Twenty-five years ago, Florida’s low-income, academically qualified youth were given a unique chance to break the cycle of poverty and earn college degrees. It all started with a nonprofit program of mentoring and scholarship launched in 1995 by a former school guidance counselor. Called Take Stock in Children, the program, built on the experience of one counselor in one Florida county, had blanketed the state within six months. Founder Don Pemberton cites these key factors to explain the program’s breathtaking success: a) A board of directors with a shared vision and capacity to mentor the CEO; b) Early and enthusiastic buy-in by Florida corporations, including pro bono help from a global consulting firm; c) Local “ownership” and direction. But even that magical recipe for success misses the real secret sauce that made TSIC truly effective.
“As a guidance counselor,” Pemberton explains, “I saw time and time again what an impact a caring adult could make in the life of a child by providing personal support and career guidance. I also saw the tangible hope that a college scholarship gives to children who never felt they had a pathway to college. These core elements - scholarships and mentors along with the engagement of trained student advocates - seemed to provide a means for young people to achieve their dreams of a better future.”
The Value of Tangible Hope
TSIC Founder Don Pemberton with the org’s first Chief Operating Officer, Marcus Christian, and an early TSIC grad
And so the promise - right up front - of a college scholarship, offered in middle school! A Florida child facing daunting obstacles that might make academic success most improbable was promised, at age 12 or 13, a college scholarship, the “tangible hope” mentioned above. Pemberton explains, “We felt that the scholarships should be awarded while the students were in middle school or ninth grade so that they and their parents would know that, if the children worked hard, maintained good grades and exhibited good behavior, their college scholarship was guaranteed. This was not an empty promise of ‘work hard and something good will happen down the road.’ We quickly saw what a difference this type of commitment made in the students’ self-concepts as they realized they had a ticket to the American Dream if they continued to do their part.”
Paige Hamm, a graduate of University of North Florida, received that good news when she was just an eighth grader in Clay County. "Receiving that scholarship made me feel worthy, made college seem like a possibility for me, showed me that others’ believed I could make it there. It kept me focused through junior and senior high school. It provided a mentor that became such an important aspect of my stability. Right from the start, I felt like I’d been given a golden ticket to a better life - and I had."
Pemberton says he and his board were confident from the start that they’d got the right combination, but they didn’t know how well it would scale. “We envisioned franchising the program to local community and educational organizations that would make Take Stock in Children locally operated by each community - a network of organizations across Florida working in unison to support the young people in their respective communities.”
The fact that such a nonprofit educational program for middle- and high-schoolers would take root across Florida within six months was astounding. But, as Pemberton explains, the engine behind that instant scaling was even more surprising: the rapid and enthusiastic buy-in of Florida’s for-profit businesses statewide. “Florida's top companies quickly came on board and championed the program by providing funding and by encouraging their employees to volunteer as mentors,” Pemberton said. “And non-profit entities in each county signed on to be the program's lead agency in their communities. State government provided matching funding for scholarships and student advocacy. In other words, a statewide (but locally run) public-private partnership was born - a partnership that has thrived for more than two decades! The tipping point was seeing this partnership come to life.”
Local Ownership was Key
Pemberton goes on to explain the vital role of grassroots involvement in building the program. “The most affirming surprise was to see how each community embraced and owned the program as a powerful way to help young people in their own communities. We were also blown away by the engagement of mentors across Florida. They became the backbone of the program. We also were deeply moved by the visible changes we saw in the students and their families.”
Paige Hamm explains the value of mentorship in her own school: "It would have been nearly impossible for me to find a way to meet with my mentor, but meeting with her at school was perfect. I was able to share everything that had gone on during the week, talk through difficult decisions that come with navigating high school and getting into college, and to simply just be friends - sharing my art and poetry and my dreams for the future."
Despite that affirmation TSIC has certainly faced existential threats in its 25-year history. Changes in state leadership have threatened to erode matching funds. Loss of some sponsors and changes in local lead agencies have occasionally been worrisome. Yet, each time that potential threats appeared, Pemberton says, “local communities banded together to ensure the survival of the program, and Take Stock in Children actually emerged stronger.”
Allowing those local communities to exercise authentic ownership - allowing the vision to morph over time - has been critical to the nonprofit’s long-term success. Local lead community organizations are encouraged to innovate and improve on the core program. In Monroe County (Key West), for example, local philanthropists added many new elements, including a summer study-abroad program. Other programs have developed powerful new ways to recruit mentors or engage parents or improve program effectiveness. “These innovations are shared throughout the Take Stock in Children network and help ensure that the program is constantly improved,” Pemberton says. “It’s that ever-developing vision that keeps the program thriving.”
The Success Story Grows and Continues
So, where is this unique program twenty-five years later? Current CEO Jillian Hasner provides this update: “As a result of Take Stock’s statewide affiliate network, mentors, students, business leaders, education experts, and other public and private partners, the program has grown to serve 15,000 students each year, with 8,600 of these students in middle and high school, and 6,000 post-secondary undergraduates served through the newly created Take Stock in College initiative. Our scholars continue to demonstrate remarkable success, including these facts:
97% graduate high school on time.
94% enter post-secondary education.
68% complete post-secondary education and earn degrees, compared to the state average of 27% for at-risk students in poverty.”
Hasner sums up the current level of success for TSIC: “The hallmark of our success is the program’s 45 Take Stock affiliates serving students across Florida along with our 10,734 mentors who have donated over 2.5 million mentor hours, ensuring our students have access to resources to succeed.
So, going back to those very early days, was there any magic at the very outset that started Take Stock on this road to long-term success? Pemberton humbly acknowledges that it was not “all him” by any means. “Early on, we received the pro bono engagement of a prominent global consulting firm that helped us to develop a business plan, timelines, marketing and communication strategies and measurable outcomes. We had a clear path forward and could demonstrate the seriousness of this venture. And very importantly, I was privileged to have been mentored by several highly successful board members, each of whom taught me lessons about making the program inclusive, transparent and community owned.”
CEO Jillian Hasner opens the welcome reception at TSIC’s 25th anniversary celebration in Tallahassee
Pemberton’s insight, twenty-five years after founding this successful nonprofit, centers on his role as “a shepherd to a powerful vision, a vision that kept expanding and developing as more people and organizations joined the effort. I learned that it was now a collective vision, owned by all who were engaged in the program.” That, he says, has been fundamental to the growing success and significant impact of Take Stock in Children. Hasner, for her part is, “looking ahead to our next 25 years of innovating and educating to ensure Florida’s deserving students have every opportunity to be successful in college, career and life.”
