Programs
At the heart of EAF’s commitment is the idea that academic excellence comes in many forms. There are three ways in which the Foundation carries out its mission: Academic Scholarships, Fellowships and Community Assistance Awards (formerly known as Mini Grant).
In 2007, EAF awarded more than $99,750 in scholarships to 89 students and 15 additional awards totaling almost $116,250 in categories that included Community Assistance Awards and Youth P.A.C. awards.
Academic Scholarships
Scholarships are the primary means by which EAF carries out its mission. The Foundation awards Merit, Financial Need and Youth Partners Accessing Capital (P.A.C.) scholarships.
Merit
Awards ranging from $1,000 to $2,000 to undergraduate and graduate students who excel academically.
Merit Scholarship Eligibility
To be eligible for this one-year one-time only scholarship, the applicant must:
- Be a full-time and currently enrolled undergraduate student with sophomore standing at an accredited campus-based degree-granting institution;
- Be a full-time and currently enrolled graduate student at an accredited campus-based degree-granting institution;
- Continuing a program of study in this or another degree-granting institution;
- Demonstrate exceptional academic achievement with a minimum GPA of 3.0 ("B" average);
- Have demonstrated community service and involvement.
Merit Scholarship applications and supporting documents for Undergraduate students must be postmarked by April 15, 2008 [click here for application]. Awards will be announced by August 2008. Graduate student applications and supporting documents must be postmarked by August 15, 2008 [click here for application]. Awards will be announced by December 2008.
Financial Need
Awards ranging from $750 to $2,000 to undergraduate and graduate students with good academic standing who have endured great hardship to accomplish their educational goals.
Financial Need Scholarship Eligibility
To be eligible for this one-year one-time only award, the applicant must:
- Be a full-time undergraduate student, sophomore or beyond, currently enrolled in an accredited campus-based degree-granting institution of higher learning;
- Be a full-time graduate student currently enrolled or will be a student in the fall of the award year;
- Have a minimum GPA of 2.5 ("C+" average).
Financial need scholarship applications and supporting documents for Undergraduate students must be postmarked by April 15, 2008 [click here for application]. Awards will be announced by August 2008. Graduate student applications and supporting documents must be postmarked by August 15, 2008. Awards will be announced by December 2008. [Click here for application]
Youth Partners Accessing Capital (P.A.C.)
Administered by and for undergraduates, award amounts range from $1,000 to $3,000.
Eligibility:
- Be a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
- Be at least a college sophomore
- Have a minimum 3.0 GPA
- Demonstrate exceptional academic achievement or extreme financial need
- Participate in leadership, volunteer, civic or campus activities
Youth P.A.C. applications and supporting documents must be postmarked by April 15, 2008. Awards will be announced by August 2008.
Fellowships
Added to EAF’s array of programs in 1995, fellowships do not require enrollment in an academic institution. These awards help to improve the quality of life of others by funding research and projects with practical applications.
Foundation fellowships have been awarded to individuals for a wide range of purposes, from assistance in finding non-violent solutions to human disputes to conducting research on hypertension and the impact of nuclear testing on marine life.
EAF awards two Fellowships, during even numbered years:
The Helen Cromer Cooper Fellowship for Non-Violent Alternatives to Conflict – earmarked to support individuals and projects involved in finding non-violent solutions to human problems. The 2006 recipient was Tracee Davis, Forensic Psychology, John Jay College, Desoto, TX.
Dr. Dorri Phipps Fellowship – for students pursuing degrees in medicine or research pertaining to lupus.
Community Assistance Awards
Community Assistance Awards are awarded to assist individuals and organizations for a specific civic, educational or human service program or project.
Some of the projects that receive funding involve partnerships with longstanding service organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, the American Red Cross and the American Kidney Foundation. Others empower service-minded individuals and organizations at the local level by supporting everything from homeless children in Dayton, OH to an English proficiency program for immigrants in Chicago IL. Foundation grants have also underwritten scores of advanced mathematics and science programs and camps for middle school students from South Central Los Angeles to Shreveport, LA.
One of our most unusual grants was to Yei Diocese in Sudan to provide room and board, tuition and fees for ten Sudanese orphan girls to attend boarding school. “I was kind of surprised because we rarely get grants from the United States,” said Father Damian Aduga, who applied for the grant. “Most of our grants come from Europe, so it was really something that the Foundation had gone outside of its scope to help in Africa.”
Because they support initiatives designed and implemented by individuals who know their community’s needs best, Community Assistance Awards help leverage funds in a manner that does the most good.
Previous Community Assistance Award recipients:
- AKA Money Camp for Kids (Milwaukee, WI)
- The Effect of Pharmacy Curriculum on Pharmacy Student Cultural Competence (Chicago, IL)
- Ivy AKAdemy Pearls of Wisdom (Tucson, AZ)
- Project EA-YA Economic Awareness - Youth Academy (Chino, CA)
- Legacy Scholars Program (Los Angeles, CA)
- Compassion Training & Awareness Center (Cleveland, OH)
- Sister 2 Sister (Lansing, MI)
- Ivy Fit Camp (Oklahoma City, OK)
- AKAdemy Mentoring Program (Topeka, KS)
- S.L.A.M. Students Loving Adventures in Math (Boston, MA)
- Project Spear (Salisbury, MD)
- Afterschool AKAdemy Economic Keys to Success (Baltimore, MD)
- GRO Summer KAMP (Jacksonville, FL)
- 21st Annual Black History Teleconference (Columbia, SC)
- RAPPERS Rural Area Program Promoting Educational Robotics and Science (Hot Springs, AR)
- Adopt-A-Stream (Petersburg, VA)
- Books for Belize (Belize, Central America)
- Celebrate Education (North Potomac, MD)
- Coahoma Junior College (Coahoma, MS)
- College of DuPage ACT-SO National Competition (Naperville, IL)
- French for Success (Atlanta, GA)
- Gamma Rho Omega Kamp and AKAdemy (Jacksonville, FL)
- Life with “I am Annie Mae” Historical & Self-Esteem Project (Pearland, TX)
- Pi Xi Omega Ivy Reading AKAdemy (Paterson, NJ)
- Power Light Outreach Ministries, Inc. (Ruston, LA)
- Reading is Fundamental (Toledo, OH)
- Rho Zeta Omega PIMS [Partners in Mathematics and Science Program] (Marietta, GA)
- RISE [Reading is So Essential] (Pomona, CA)
- Sphinx Preparatory Music Institute (Detroit, MI)
- University of Colorado Cancer Center (Denver, CO)
- Visual Voices-The Arts Through Culture Project (Tampa, FL)
- Yei Diocese Orphanage (Sudan, Africa)
Eligible projects must address one of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority’s economic program platforms.
Community Assistance Award applications (formerly known as Mini Grant), which are available on this site [click here], and supporting documents must be postmarked by August 15, 2008. Awards will be announced by December 2008.
Please return all applications and any required supporting documentation to:
AKA-EAF
5656 South Stony Island
Chicago, IL 60637
ATTN: Scholarship Application Enclosed
