With the help of a major grant, the Issaquah, Wash.-based College Success Foundation has expanded its operations for the first time, into the D.C. region.
The nonprofit, aided by a $112 million grant announced last week by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has set up a 10-person outfit in the city, according to Herb Tillery, executive director of College Success Foundation’s D.C. office. Costco co-founder Bob Craves originally established the nonprofit.
The group’s mission will be twofold: to provide scholarships for students as part of a five-year mentoring program that follows them from high school to college and the Higher Education Readiness Opportunities program, which will fight drop-out rates for African-American males in grades eight to 10.
The foundation hopes to further expand its D.C. operations, Tillery said.
It’s a prospect that Tillery sees as realistic; the nonprofit’s home base in Issaquah started as a 10-person outfit and now employs 85 individuals.
The agency also is considering expanding further nationally, though not for some time.
“If we can rise to the challenges in D.C., we can rise to them anywhere,” Tillery said.
