On Saturday, August 27, women of all ages and athletic abilities will get on their bikes and take to the streets to help make the goals of low-income college students a reality.

What started as Colorado’s first women’s road ride and is now in its ninth year, Venus de Miles is a non-competitive ride offering a choice between 33-, 64- and 100-mile courses. The fun starts and ends at the Prospect Park in Longmont, and continues all along the course through Boulder County.

In 2015, more than 1,400 women participated and raised more than $46,000 for Greenhouse Scholars. We hope to exceed those marks this year.

“Venus de Miles is an exciting event that brings together women of all ages in the spirit of sisterhood and giving back to the community,” said Andrea Suponcic, Venus de Miles co-director. “The Scholars who benefit from Venus are exceptional students and leaders. It’s a real treat to see the women and the Scholars connect at Venus and celebrate their achievements together.”

With a relaxed and encouraging atmosphere, many women select Venus de Miles for their first large, organized bike ride, then return year after year with friends and family.

With women in mind, no detail is overlooked. The fully supported course will include rest stops featuring fresh and organic snacks and drinks, while medical, mechanical, and motivational support will be in full supply. At the finish line festival, riders will be treated to lunch from popular local food trucks, handcrafted cocktails, local beer, spa treatments, and a unique vendor expo. Venus de Miles is truly an unforgettable experience for all involved.

Volunteer opportunities for individuals and groups are still available. (Men are welcomed and encouraged to volunteer!)

Learn more about Venus de Miles and register here: www.venusdemiles.com/colorado/

To volunteer, visit: www.raceroster.com/events/2016/8146/venus-de-miles-colorado-2016/volunteer

Originally from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Meseret (Class of 2011) has a newfound mission as Program Director and co-founder of The Ethiopian Diaspora Fellowship (EDF): to connect Ethiopians living abroad with service and leadership opportunities back in Ethiopia. Through training, mentorship, service, and storytelling, fellows of the EDF become catalysts for growth and change in Ethiopia. The organization accepted its first class of five Fellows in 2015.

A Flex Funding grant from Greenhouse Scholars gave Meseret the chance to research the effectiveness of public health and health initiatives in Ethiopia. After earning her BA and BS, Meseret attended Regis University, where she received her MS in Biomedical Sciences. She then discovered her passion for teaching and mentoring students while serving as a faculty member at both Regis University and Red Rocks Community College. Today, she is a Ph.D student at The University of Denver, researching access to education for marginalized women in Ethiopia.

Launching EDF successfully required extensive surveys to understand community needs, as well as extensive research—skills she developed with Greenhouse Scholars. “I learned the importance of informational interviews and how to build relationships with professional liaisons through Greenhouse Scholars. This has helped me tremendously as a program director at EDF because I am constantly interacting with potential partners and donors.”

Stories like hers strengthen our resolve to continue providing support to incredible people—and students—like Meseret. To learn more about the Ethiopian Diaspora Fellowship, visit http://ethiopiandiasporafellowship.org/.

Greenhouse Scholars, an education based non-profit organization, has announced its Class of 2020. The 22 students from Colorado, Illinois, and Georgia join another 185 current Scholars and alums of the highly selective 4-year program.

Greenhouse Scholars is dedicated to cultivating leaders who will change low-income families and communities through a “Whole Person” approach which includes mentorship, peer support, internships, professional networking, leadership conferences, flex funding grants, and a tuition scholarship. With a 90% percent college graduation rate compared to the national average of 11% for low-income students, the program’s model of comprehensive support has proven successful, helping the Scholars make the most of their college experience so that they may serve as leaders and role models for others before and after graduation.

Greenhouse Scholars Class of 2020 by the numbers:
22 Scholars: Colorado – 9, Illinois – 9, Georgia – 4
Colorado Scholar hometowns: Aurora, Denver, and Glenwood Springs
Illinois Scholars hometowns: Aurora, Chicago, Loves Park, Waukegan
Georgia Scholars hometowns: Athens, Atlanta, Dutchtown

• 91% are first generation college students
• Average household income of $27,776
• Represent 11 ethnicities
• Average High School GPA of 3.9
• Will attend 18 notable universities including Colorado School of Mines, Georgia Institute of Technology, Occidental College, Pomona College, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Illinois, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University

“We are thrilled to welcome these exceptional students as Greenhouse Scholars,” said Pete Burridge, President and CEO of Greenhouse Scholars. “At a young age and with the odds often stacked against them, they have shown incredible character, leadership, relentlessness, and dedication to improve the lives of their families and others in their communities. We look forward to welcoming them into our community, helping them grow, and watching them achieve their potential.” While in many respects this year’s incoming class of Scholars parallels those that have come before them, the students have their own unique stories of relentlessness, drive, and passion. A sampling of their stories:

Arriving in the US from Ghana as a freshman in High School as a non-English speaker, one young man from Illinois rose above the bullying he endured to receive an A in AP English, take advanced STEM courses, become captain of the soccer team, and graduate in the top 5% of his class.

