Annexstad Family Foundation in the News

Kayvon Asemani Recognized as one of the Best and Brightest

University of Pennsylvania Leaders for Tomorrow scholar Kayvon Asemani has recently been selected as one of Poets & Quants’s 3rd annual “Best and Brightest Business Majors” from the class of 2018. Kayvon is featured amongst the top undergraduate business majors from 55 undergraduate business schools across the country. Inclusion on Poets & Quants’s “Best and Brightest” is a national introduction to America’s top business leaders.

During his time at Penn, Kayvon has had the opportunity to learn outside of the classroom in both the music industry and in the business world. As a hip-hop artist, Kayvon has built a brand while performing on campus and touring across the country. He has taken his talents to various internships across numerous fields including media & entertainment, investments, and consulting. And he has even found time to give back to the community by volunteering through the Financial Literacy Community Project. As for the near future, Kayvon will be heading to Silicon Valley accepting a position at Facebook following graduation this May.

See the full article on the Forbes website.

Higher Education is Truly a Great Equalizer

Annexstad Foundation Program Administrator Visits Scholars

Elin Wahman (front row, right), program administrator for the Annexstad Family Foundation, visited with UM Annexstad Scholars this fall to meet the freshmen scholars and hear from the upperclassmen about their progress, achievements and challenges. Pictured are (front row, left to right) Annexstad Scholar Cisco Santos of Southaven, Mississippi; Katie Morrison, UM development officer; Gloma Milner of Boaz, Alabama; and Wahman; (second row, left to right) John Samonds, associate dean of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College; Laurel Lee of Madison, Mississippi; and Tan Le of Gulfport, Mississippi; (back row, left to right) Rotavious Taper of Clarksdale, Mississippi, and David Pfaehler of Independence, Kentucky.

By Bill Dabney

Al and Cathy Annexstad, founders of the Annexstad Family Foundation, have long held an impassioned belief that exceptionally bright young people who have little or no means to go to college, and who have endured extraordinary hardship in their young lives, have great potential to one day become leaders in their chosen fields.

Students of high moral character, grit and intelligence are chosen to receive renewable scholarships with an objective of earning an undergraduate degree in four years. Leaders for Tomorrow scholars earn their undergraduate degrees as free from debt as possible.

Losing parents to untimely deaths in their youth, both Annexstads experienced the power of mentoring as their communities and families rallied around them in their formative years. The Annexstads’ deep, personal appreciation of how caring adults and an opportunity for higher education can influence a young person who has been impacted by hardship has led to over 750 scholarships being awarded across the nation since 2000.

“The University of Mississippi’s rich academic excellence and history of producing leaders in many fields is not only important for the state of Mississippi, but will ultimately produce future leaders for America,” Annexstad said. “Higher education is truly a great equalizer in life. It allows us as a nation to tap into a vast resource of desperately needed human capital. Equipping these talented scholars with world-class educations represents a significant investment in our nation’s future as they go on to make meaningful contributions to society.”

To date, the Annexstad Family Foundation has awarded 669 scholarships to students at 65 colleges and universities across the country, enabling 245 scholars to graduate. Additionally, 92 percent of Annexstad scholars graduate in four years.

University of Mississippi Foundation President Wendell Weakley said the Annexstads decided to award scholarships to UM students after accompanying their granddaughter on a campus visit.

“About a week after their visit, we got a call from the Annexstad Foundation saying they were interested in establishing a scholarship here,” Weakley said. “Al is truly the ideal philanthropist. He loves to give back when he knows it will make a difference.”

“Unfortunately, in America today far too many kids will not reach their God-given potential as contributing members of our society,” adds Tom Annexstad, Vice President and Director of Development. “While this is costly to them personally, it is likewise detrimental to our nation. The Annexstad Family Foundation is deeply committed to the notion that out of the ranks of exceptionally bright young people who have overcome immense hardship in life can emerge future leaders of America. Those young leaders begin to fully develop when they are given the opportunity for higher education.”

Indeed, the Annexstad Family Foundation is well on its way toward achieving Al and Cathy Annexstad’s goal of sending 1,000 young people to college. Most notably, the Annexstad Family Foundation proudly points to a nearly 90 percent graduation rate among scholarship recipients, an extraordinary achievement considering that the majority of Annexstad Scholars are first-generation college students.

