President’s Message
Dear Kids’ Chance Supporters, Colleagues and Friends,
The 2017 Kids’ Chance of America Annual Meeting celebrated ten years for the national organization!
In the last ten years, we’ve come a long way toward reaching our goal of a Kids’ Chance presence in every state. While we continue to provide guidance and support to new states, we are also taking a more active role in providing non-profit best practices to help our member states achieve their objectives, thereby as a community, we are more likely to produce “More Money for More Kids!”
In 2007, there were 15 Kids’ Chance state organizations. Currently, we have 39, with 7 additional states in the forming stages giving us a presence in 46 of the 50 states!
Growth begins with the leadership, and we are actively developing the board by strategically recruiting members that can help us reach more students across the country. The board will remain diligent, focused and engaged throughout the year as we work towards our common goals. In addition, we depend upon the strategic direction of the industry leaders represented on our Advisory Board and capitalize on the expertise of our national partners to grow the organization in key areas such as scholarship and finance.
The Kids’ Chance of America Advisory Board is comprised of 14 national industry leaders that meet bi-annually with the leadership of the organization.
Of course, the hard work and commitment displayed within the Kids’ Chance community is focused on our students. We aim to enhance the scholarship program and provide more opportunities to engage our students, and their families. Through our Planning for the Future initiative, and the development of scholarship guidelines and best practices, we hope to help grow the state scholarship programs in both applicants and funding, a goal we all share.
Cumulatively, since the inception of Kids’ Chance, we have awarded nationally over 6,000 scholarships totaling $18,000,000!
We are just around the corner from the launch of our third annual Kids’ Chance Awareness Week on November 13, 2017. Let’s maintain our momentum and raise the bar even higher by having a button displayed on every state and Partner website. Please download the 2017 Awareness Week button today and join us in celebrating Kids’ Chance Awareness Week.
Bob Clyatt had a dream.; That dream was to provide financial assistance to the children of injured workers so that they could consider pursuing a college or technical education.; Kids’ Chance was the result of that dream, and we owe much of our success to Bob’s passion and perseverance. At the 2017 Annual Meeting, we were honored to present Bob Clyatt with the first annual Distinguished Service Award now named in his honor. As we continue our work together, let’s remember the ideals under which Bob created this organization and keep the journey moving forward!
John Goldwater
President
Kids’ Chance of America