02-04-2010

Thirty-Three Urban Student Leaders Earn Full Act Six Scholarships
To Four Washington Colleges

Amid a continuing national economic struggle and the specter of deep cuts proposed in state higher education funding, families of 33 diverse urban student leaders across Washington have new reason for hope and celebration this week.

The Act Six Leadership and Scholarship Initiative announced today that 33 emerging urban leaders across the Puget Sound region and in Spokane will receive full-tuition, full-need scholarships to Whitworth University, Pacific Lutheran University, Northwest University and Gonzaga University.  Collectively, the awards will provide nearly $5 million in financial aid over four years.

The newest Act Six scholars will be recognized in community celebrations in Spokane on Tuesday, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m. at Lewis and Clark High School, and in Tacoma on Thursday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m. at Mount Tahoma High School.  The media and public are invited with RSVP.

Launched in 2002 by the Northwest Leadership Foundation (NLF) in Tacoma, Act Six seeks to develop urban leaders to be agents of transformation on campus and in their home communities. Since the program’s inception, 12 cadres of ethnically diverse and mostly first-generation, low-income Act Six scholars from urban Tacoma, Seattle and Spokane have enrolled at five Washington colleges.

Act Six develops leaders through a simple, but powerful, four-step strategy:

• Recruit and select diverse, multicultural cadres of Washington’s most promising emerging urban leaders.
• Train and prepare these groups of students in the year prior to college, equipping them to support each other, succeed academically, and grow as service-minded leaders and agents of transformation.
• Send and fund the teams together to select faith-based colleges in Washington on four year, full-tuition, full-need scholarships.
• Support and inspire by providing strong campus support and ongoing leadership development to nurture these young people as they find their vocation and grow into the next generation of community leaders.

To date, 94 percent of the scholars in the first three cadres have graduated. Overall, 92 percent of the 107 scholars originally selected for the program have graduated or are still enrolled – reflecting graduation and retention rates that far exceed national averages. Act Six scholars have been elected student-body presidents two of the past four years at Whitworth and have been involved in numerous other leadership roles on and off campus.

“Our scholars are having a profound impact through their leadership on campus, and, as they begin to graduate, we look forward to their impact in the community,” says Tim Herron, founder and national director of Act Six. “This is what we envisioned when we launched Act Six and what we are now seeing replicated around the state and nation.”

Nationally, Act Six initiatives are also active at George Fox University in Newberg, Ore., and Warner Pacific College in Portland, Ore.

Following is a list of this year’s Act Six recipients:

Whitworth University (Cadre Eight)

Gifti Abbo, Ferris High School

Zanovia Clark, Rogers High School (Spokane)

Michaela Cowger, Central Valley High School

Ryan Mendoza, Northwest Christian High School

Hanh Nguyen, Rogers High School (Spokane)

Helya Peyman, Ferris High School

Ingrid Sub Cuc, Ferris High School

Konstantin Tachan, North Central High School

Amber Tooley, Rogers High School (Spokane)

Mailia Yang, Lewis and Clark High School

Pacific Lutheran University (Cadre Three)

Kareem Dixon, Wilson High School

Ailua Evans, Washington High School

Hodo Hussein, Highline High School

Wendy Martinez, Mount Tahoma High School

Jose Medrano, Clover Park High School

Dominic Napat, Chief Sealth High School

Laurie Reddy, Ingraham High School

Northwest University (Cadre Two)

Christian Dawson, Christian Faith High School

Martese Hightower, Bellarmine Preparatory School

Clayton Hines, Washington High School

Justin Mburugu, Curtis High School

Mckinzie Quiocho, Life Christian Academy

Ilona Trofimovich, Henry Foss High School

Samantha Wallace, Washington High School

Imar White, Bellarmine Preparatory School

Gonzaga University (Cadre Two)

Rene Alvarez Jr., Washington High School

Devanta Black, Highline High School

Michaela Brown, Gonzaga Preparatory School

Justin Garcia, Gonzaga Preparatory School

Myra Questel, Lakes High School

Mohamed Sambou, Evergreen High School

Leah Simeon, North Central High School

Cathy Truong, Central Valley High School

Learn more about Act Six online at www.actsix.org.

Those wishing to attend next week’s community celebrations should RSVP with Crystal Ben, Act Six assistant director, at (253) 272-0771 ext. 111 or cben@northwestleaderhip.org.

The Northwest Leadership Foundation is a faith-based non-profit headquartered in Tacoma, Wash. Since 1989, the foundation has worked to move individuals and organizations from good intentions to effective outcomes in its effort to encourage, strengthen and develop leadership for the spiritual and social renewal of the city.

Contacts:

Tim Herron, Act Six national director, Northwest Leadership Foundation,
(253) 272-0771 ext.109 or therron@northwestleadership.org.

Rodney McAuley, Spokane director, Northwest Leadership Foundation,
(509) 953-8003 or rmcauley@northwestleadership.org.

Esther Louie, assistant dean for intercultural student affairs, Whitworth University,
(509) 777-4572 or elouie@whitworth.edu

Karl Stumo, vice president for admission and enrollment services, Pacific Lutheran University,
(253) 535-7158 or stumo@plu.edu

Rose Smith, assistant vice president for enrollment, Northwest University,
(425) 889-5598 or rose.smith@northwestu.edu

Raymond Reyes, associate mission vice president for intercultural relations, Gonzaga University,
(509) 313-3667 or reyes@gu.gonzaga.edu