The Posse Foundation is a national

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that partners with select colleges and universities in the United States to provide student scholarships and leadership training. Posse connects a network of more than 10,000 scholars and alumni.

History

Posse was founded in 1989, first partnering with

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

. After initially recruiting students solely from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the program has expanded to serve students from more than 20 U.S. cities.Posse: Mission and History
/ref> The Posse Foundation's founder,

Deborah Bial Deborah Bial (born 1965) is an education strategist, the founder and president of the Posse Foundation and a trustee of Brandeis University. Bial is known for the concept of her foundation, which is to send groups of around ten students to collab ...

, received the MacArthur "Genius" Grant in 2007 for her work with Posse. In March 2010, the Posse Foundation was one of ten organizations chosen by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

to receive a portion of his $1.4 million

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

award money. In 2021, Posse announced the launch of the Posse Arts Program, a new initiative committed to supporting cohorts of students in the creative arts, conceived in collaboration with

Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, playwright and filmmaker. He is known for creating the Broadway musicals ''Hamilton'' (2015) and ''In the Heights'' (2005), and the soundtracks for the Disney animate ...

, Luis A. Miranda Jr. and the Miranda Family Fund. Despite much press on launching the Posse Veterans Program, all the original universities chose to end their relationship with the Posse Foundation. Posse proved unable to recruit veterans and had major difficulties running the program once on campus. At Vassar, due to Posse's inflexible program, the veterans launched their own support program called Vassar Veterans One posse veteran recruited by Posse brazenly claimed the Alt-Right and wrote racist polemics at the student newspaper. Despite these failures for the veteran community, the board of trustees has doubled the CEO, Debbie Bial's salary since the launch of the veterans program.

Partner colleges

Posse has partnered with mix of

research universities A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...

, arts conservatories, and

liberal arts colleges A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences. Such colleges aim to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual ca ...

that each commit to recruit Posse Scholar cohorts from dedicated regions in the U.S. The organization currently partners with 64 U.S. colleges and universities.

Awards and grants

In 2013,

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

awarded Posse a Global Impact Award with a $1.2 million grant to launch the organization's Posse Veterans Program, an initiative to support post-9/11 U.S. veterans in higher education and beyond. In June 2020,

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

selected Posse for a $350,000 grant, part of the media company's commitment to donate $5 million to organizations creating opportunities for Black creators, Black youth, and Black-owned businesses. In December 2020, Posse received a $10 million gift from writer and philanthropist

MacKenzie Scott MacKenzie Scott ('' née'' Tuttle, formerly Bezos; April 7, 1970) is an American novelist and philanthropist. As of September 2022, she has a net worth of US$33.4 billion, owing to a 4% stake in Amazon, the company founded by her ex-husband J ...

Notable alumni

Rana Abdelhamid Rana Abdelhamid (Arabic: رنا عبد الحميد; born May 6, 1993) is an American political candidate and activist. She lives in Queens, New York. Abdelhamid is also the founder of Hijabis of New York and the Women's Initiative for Self Em ...

, former congressional candidate, founder of Malikah –

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...

Posse alumna *

Koby Altman Koby Altman (born September 16, 1982) is the President of Basketball Operations of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Early life Altman was raised in Brooklyn, New York. Altman received his bachelor's degree at ...

, President of Basketball Operations,

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

(

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

) –

Posse alumnus * Shirley Collado, CEO, College Track,

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and go ...

President Emeritus –

Posse alumna *DIXSON, musician and songwriter (2022

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominee, ''

Be Alive "Be Alive" is a song by American singer and songwriter Beyoncé. It was written and produced by Beyoncé and DIXSON for the 2021 biographical drama film '' King Richard''. It was released on November 12, 2021, through Parkwood Entertainment. T ...

'') –

College of Wooster The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio. Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian Church as the University of Wooster, it has been officially non-sectarian since 1969 when ownership ties with the Presbyterian Church ...

Posse alumnus *Eboni Freeman, television writer, ''

This Is Us ''This Is Us'' is an American family drama television series that aired on NBC from September 20, 2016, to May 24, 2022. The series follows the lives and families of two parents, and their three children, in several different time frames. It s ...

'' –

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Posse alumna *

Kameisha Jerae Hodge Kameisha Jerae Hodge (pronounced /kəmiːʃə dʒɛreɪ hɒdʒ/; born November 1, 1989) is an American writer, publisher, poet, and spoken word artist from Washington, D.C. She is the founder and CEO of Sovereign Noir Publications, a publishing ...

, writer –

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...

Posse alumna *Monique Nelson, chair and CEO, UniWorld Group, Inc. –

Posse alumna * Amanda Septimo,

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

member –

Posse alumna * Erica Spatz, professor and cardiologist,

Yale School of Medicine The Yale School of Medicine is the graduate medical school at Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1810 as the Medical Institution of Yale College and formally opened in 1813. The primary te ...

–

Posse alumna *Devin Walker, Director of Global Leadership and Social Impact,

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

Posse alumnus * Robin Wonsley,

Minneapolis City Council The Minneapolis City Council is the lawmaking body of Minneapolis. It consists of 13 members, elected from separate wards to four-year terms, via a ranked-choice method. The council structure has been in place since the 1950s. In recent elections ...

member –

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. Founded in 1866, it had 2,105 undergraduate students and 269 faculty members in fall 2016. The 200-acre main campus is between Northfield and the 800-acre Cowling ...

Posse alumna

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.possefoundation.org Organizations established in 1989 1989 establishments in New York (state) Non-profit organizations based in New York City University and college admissions