Cunningham* - Lansing
Brenda L.
Hunt - Battle Creek
Cirilo
Martinez*, JD - Kalamazoo
Richard D.
McLellan, JD - East Lansing
Willard K.
Walker* - Lansing
Orian
Worden*, PhD - Detroit
Honorary Advisor:
Mark A. Murray - Grand Rapids
Former Board Members:
C. Patrick
Babcock* - Lansing
David C.
Hollister* - Lansing
* Founding Board Members
President
and Co-Founder: Nanette Lee Reynolds, Ed.D.
Volunteer Coordinator & Newsletter Editor: Liliana
Hoyos Stoneback
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IFund in
the News...
Click here
to read the Lansing State Journal
article about Dr. Reynolds and The Imagine Fund.
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Mission Statement
The Imagine Fund exists to ensure access and expand
equal opportunity to higher education for students based on their race,
color, sex, ethnicity, national origin and/or other cultural
characteristic.
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www.theimaginefund.org
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