As part of her “Leadership on the Go” initiative, Erika has recorded a series of interviews with individuals from a variety of fields and endeavors relevant to working and succeeding in the global marketplace. Erika had been introduced to Farther Foundation and our mission of providing life changing opportunities for students to learn and travel abroad and graciously asked me to join her and record an interview.

Here is a link to the interview.  Thank you Erika for your time, your support and your commitment to students who are willing to work for their opportunity to succeed.

– David Weindling, President, Farther Foundation

Farther Foundation was formed to help students break free from the constraints of poverty and gain experiences that propel them toward their highest aspirations. We provide opportunities for eager and deserving students to travel worldwide and interact with individuals who have diverse backgrounds and experiences. They participate in programs where they are immersed in new cultures and experiences, learn and develop skills, provide community service, cultivate leadership potential and attain personal growth.

You can help support students like these to have life changing educational experiences. Visit our website to learn more about our work and to make a tax deductible gift online.

Farther Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization providing scholarships to low-income students to inspire them to reach their highest aspirations through educational travel experiences.

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Ryan, Yamari, Monique and Melissa were awarded the NSLI-Y because of their own initiative and accomplishments, their previous travel experiences assisted by Farther Foundation and the support and encouragement of their partners and mentors at HighSight and Metro Achievement Center.

Ryan used his Farther Foundation in the summer of 2011 to travel to China with the Experiment in International Living. He will go back to China this summer with NSLI-Y and this fall will be attending Denison College.

Yamari will also be heading for China this summer after using her Farther Foundation scholarship to travel to Spain last year. This fall she will be attending Augustana College.

Monique traveled to France last summer but will try her hand at Korean in South Korea this summer. She will be enrolling at Depauw University in the fall.

Lastly, Melissa, who used her Farther Foundation scholarship last summer to go to Ghana with AFS, will travel to Morocco to study Arabic this year. In the fall she will be attending the University of Illinois.

It is no small accomplishment for inner city students from economically disadvantaged circumstances to seek out opportunities like these and to be prepared to seize them with such vigor. It starts with their own initiative, but it takes a network of support that Farther Foundation is proud to be a part of. We look forward to following the continuing education and lives of Ryan, Yamari, Monique and Melissa as they become global leaders of the next generation.

Farther Foundation was formed to help students break free from the constraints of poverty and gain experiences that propel them toward their highest aspirations. We provide opportunities for eager and deserving students to travel worldwide and interact with individuals who have diverse backgrounds and experiences. They participate in programs where they are immersed in new cultures and experiences, learn and develop skills, provide community service, cultivate leadership potential and attain personal growth.

You can help support students like these to have life changing educational experiences. Visit our website to learn more about our work and to make a tax deductible gift online.

Farther Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization providing scholarships to low-income students to inspire them to reach their highest aspirations through educational travel experiences.

Go Farther!

Tia will be spending this summer at a Navajo Nation reservation working on a media project with students from around the country.

Farther Foundationhas selected 17 students to receive enrichment travel scholarships for the summer of 2012. The selection process was difficult this year due to the largest pool of well qualified applicants we have ever had.

Farther Foundation was formed to help students break free from the constraints of poverty and gain experiences that propel them toward their highest aspirations. We provide opportunities for eager and deserving students to travel worldwide and interact with individuals who have diverse backgrounds and experiences. They participate in programs where they are immersed in new cultures and experiences, learn and develop skills, provide community service, cultivate leadership potential and attain personal growth.

Our 17 scholarship winners this year come from families in some of the toughest neighborhoods in Chicago where they struggle to make ends meet. Yet our awardees are applying themselves with great vigor and determination to succeed and be models for their families, friends and classmates.

