Emergency Grants
Thanks to the grant from the Welter Foundation, LeadMN was able to expand our emergency grant program to ensure that students who fell through the cracks on campuses were getting support. To identify students who needed the emergency grants, LeadMN launched a student survey to see how the pandemic was impacting their lives and academic studies. This survey provided valuable insight into student challenges that we then shared with policy makers and college administrators. Specifically, we found that students were doing much worse than from the start of the pandemic and urgently needed mental health support and food support.
The emergency grants had a profound impact on the students that received them. Since January of 2021, 95 awards have been distributed ranging from $100 to $200, totaling $15,900.
Scholarships
THIS PAST YEAR LEADMN DISTRIBUTED $73,250 IN SCHOLARSHIPS TO SUPPORT 116 STUDENTS.
LeadMN awards eleven types of scholarships to students that demonstrate exemplary leadership skills, for students in technical programs, for students that need financial assistance to buy tools and equipment, student veterans, and women students in health fields.
"I’M 34 YEARS OLD AND LIVE IN WHITE BEAR LAKE, MN WITH MY FAMILY. I’M A NON-TRADITIONAL FIRST-GENERATION STUDENT AT CENTURY COLLEGE MAJORING IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AND MATH. MY GOAL IS TO USE MY LOVE OF MATH TO EMPOWER STUDENTS AND CHANGE LIVES. WHEN I’M NOT BUSY CHANGING THE WORLD, I LIKE TO DRINK COFFEE AND WATCH STAR TREK."
Jenna Race, Century College
"I AM FROM LIBERIA, WEST AFRICA. I AM FROM A FAMILY OF SEVEN, AND NO COLLEGE DEGREES. FIVE OF MY FAMILY MEMBERS PASSED AWAY DUE TO A CIVIC CRISIS IN LIBERIA. I CAME TO THE UNITED STATES IN 2001. I AM A STUDENT AT HENNEPIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE. I AM AN ENGINEERING STUDENT STUDYING TO BE A FLUID POWER ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN. MY GOAL IS TO COMPLETE MY PROGRAM IN THE SPRING OF 2022. I PLAN TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL TO STUDY ENTREPRENEURSHIP SOMEDAY."
John G. Williams, Hennepin Technical College
"LEADMN HAS BEEN SUCH A BLESSING TO ME THIS SEMESTER. BECAUSE OF COVID-19 I WAS NOT SURE IF I WOULD BE ABLE TO GET A JOB TO HELP PAY FOR COLLEGE. THIS SCHOLARSHIP NOT ONLY HELPS PAY FOR SCHOOL, BUT IT ALSO HELPS ME FEEL CONFIDENT IN MYSELF AS A STUDENT. IN THE PAST I HAVE ALWAYS FELT AVERAGE TO EVERYONE ELSE BUT AFTER RECEIVING THIS SCHOLARSHIP I KNOW NOW THAT I CAN DO WHATEVER I PUT MY MIND TO."
Madison Witte, Northland Community & Technical College
