LEVELTHEFIELDFUND.ORG
WELCOME TO
OUR MISSION
Level the Field Fund seeks to remove financial roadblocks from the path to graduation of
Black American college SENIORS.
It provides last-dollar grants when family support, financial aid, and other funding sources have been exhausted.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
- Nelson Mandela
WHY IS
LEVEL THE FIELD FUND
NEEDED?
Many Black American college students face the headwinds of financial insecurity, academic under-preparedness due to substandard K-12 education, family support obligations, and discrimination. Each year, despite overcoming these obstacles and having met academic requirements, a number of Black college seniors are unable to graduate due to relatively small outstanding tuition balances. Often the first in their families to attend college, they return home empty-handed, without the credential necessary to land a well-paying job, and with student debt they will struggle to repay. Level the Field Fund hopes to make this all too common scenario a rarity, by providing relatively small amounts of funding to help secure the degrees these students have worked for and deserve.
We have partnered with Howard University, in Washington, DC, and Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, both HBCUs, to identify deserving college seniors for Level the Field Fund grants.
Value of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
Historically, HBCUs served a vital function, since they were essentially the only colleges and universities open to Black Americans. Today they continue to benefit Black students thanks to lower tuition rates, a thriving community, and a high number of STEM graduates. They are committed to making sure their students successfully graduate college.
HBCU’s account for only 10% of all Black college graduates, yet boast 80% of Black judges, 70% of Black doctors, 40% of Black congresspeople, and 25% of all Black graduates in STEM fields. Further, according to the National Science Foundation, from 2002-2011, the top eight institutions where Black American Ph.D.s in science and engineering earned their bachelor’s degrees were all HBCUs.
The Generational Wealth Gap: Some Causes and Effects
Historical discrimination has stymied Black generational wealth accumulation and encouraged racial segregation. Many people are not fully aware of the scale, depth and persistence of this discrimination. The result is that there has not been anything close to equal opportunity for Black people to gain upward economic mobility.
Wealth accumulates over generations. Rarely, does each generation start from scratch. So all of the discriminatory practices discussed below multiplied over generations to prevent the upward mobility that other groups more easily realized.
Discrimination against people of color did not end with the Civil War, or after the civil rights movement, and continues today. Even after slavery ended, there have been practices, policies and laws that excluded many Black people from the same opportunities that other racial groups have more easily obtained.
Reconstruction Period
After the Civil War, the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution promised formerly enslaved people the rights and protections of citizenship. This period of Reconstruction allowed Black people to start to make gains educationally, economically, and politically.
Black Americans built schools and churches, voted, and built prosperous towns and neighborhoods. By way of example, between the end of the civil war and the mid 1870s, more than 1,500 Black men held public office at either the local or national level.
But these gains were not accepted by the southern states. White supremacists reacted by burning down schools and churches and destroying Black neighborhoods. Anti-Black violence broke out and federal troops were stationed throughout the South to protect Black American citizens.
In 1876, the Republican Party (then the party of Abraham Lincoln) nominated Rutherford B. Hayes to be president. Democrats (then the party of white supremacy) nominated Samuel Tilden. In one of the closest elections in U.S. history, Tilden won the popular contest, but the electoral votes of four states were in dispute. Neither side would concede. What followed was called the Compromise of 1877, in which the Democrats agreed to accept a Republican president if Northern troops were withdrawn from the South.
This allowed the southern states to reestablish a culture of white supremacy across the former Confederate states and beyond. The means were often brutal, including many thousands of lynchings and massacres and destruction of entire communities. Literacy tests, grandfather clauses and poll taxes were common and used to prevent Black citizens from voting. “Jim Crow” laws encouraged and enforced racial segregation for the next century.
Pre and Post-World War II
Discrimination against Black people was perpetrated by the federal government as well. When Franklin Roosevelt founded the Federal Housing Administration, the new lending practices increased the number of white people who could afford a down payment and buy a home. Home ownership is one of the fastest ways to build generational wealth, which in turn impacts opportunity. Black people were not given access to these lending practices, and so Black people were unable to take advantage of the opportunities given to white people. Moreover, Black neighborhoods were marked as not likely to appreciate in value, or redlined, effectively insuring that homes in those areas would be bad investments.
After World War II, the GI Bill was passed, providing benefits to returning veterans, such as co-signed and lower interest mortgage loans through the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as education and training. These benefits were not extended to Black people. Out of the 4.3 million home loans that were provided by the GI Bill, less than 1/10th of one percent of GI bill insured mortgages were to Black veterans. The GI bill allowed millions of white families to move into the middle class.