Here is a list of the programs they will attend this summer with the support of Farther Foundation scholarships:

Student:  Program Provider — Program Description
Adriana:  AFS — 42-day, Paraguay, cultural immersion and community service
Andrea:  Global Leadership Adventures– 21-day, Tanzania, cultural immersion, community service and safari
Christopher: Putney Travel — 28-day, Argentina, cultural immersion and community service
Cindy:  AFS — 42-day, Italy, intensive language and cultural immersion
Emma:  AFS — 35-day, Italy, intensive language and cultural immersion
Eric:  Columbia University — 31-day, New York, university experience
Erika:  Putney Travel — 28-day, Vietnam, cultural immersion and community service
Grecia:  Syracuse University — 14-day, New York, university expeience, intensive writing
Ja’lon:  Putney Travel — 28-day, Peru, cultural immersion and community service
Jason:  Oxbridge Academic Programs — 28-day, England, university experience
Jose:  Johns Hopkins University — 31-day, Maryland, university experience, science and technology
Malik:  LEAD Global — 20-day, South Africa, academic program and cultural immersion
Rivka:  NCSY — 35-day, Israel, cultural immersion and community service
Tia:  In-Sight Photography Project — 21-day, South Dakota, native american culture immersion and multi-media exploration
Cherese, Corbin and Teserae:  Global Youth Leadership Institute — 11-day, Costa Rica, environmental education and cultural immersion

You can help support students like these to have life changing educational experiences. Visit our website to learn more about our work and to make a tax deductible gift online.

Farther Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization providing scholarships to low-income students to inspire them to reach their highest aspirations through educational travel experiences.

Go Farther!

Nora with Farther Foundation founder, David Weindling

Choosing the college that is right for you is no easy task. Big, medium or small? Near home or farther away? City or small town? Liberal arts or a specific course of study? What are the students like? The faculty? The campus? How’s the social life? Do they offer the athletics, arts and activities that I like? Are there students like me? Do they support students like me?

A lot of high school students spend a good chunk of their senior year thinking and worrying about these questions. The lucky ones have many family members and friends who have gone to college and can offer advice. Their parents might take them to visit a variety of college campuses to get a feel for the differences. At minimum, they’ve done a bit of traveling that has allowed them to have experiences outside of their own neighborhoods.

But this is not the case for all college bound students.  Farther Foundation works with low-income high school students in Chicago who very often lack these resources. They are usually the first generation in their families to go to college, they seldom travel beyond the confines of their own neighborhoods and they lack advisers with a wide breadth of college information. Studies by the Consortium on Chicago School Research at University of Chicago indicate that the highest achieving students in Chicago public high schools regularly fail to identify and enroll in colleges that match their potential.

Farther Foundation enables eager and deserving students to participate in life changing summer enrichment travel programs. These programs give students the experiences, confidence and frame of reference they need to expand their options and make a good decision when choosing a college.

I just received an email from Nora. After her sophomore year of high school, Nora received a Farther Foundation grant to attend a summer science program at Carleton College (my alma mater). That experience has played an essential role in Nora’s subsequent college decisions. Here is what she had to say:

I just wanted to keep you updated with my college decisions and plans. All the colleges I applied to have released their decisions. I was accepted to Vassar College, Cornell University, Georgetown University, Tufts University, and Brown University. Currently, I have narrowed down my choices to Brown University and Georgetown University. I’m thrilled the college process is almost over.

Participating in a summer program like the Carleton College Summer Science Institute confirmed my desire to attend a college out of state. Although, I did apply to some instate schools (safeties) I knew that I wanted to experience something different. Seeing all the resources that a top college like Carleton could offer was eye-opening. I also learned more about what I wanted in a college thanks to this program. I wanted a suburban or urban setting, medium-size university, but I definitely wanted a college with a strong liberal arts education because the people I meet at Carleton were some of the smartest people I’ve meet. I still keep in contact with some of the friends I made, and they are all going to great institutions like Stanford, Carleton, Harvard, and more.

As a first generation college student, I had learned so much from program, I realized that going out of state for college would be a great experience. Thank you for believing in my potential, and enabling me to participate in a program that opened my eyes to college.

Like 95% of all Farther Foundation alumni, Nora will be going off to a great college next year and I know she will excel. We look forward to hearing from all of our seniors who will be making this important choice in the days ahead.

Farther Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization providing scholarships to low-income students to inspire them to reach their highest aspirations through educational travel experiences.

Go Farther!

