SUCCESS STORIES:
Theresa Gatewood
I received my first scholarship from the Sachs Foundation as a senior at Manual High School in 2000. I went on to earn my undergraduate degree in Communications with a double minor in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Northern Colorado in 2004.
Soon after, I obtained my first job where I spent seven years at College Summit, supporting low-income students in crafting their post-secondary plans.
In 2007, I applied and received the graduate scholarship from the Sachs Foundation. I entered my graduate program at Colorado State University and earned a Master’s Degree in Organizational Performance and Change in December, 2009.
Today, I am the new Director for Educational Talent Search at the Community College of Denver.
Y.E. Scott
I was a recipient of an award from The Sachs Foundation in the amount of $1,000.00. One year later, I dropped out of college, got married, moved out of state and began a family.
As I raised my children, I continued my education. I received a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with Honors from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a Juris Doctorate from Creighton University School of Law in the top 20% of my class. I received gubernatorial appointments to the Juvenile Justice Advisory Board (Iowa) and the Colorado Parole Board and served in the legal departments of two states and have been an Administrative Law Judge. I am currently a Senior Assistant Attorney General for the State of Colorado.
It is my great pleasure to give back to the Foundation that had faith in me at the beginning. Additionally, I give back by donating time and energy to the First Tee of Denver as a member and Past-President of the Board of Directors, whose mission to use golf as a tool to educate kids academically, socially, and physically; a life member of the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice; Sam Cary Bar Association: and a Board of Director of the Center for Legal Inclusiveness. Thanks to the Sachs Foundation for your part in making it all possible.
Keith Harris
I'm one of the lucky ones...one who actually fell into good fortune. During my last year of high school I was approached in the hall by a school counselor who asked what my plans were for the future. I told him of my plans to go to college in which he replied, "With what money?". My life changed that day; for it was that very afternoon he provided me an application for a Sachs Foundation Scholarship. The result: a college education, a masters degree, and 23 years as an Air Force officer. And all made possible because the Sachs Foundation entrusted me with financial assistance and gave me an opportunity. The answer to my high school counselor's question was "I have no money."
The Foundation's goal of financially assisting, eligible Black Coloradoans who wish to further their education is noble. They have assisted in making a better life for thousands of young Americans, just like me, who might not have been able to achieve our potential without their assistance. One of my current personal goals is to give back to Sachs the time assistance, and energy that they gave me. It's true, what goes around, comes around.
Thomas Deon Warner
I was a recipient of the Sachs Foundation grant back in 1977 when I graduated from Harrison High School in Colorado Springs and attended the University of Colorado, Boulder. I then received a continuation of my scholarship when I attended Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C.
I wanted to let you know that I truly appreciated the financial assistance that the foundation provided for me. From that assistance, I have accomplished much, including graduating from law school ranked number 19 in my class, being selected as law clerk for a Federal District Court in the Southern District of Texas (I also received an offer to clerk for the Colorado Supreme Court which I turned down to clerk for the federal district court), I was hired by the third largest law firm in Houston, Texas, where I became the first African American Partner at the firm which was started in 1904 (my expertise was in corporate and securities law),
I was appointed by the governor of the State of Texas in 1991 to be a board member on the Texas State Securities Board (where I became chairman of the board – again the first African American - in 1995), and now I own my own corporate and securities law firm. All these accomplishments were made possible by your financial assistance. I now want to give back to the foundation. Please let me know how to contribute back to the foundation.
Marcia Jackson
“I have learned that success is to be measured, not so much by the position that one has reached in life, as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed” Booker T. WashingtonAs I reflect upon these words, I understand my measure of succeeding can also be attributed to persons who came into my life and contributed to my meaning and purpose while I too was searching for the ultimate answer of “Who am I?” Their commitment of energy and their insight helped me to understand how my values led to my passion to help others. In the capacity of helping anyone, I understood that I required an education, also to learn about others through humble means. Self-sacrifice and resilience is the beginning of my life’s journey to experience life other than myself. And so the offer of a lifetime was gifted to me in 1992 by my former supervisor; he informed me about the Sachs Foundation.
I was the last adult to receive the Sachs Foundation education scholarship. As I am one of many students, the Sachs Foundation Board members’ belief in me drew me out of obscure strife and economic difficulties by offering me successive education scholarships to education institutions of my choice, they are: the University of Southern Colorado, the University of Northern Colorado, and the Center for Creative Leadership, and the University of the Rockies. As of today, I am working in an internship toward the completion of my doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology by August 2011. From the Sachs Foundation’s endorsement and financial support, I was also gifted as their Research Director to co-develop a community assistance grant program for African American/Black clients in the Colorado Springs community for the past 9 years.
In honor of Mr. Sachs’ legacy and the Sachs Foundation Board Members who gifted me, which afforded me skills and opportunity to support my family, the Colorado Springs community, and the African American/Black community, I give back by volunteering as a board member for the Greenberg Center for Learning and Tolerance, and I volunteer for the American Heart Associations “Go Red for Women”. It is through my exposure and participation in the community that I too may hand the torch of opportunity from the Sachs Foundation to young men and women within the African American/Black community who aspire to a higher education.