Second Annual Transform Rhode Island Scholarship Empowers Students of Color to Create Real Change
Papitto Opportunity Connection will award $25,000 to the winning student and invest $1 million in to bringing their transformative idea to life.
At the the inaugural Transform RI Scholarship Awarding ceremony, from left to right: John Tarantino, Trustee, Papitto Opportunity Connection; Mariam Kaba, Woonsocket High Sophomore /TRIS winner; Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation; Angelica Infante-Green, Rhode Island Education Commissioner; Madjouma Diarrassouba, Miriam Kaba’s mom; and Barbara Papitto, Founder/Trustee, Papitto Opportunity Connection. Photograph by Kindall Brown.
Young citizens of color often face barriers when it comes to obtaining a higher education, acquiring access to healthcare or safe, affordable housing. Unfortunately, a majority of these issues are linked to finances. The nonprofit private foundation Papitto Opportunity Connection (POC) aims to knock these financial challenges down with their second annual Transform Rhode Island Scholarship (TRIS).
POC’s scholarship empowers high school students of color by providing them with the opportunity to use their voices and share their ideas to create a better community. When applying for the scholarship, high school students will be asked to detail how they would use $1 million to improve the lives of local BIPOC communities in terms of job skills training, business, housing, healthcare or criminal justice. And that $1 million isn’t all hypothetical: POC is committed to investing $1 million to make the winning idea a reality. The winning student will also earn a seat at the table and play a part in implementing the idea, plus a $25,000 scholarship. Nine additional TRIS finalists will also receive one-time scholarships between $5,000–25,000 which can be used for which can be used for education, housing, transportation or health care.
“Young people are energized, and they want to be heard, but oftentimes we don’t give them a voice. The Transform Rhode Island Scholarship provides a tremendous opportunity for Rhode Island’s young people of color to voice their ideas and create real change in their community,” says John A. Tarantino, POC Managing Trustee. “This scholarship will impact lives, both for the students who receive financial awards from TRIS, and for their communities.”
In 2022, Mariam Kaba, the daughter of West African immigrants and a student at the Career and Technical Center at Woonsocket High School, was the first-ever recipient of the TRIS. Her winning entry focused on improving Rhode Island’s Black, Indigenous and People of Color communities by developing a program that offers career exploration, financial literacy and mental health wellness opportunities for young people of color and restores communities through dedicated activities. Today, Kaba is working with POC and Leadership RI to bring her transformative idea to life.
“LRI is proud to work alongside Mariam and the design team in leading her vision for Woonsocket from an idea into reality,” says Michelle Carr, executive director of Leadership RI. “Mariam’s concept of ‘restoring the village’ is serving as a compass for our organization as our network of community leaders, including seventy-six current members, mobilize around her vision and passion for Woonsocket.”
Students who are hoping to follow in Kaba’s footsteps can present their $1 million solution by either writing an essay of no more than 1,000 words, producing a three-minute video or creating a comparable multimedia presentation. Applications will be judged based on creativity, if the idea is feasible and impactful, and if it aligns with the foundation’s mission to empower people of color in Rhode Island by creating success for them in business, education, healthcare, housing or job skills training. March 31, 2023. To submit an idea or learn more, visit pocfoundation.com/transformri.
RELATED ARTICLES