Although our goal is not to build a long and interesting list of destinations – our mission is to inspire and prepare students for continued academic and career success – it is fascinating to watch the list grow. This is a reflection of the ambition and adventurous spirit of our students, young people who in most cases have never previously left their neighborhoods and are now taking bold steps to go halfway around the world.

Applications we have received so far this year have students seeking to travel to some exciting new locations including: Finland, Bali, The Galapagos Islands, Tanzania and Paraguay. Our student applicants get the greatest share of the credit for selecting such interesting destinations, but we also appreciate the work of travel program providers that design and build programs that provide life-changing experiences in unique locations. Program providers represented in our applications so far this year include, AFS, The Road Less Traveled, The Experiment in International Living and Global Leadership Adventures.

The Farther Foundation scholarship application deadline is on March 31^st. Our review committee is excited to begin its difficult task of selecting which students to support. It is always the unfortunate reality that we will have to turn down students that we would love to support, if only we had more financial resources. Farther Foundation and the students we serve depend on the tax deductible donations from people like you to make these life changing experiences possible. Visit our website to make a donation online and follow our work more closely by subscribing to this blog or liking “Farther Foundation” on Facebook. Thank you for your support.

Farther Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization providing scholarships to low-income students to inspire them to reach their highest aspirations through educational travel experiences.

Go Farther!

Farther Foundation is not the only factor making this success possible, but it is playing an important and inspirational role. One of our program alumnae, Yamari, a high school senior eagerly awaiting responses from her college applications recently told us, “Because of my trip to Spain for 3 weeks I know I can handle living on campus away from home… and I THANK U for that…” and at Farther Foundation, we thank you for that.

Farther Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization providing scholarships to low-income students to inspire them to reach their highest aspirations through educational travel experiences.

Go Farther!

At Farther Foundation, it is our hope and our goal that the summer opportunities that we make possible for high school students will inspire them to continue their education at as high a level as possible. Are we wrong or being snobbish in pursuing this goal? Are we projecting a bias about what we think is best for students and families on a group of students that might have a different set of experiences, beliefs and expectations? We have been thinking about this question for the last couple of weeks.

Farther Foundation has been feeling very good about our program results. 100% of our eligible student participants had graduated high school on gone on to college. Just two weeks ago however, we heard from one of our alumni that due to financial concerns, he found it necessary to go into the workforce full time, and delay pursuing his college education.

It’s clear that not every job or career requires a college education, and a degree does not guarantee success or happiness. If I can quote from the movie Caddyshack, “The world needs ditch diggers too”, so if we were to all go out and get our PHDs, some of us doctors would be doing rocket science while others would be digging ditches.

But, it is also clear that people with a college education are less likely to be unemployed, earn much more money over their lifetimes, are less likely to be incarcerated, are more likely to have health insurance, are more likely to vote, and surpass their less educated counterparts in a number of other quality of life indicators.

That is why Farther Foundation will continue to strive to provide experiences and encouragement that inspire students to seek higher education. We believe education leads to more possibilities, and having more choices empowers us to pursue happiness and our highest aspirations more successfully.

So, we are happy for all of our travel alumni who are continuing their education in high school and college. And, we are happy for our one alumnus who is employed and is making his way in the world – and we hope he has the opportunity, in time, to also pursue higher education. Lastly, we are happy that 95% of our eligible alumni are currently pursuing post-secondary education – and that we have the support of so many generous donors to make it all happen.  

Farther Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization providing scholarships to low-income students to inspire them to reach their highest aspirations through educational travel experiences.

Go Farther!

Farther Foundation is a charitable organization providing scholarships to low-income students to inspire them to reach their highest aspirations through educational travel experiences. The investment Farther Foundation makes in these eager and deserving students is paying off. In an environment where only about 54% of Chicago Public High School students are graduating, Farther Foundation supported students are graduating high school and enrolling in college at a 100% rate.

