STUDENT LEADERSHIP NETWORK RECEIVES MOMENTOUS $7 MILLION GIFT FROM MACKENZIE SCOTT

NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Student Leadership Network (SL Network), a nonprofit dedicated to achieving equity in education by helping students in diverse, underserved communities nationwide gain access to higher education, today announces it has received a $7 million charitable gift from author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. This is the second-largest donation in the organization's 26-year history and comes at a time when SL Network is scaling its programs and services to impact more students nationwide.

This unrestricted contribution is a significant investment in SL Network's work supporting three critical endeavors:

• Enabling more students from underserved communities to access and achieve a college education, ultimately helping disrupt cycles of generational poverty
• Creating systemic change by equipping school districts across the country to employ SL Network's proven college access and success models
• Codifying and expanding the availability of excellent educational supports for girls and gender expansive youth to change the face of our country's leadership.

The organization's strong outcomes over the last two decades have allowed SL Network to expand its work and prioritize its growth, alumni support, Diversity Equity and Inclusion, and career development goals. This momentous contribution enables SL Network to accelerate its ability to scale its proven model and extend its best practices to build district and school-based capacity to prioritize post-secondary success for all students.

"We are so grateful for this generous donation," says Yolonda Marshall, CEO of Student Leadership Network. "It is a resounding endorsement of our mission and vision of a future without barriers to the educational opportunities all students deserve. Ms. Scott now joins our phenomenal staff, board, funders, partners, and champions who all have had a hand in growing our impact towards education equity."

"I have always believed that public education can be improved, but only if we offer students and parents choices and models that work," says Ann Rubenstein Tisch, Student Leadership Network Founder and President. "With this gift, more students will now have access to our programming and resources to help them fulfill their dreams and become leaders in their schools, communities, and nationwide."

Student Leadership Network empowers young people from underserved communities to access educational opportunities that prepare them to lead successful lives. SL Network impacts nearly 17,000 students at 29 New York public schools and 13 all-girls schools across the country through its three pillar programs:

• The Young Women's Leadership Schools (TYWLS), a high-performing network of all-girls NYC public schools;
• CollegeBound Initiative (CBI), a comprehensive college access program for young women and men; and
• Young Women's Leadership Network (YWLN), a national network of all-girls schools, including affiliate schools in California, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New York, and North Carolina.

SOURCE Student Leadership Network