Grant News

Jenee Myers Twitchell is the director of the Dream Project and is a co-founder of the program. She is also currently pursuing her Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy studies at the UW’s College of Education.

In August, the Dream Project received a $50,000 grant from USA Funds for the 2014-2015 school year. The grant, entitled “Mentorship in Action: Being Leaders, Creating Leaders,” will support costs associated with Dream Project’s weekly high school visits as well as the program’s college student leadership and career development activities. The grant will allow the Dream Project to deepen its impact across the region in helping more than 2,000 high school students prepare to enroll in college degree and career credential programs. It will also allow the program to expand professional development and career-building opportunities for college student mentors and program leaders throughout the year.

USA Funds’ mission is to enhance postsecondary education preparedness, access and success by providing and supporting financial and other valued services, with focus in the following areas:

• Education to Employment Transition. To better align education and training programs with workforce needs, while enhancing the dialogue between employers and education providers.
• Innovation in College and Career Preparation. To help students get through high-quality education and training programs quicker, at less cost and with better prospects for rewarding careers.
• Key Education Transitions. To help disadvantaged students get through high school with the tools they need to succeed in college and on the job, including initiatives that provide students with work experience opportunities during their years in school.
• Quality Assurance and Performance Analytics. To support new frameworks for tapping the mountain of data available in the higher education marketplace, so students and families, policymakers and educational institutions all can make better decisions.

Their strategy is to promote “Completion with a Purpose” — supporting postsecondary students’ attainment of credentials and competencies that lead to productive and rewarding careers and thus to economic, civic, and creative contributions to their communities and to society.