Over the past three years, 48 students have received scholarships from Farther Foundation and have traveled to locations on six continents.  While traveling, students interact with people from diverse backgrounds, become immersed in new cultures and experiences, learn and develop skills, engage in community service, cultivate leadership potential and attain personal growth. Some of our alumni are still in high school, but many have gone on to college. Here is a rundown of some of our alumni, where they traveled with Farther Foundation, and where they are now attending college:

• Lawrence traveled to Ghana and is now a sophomore at Southern Illinois University.
• Chelsea participated in a 6-week pre-college, pre-med program at Vanderbilt University and is now a sophomore at Colgate.
• Anna trekked the Inca Trail in Peru and is now a sophomore at the University of Chicago.
• David provided community service and learned about local activism in El Salvador and is now a sophomore at Vassar.
• Nitza traveled to Argentina and is now a sophomore at Williams College.
• Angelicca spent 6 weeks in Thailand and now attends Pomona College.
• Gabriel studied in a language immersion program in France and is now at Tufts University.

Farther Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization providing scholarships to low-income students to inspire them to reach their highest aspirations through educational travel experiences.

Go Farther!

We partner with many organizations in the Chicago area that provide a wide range of support programs including tutoring, after-school programs, college and financial aid application prep work and, of course, mentoring, and our community is lucky to have other individuals and organizations who do the same.

One such organization is Lawyers Lend-a-Hand to Youth. Its mission is to channel the legal community’s resources to promote best practice mentoring & tutoring programs in disadvantaged communities that foster consistent, long term bonds between adults and youth.

In its most recent newsletter, Lawyers Lend-a-Hand announced its latest round of grants to organizations that provide mentoring programs to at-risk youth. We were happy to see that some of the excellent organization that we regularly partner with received support. These include: LINK Unlimited, Christopher House, Horizons for Youth, and Midtown Educational Foundation.

At Farther Foundation, we insist that the students we award scholarships to partner with schools and organizations that provide them with extra-curricular enrichment and support programs. This sets them upon the right path, and then, the unique educational travel experience they get through the Farther Foundation takes them beyond a tipping point from which they never look back.

Farther Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization providing scholarships to low-income students to inspire them to reach their highest aspirations through educational travel experiences.

Go Farther!

The investment Farther Foundation makes in these eager and deserving students is paying off. In an environment where only about 54% of Chicago Public High School students are graduating, Farther Foundation supported students are graduating high school and enrolling in college at a 100% rate.

One of these students is Ryan. Ryan and his brother are being raised by his mother alone on a very modest income. He receives academic support and mentoring through HighSight, a great organization that also encouraged him to travel abroad last summer in pursuit of new horizons. Here is what Ryan had to say about his adventure in China with The Experiment in International Living:

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, I have a thousand pictures, and they don’t begin to tell the story of my trip to China. I spent five weeks, thousands of miles from my hometown on the other side of the world. I remember looking around at my crewmates, who were all so homesick, and realizing that I didn’t feel homesick at all. I felt free. Don’t get me wrong, I love Chicago, I love my home, but spending five weeks on my own, trying to survive in a foreign country with a group of people I hardly knew? I felt like I was in my element.

When we landed in Hong Kong, I remember I spent about ten minutes looking out the massive Terminal windows at the city nestled beneath a mountain. I thought, “Wow, this is China? Amazing.” It turns out that I was looking at a rinky-dink town that was basically a suburb of the REAL Hong Kong. And the mountain that I gazed at in awe, wondering at its age and splendor? Pheh. That was nothing compared to what came next.

Beijing, Capital City of the People’s Republic of China. Luoyang, City of the Promenade. Guiyang, mountainous Capital City of the mountainous Province of Guilin. Yangshuo, Western Hotspot in the middle of the East. Shanghai, Crown Jewel of the Chinese Coast. All these places and more, I can still see in my head, I can still feel them in my body. I can feel the rumble of the hard-seat overnight train, I can see the tiny plane that was shorter than a 40-yard pass, I can remember the gritty concrete road under the tires of my rental bike, and the gravel biting into my leg as the tires slid out from under me. The sting of the alcohol pads, the smell of the lychees my friend stuffed into my bag, the burst of the dumplings in my mouth later at dinner were all sensations that have enriched my entire existence. There can be zero doubt in my mind that I am forever changed by this glorious experience.

Farther Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization providing scholarships to low-income students to inspire them to reach their highest aspirations through educational travel experiences.

Go Farther!