Today, Annexstad graduates are successfully pursuing careers in medicine, business, science, engineering, law and other critical fields.

To view the original article, visit The University of Mississippi Foundation website

University of Pennsylvania Celebrates Annexstad Scholar Kayvon

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>On Penn’s campus, Kayvon is already well-known. A musician and entrepreneur, Kayvon is one of the stars of the This is Our Penn video and has thrilled Penn crowds for nearly four years with his performances. But on the evening of the Scholarship Celebration, attendees got the chance to know Kayvon a little bit better.

For years before coming to Penn, Kayvon had a dream of coming to the University. And not only for the chance to study among some of the most talented students and professors in the world, but to prove that Penn truly is a place where students from a diverse set of backgrounds can grow and thrive.

“Our backgrounds don’t have to dictate where we end up, but instead our perspectives make us uniquely positioned to add incredible value. And I knew that Penn had all the resources to allow its student to follow their dreams, and it provided the support necessary for kids who wouldn’t have been able to afford it otherwise, thanks to the many donors in the room today.”

Kayvon has taken a journey from Baltimore, Maryland to the Milton Hershey School and then to Penn. Once at Penn, there was no stopping him.

Kayvon has had the opportunity to learn from leaders in both the business world and the music industry. He’s performed on campus and across the country. Kayvon has interned at a media & entertainment company and a trust fund and he’s done consulting. And he has somehow even found time to give back to the community by volunteering through the Financial Literacy Community Project.

The sky is the limit for Kayvon, and his first stop after graduation will be Silicon Valley where he will be working at Facebook.

Kayvon concluded by talking about the power of investment. “But one very simple thing I have learned during my time at Wharton is the true definition of an investment. The donors and the university are making an investment in us, and we’re using that investment to create more value for ourselves, the university, and the surrounding community in return. We’ve turned our adversities into advantages.”

View original article at the University of Pennsylvania website

Scholarship Celebration at University of Pennsylvania

Penn’s scholarship celebrations provide an opportunity for Penn’s generous donors to undergraduate scholarships to meet and build connections with the extraordinary students that their philanthropy supports. Held each fall on the Penn campus and each spring in New York City, these events are headlined by President Amy Gutmann, George Weiss, W’65, HON’14, Trustee Emeritus and founding member of the Men and Women of Pennsylvania, and features two of Penn’s remarkable scholarship recipients who share their personal stories.

Fall 2017 Scholarship Celebration

Kayvon, W’18, Elijah, W’21, James, C’19, Michael, C’19, Brandon, C’18, Sylvia, C’20, Elin Wahman, and Yareqzy, C’20

Every November, our Undergraduate Named Scholarship community comes together on Penn’s campus for the Fall Scholarship Celebration. Nearly 600 alumni, students, friends, University leadership, and parents experienced together an inspiring evening on November 28 that celebrated the generosity of Penn’s scholarship supporters, and the extraordinary accomplishments of students who can study, grow, and thrive at Penn because of the power of financial aid.

Scholarship donors and students met with one another – some for the very first time and others enjoying the evening together after years of knowing one another – and sharing together the unique bond of a Penn scholarship. For both the donors and the students, undergraduate financial aid and their love for Penn has impacted their lives in a deep and meaningful way.

Penn’s John R. Rockwell Gymnasium felt electric as seniors Elizabeth, C’18, and Kayvon, W’18 (Leaders for Tomorrow Scholar) shared their powerful personal stories. At certain points in both of their lives it seemed that college might be out of their reach, but their grit and brilliance brought them to Penn and financial aid has helped them to shine here and take advantage of all that the University has to offer them.

The Fall Scholarship Celebration was hosted by President Amy Gutmann who also provided remarks during the evening, and used the occasion to announce a new Presidential Challenge Match for undergraduate financial aid.

The fall is always such a fitting time to come together on campus to celebrate the University of Pennsylvania and the alumni, friends, and students who make it so strong. As the largest university in the U.S. with a grant-based financial aid program, this is only made possible because of the generosity of scholarship donors and their shared commitment with Penn to educational accessibility.

View the original article on the University of Pennsylvania website

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