Hartford Business Journal

G I V I N G G U I D E 2016 www.HartfordBusiness.com November 22, 2016 • Hartford Business Journal 47 ABOUT US Year established: 1956 Annual revenues: $165,600 (most recent fiscal year) Total number of employees: 1 GEOGRAPHIC SERVICE AREA(S) Scholarships are provided to eligible students from Hartford and surrounding towns. TOP FUNDING SOURCES Mr. Francisco Borges: 36.2% The Barnes Foundation Inc.: 12.1% Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund: 7.2% Other Foundation/ Corporate Gifts: 22.9% Other Individual Gifts 21.6% GOALS: • To provide scholarship funding to as many students as possible at the five member schools who meet preset criteria. The underlying purpose is to help students maximize their academic and interpersonal abilities, preparing them for future success at the college level and in the professional world. • To make financial aid resources available to the member schools which will enable them to accept as many graduates from the Hartford Youth Scholars program as possible, bridging the gap between HYS and higher education. FUNDRAISING EVENTS/OPPORTUNITIES: The annual WALKS Scholars Luncheon, held each October, provides a forum for current donors and interested persons to meet the fifteen present scholarship recipients and hear firsthand from five of them about how the WALKS Foundation and the community's support have affected their educational experiences and their future prospects. The public are warmly invited to attend. Highlights include presentation of five volunteer service awards, introductions of past Scholars in attendance, and remarks from five current Scholars along with the Board Chairperson. Details can be found on our website no later than September 1 of each year, or you may email admin@walksfoundation.org to inquire. GIVING OPPORTUNITIES: WALKS provides fifteen scholarships each year at the member schools to students from Hartford and surrounding towns. These scholarships are funded entirely through the generous support of individuals, families, foundations and corporations with faith in the long-term effect of quality secondary education and a willingness to invest in the futures of our your people. Donations of any size are welcomed and greatly appreciated and can be made by mail or on WALKS' website. Gifts of securities can be arranged by contacting the WALKS Treasurer. Personal gifts can be maximized by checking with your employer to see if they have a matching gift program. Foundation/corporate gifts of $7,500 or more and individual gifts of $5,000 or more are used to provide direct sponsorship of a single scholarship recipient who is recognized by the name of his or her sponsor. Smaller gifts are used cumulatively to underwrite tuition and other educational costs for additional scholarship recipients. If you or your company are interested in sponsoring a Named Scholar for the coming year, please contact WALKS for details. WALKS seeks corporate donors each year to fund the Scholars Luncheon or to provide a challenge grant which matches all new and increased giving dollar-for-dollar for one fiscal year. If your company would be interested in supporting the WALKS Scholars through either of these means, please contact WALKS for details. Bruce Chudwick Shipman & Goodwin LLP Hai Dang Laetus LLC Lawrence Davis Webster Bank Joseph Gianni Bank of America John Gummere Phoenix Home Life (retired) George Hastings Robinson & Cole LLP (retired) Hal Kraus Westledge Corp. (retired) Dawn A. Lazarus Jumoke Academy Charter Schools Hugh Murray III McCarter & English LLP Nancy Nesbitt Webster Bank Sally A. O'Connor Barnes Foundation, Inc. Moy Ogilvie Johnson McCarter & English LLP Lisa Rarus Lindberg & Ripple, Inc. Edward Samorajczyk Robinson & Cole LLP Craig Saunders Tecton Architects HEADS OF SCHOOLS William V.N. Philip Headmaster, Westminster School Kenneth LaRocque Headmaster, Avon Old Farms School Sheila Culbert Head of School, Loomis Chaffee School Dennis Bisgaard Head of School, Kingswood Oxford School Charles Cahn III Headmaster, Suffield Academy President William V.N. Philip Westminster School Chairperson Tom Francoline Avonridge The WALKS Foundation, Inc. P. O. Box 155, West Granby, CT 06090 | 860.379.3053 www.walksfoundation.org OUR MISSION: The WALKS Foundation provides scholarships to motivated, talented youths from Greater Hartford with leadership potential and a demonstrated financial need, enabling them to obtain the best possible secondary school education and college preparation. WALKS particularly strives to aid young people from the city of Hartford and students of color. Born in Puerto Rico as one of ten children of a single mother, Kelvin Roldan grew up in Hartford's Stowe Village housing project, where his future prospects seemed narrow and limited. The assistant principal at Fox Middle School saw potential in Kelvin, invited him to meet with a representative from Avon Old Farms and encouraged him to apply. With the aid of a WALKS scholarship and his mother's faithful support, Kelvin graduated from Avon Old Farms in 1996 with far wider horizons, thanks in part to the mentors and role models he found among the faculty at AOF who proved to be "an incredible force" in his life. Since then, Kelvin has earned degrees from Middlebury College and Trinity College and is presently working on his doctorate in educational leadership at Harvard. He has served as advisor to the Mayor of Hartford and Deputy Major Leader in the CT House of Representatives, and has helped developed strategic partnerships for the Hartford public schools. His work from 2007-12 helped make HPS Connecticut's most improved urban district. One of his proudest achievements is the institution of an annual scholarship in his mother's name in his hometown of Gurabo, Puerto Rico. "Avon's biggest contribution," Kelvin says, "was my love for learning and desire to make change in education. Attending AOF was the equivalent of winning the lottery for me. No child should have to win the lottery to get a great education." Kelvin has become a force for educational change in Hartford — and it all began with a WALKS scholarship. BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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