Raised by a hard-working single mother of three, at times a young man from Colorado had no place to call home but through a focus on education and positivity, he was elected Vice President of Student Government, captain of the basketball team, and President of his High School’s student tutoring program and will be the first in his family to go to college.

A young woman from Georgia with a passion for medicine became a Certified Nursing Assistant as a Junior in High School, organized mentoring and community service opportunities for her peers, was named Georgia’s Most Positive Athlete in Girls’ Tennis, and graduated in the top 3% of her class.

To be selected as a Greenhouse Scholar, each student must demonstrate exceptional academic performance, leadership, community service, and a financial need. The highly selective application process includes a written application, letters of recommendation, and an in-person interview with a committee of Greenhouse Scholars personnel and volunteers. Only eight percent of applicants were invited to join the Class of 2020.

A complete list of the incoming class of Greenhouse Scholars and their stories can be found here: Greenhouse Scholars Class of 2020

Greenhouse Scholars celebrated Glass Half Full, an annual culinary and cocktail party featuring live and silent auctions, on Thursday, April 21 at SPACE Gallery in Denver’s Santa Fe Art District. The philanthropic event raised funds to support the organization’s year-round programming for high-performing, under-resourced young leaders from Colorado.

Greenhouse Scholars, the sole beneficiary of the night, helps under-resourced, high performing young people reach their true potential as community leaders. These students have overcome challenges such as homelessness, poverty, violence, and other dire circumstances to be mentors, pioneers, researchers, activists, and advocates.

“Glass Half Full is a night for our community to enjoy wonderful local food and drink, and the company of friends old and new, while supporting truly inspirational young people who are creating positive change in their communities,” said Pete Burridge, Greenhouse Scholars Founder and CEO. “This night of generous support from our community allows Greenhouse Scholars to provide the critical personal, financial, and professional support these students need to reach their potential.”

The evening began with mingling among food and drink stations. Guests enjoyed delicious bites from area restaurants including Gozo and Interstate Kitchen & Bar. Beer, wine, and cocktails came courtesy of Breckenridge Distillery, Casa Noble Tequila, Colorado Sun’Shine, Great Divide Brewing Company, Leopold Bros., Tom Gore Vineyards, Vapor Distillery, and The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey.

Burridge, along with several current Scholars and Scholar alumni Jesus Hernandez ’15, shared brief remarks before the energetic live auction and appeal. The live and silent auctions featured such adventurous items as a Natural Habitat Adventures trip for two, a weeklong getaway to Steamboat Springs, Colorado Fighter Jet rides, a luxurious dining experience from Frasca Food & Wine, and a selection of fine wines and high-end spirits from Liquor Mart.

Greenhouse Scholars is proud to count several outstanding companies as sponsors of Glass Half Full including valedictorian sponsor FirstBank; summa cum laude sponsor Zayo Group; magna cum laude sponsors Digital Globe and Aerotek; and cum laude sponsor Greenhouse Partners.

Our Scholars seem to have no trouble answering every college student’s perennial question, “what should I do this summer?”. To make those decisions a reality for our Scholars, we are providing nearly $32,000 to 23 Scholars who were chosen to receive Flex Funding grants to complete a variety of community impact projects. The intent of our Flex Funding program is to provide Scholars the same opportunities to grow their leadership skills, gain valuable professional experience, and create lasting impact on others as their more affluent peers. Scholars interested in receiving a Flex Funding Grant must complete a thorough proposal, which is then reviewed by volunteers within our community. The process itself is highly competitive, and also helps develop Scholars’ proposal-writing skills. Here are some highlighted projects taking place this summer:

Jessica, Lewis and Clark College Class of 2017, will be spending five weeks in Cairo, Egypt working with a non-profit organization promoting teamwork skills to homeless youth in Egypt. Breaking the youth down into age groups, she will lead week long summer camps that focus on three key themes of teamwork: positive verbal communication strategies, leadership skills that promote awareness, decision making through inspiration and the setting of goals that are specific attainable and measurable. The goal of our project is to create an understanding of peace within Egyptian youth affected by poverty, homelessness and other forms of injustice. Her project also received a $10,000 grant from 100 Projects for Peace.

Shayan, University of Colorado at Boulder Class of 2018, will be researching a unique process for solar-initiated sea water desalinization at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland. He hopes that this research may lead to a process for water desalination that can be implemented on a large scale at a small cost.

Leeandra, University of Denver Class of 2017, will be conducting an independent art project titled, “On the Other Side of the Bars; Studying the Affects of Children Living with an Incarcerated Parent”. She plans to draw not only from her own experience but from several consecutive semesters of research on children living with an incarcerated parent, and to exhibit the resulting works to inspire others.

Martha, University of Illinois Class of 2019, will be creating an instructing an interactive curriculum to students in Lumbisi, Ecuador through a faculty-led service trip. She will have the opportunity to directly effect dozens of students learning in the areas of environmental studies, arts and culture, and sports and wellness.

Amadou, Stanford University Class of 2019, will be joining local medical professionals in Accra, Ghana at a historic Children’s hospital to study how they provide care in a resource-poor environment and how they overcome challenges such as the financial and structural constraints of the healthcare system itself and the social determinants that lead to illness in children.