Because of redlining and the inability to acquire wealth, many Black families have been forced to live in low-income areas. With public schools in the US getting most of their funding from property taxes, schools in lower income neighborhoods are more poorly funded than schools in predominantly white neighborhoods, where people have been able to acquire generational wealth. The average nonwhite school district receives approximately $2,700 less per student in state and local revenues than a predominantly white school district. This lack of funding leads to increased class size, underpaid teachers, less technology and inferior physical facilities. This in turn leads to lower test scores, which in turn result in even less funding by state and local governments.
These discriminatory practices explain how the wealth gap between Black and white communities arose, and continued discrimination and inequitable distribution of resources remain pervasive problems today. At Level the Field Fund, we believe that education is a great leveler. With education, better employment, community building and societal contribution become possible.
Present Day
PAST
LEVEL THE FIELD FUND
RECIPIENTS
Recipient Testimonials
I am the youngest of two, with an older brother who is a senior at another HBCU. Having two children in college at the same time has placed a tremendous financial burden on my family, and I am grateful for the Level the Field Fund scholarship. I have enjoyed my experience at Howard University, and I am growing personally and intellectually. In fact, I have recently been blessed with the opportunity to work on Capitol Hill this semester. Your investment in me will go a long way, and I cannot thank you enough.
- Noah Thomas
I am a graduating senior majoring in accounting from Fort Hood, Texas. Being the first in my family to step foot on a college campus and now graduating is a deeply emotional achievement for me. I genuinely thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a part of this incredible journey, which has spanned ten years.
This accomplishment not only opens doors for my family, but also marks the beginning of a promising career. Your support has been instrumental in my success, and it means more to me than words can convey.
- Jhonicé Lewi
The financial support you have provided has not only been instrumental in facilitating my education but has also played a crucial role in allowing me to graduate on time. As a senior at Howard University pursuing a B.B.A. in Marketing, I have faced challenges in accessing opportunities that would aid in my graduation and secure funding. The Level the Field scholarship has been a beacon of support, offering me the means to navigate these challenges and successfully reach my academic goals.
Over the past four years, I have served as a self-employed brand marketing strategist for my company, The Girls’ Room. I am genuinely excited about the learning and growth opportunities that lie ahead, and I am committed to making the most of this scholarship to contribute to my field and community. Once again, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your belief in my potential and for making a significant difference in my educational journey. Thank you for investing in me and my future.
- Denee Stokes
I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your generous scholarship. I am grateful that I was selected as a scholarship recipient. Your donation gave me the chance to complete the last year of my undergraduate matriculation and fulfill one of my biggest accomplishments. As a first-generation college graduate, I encountered many struggles financially and it is scholarships like these that helped minimize that burden.
I encourage the foundation to continue donating and granting scholarships for students like me, and I hope to one day have the ability to help others and give back to my community.
- Camoy Pryce
Other Past Recipients
Jordy A. is a marketing major with a 4.0 GPA and was awarded $300 from Level the Field Fund to clear her remaining balance. Jordy has accepted a full-time job offer from Google.
Myra T. is a marketing major with a 3.33 GPA and was awarded $3,000 from Level the Field Fund to clear her remaining balance. Myra has accepted a full-time job offer from Evoqua Water Technologies.
Sherisa D. is a management major with a 3.09 GPA and was awarded $1,000 from Level the Field Fund to clear her remaining balance. Sherisa has accepted a full-time job offer from CMG Consulting.
Camila C. is an international business major with a 3.86 GPA and was awarded $1,000 from Level the Field Fund to clear her remaining balance. Camila has accepted a full-time job offer from Penfed Credit Union.
Samiah D. is a computer information systems major with a 3.40 GPA and was awarded $1,800 from Level the Field Fund to clear her remaining balance. Samiah has accepted a full-time job offer from Deloitte.
Sierra G. is a computer information systems major with a 3.20 GPA and was awarded $2,100 from Level the Field Fund to clear her remaining balance. Sierra has accepted a full-time job offer from Citibank.
Madisen S. is a marketing major with a 3.74 GPA and was awarded $1,500 from Level the Field Fund to clear her remaining balance. Madisen has accepted a full-time job offer.
Bianca B. is an accounting major with a 3.29 GPA and was awarded $800 from Level the Field Fund to clear her remaining balance. Bianca has accepted a full-time job offer.
Camoy P. is an accounting major with a 3.85 GPA and was awarded $3,500 from Level the Field Fund to clear her remaining balance. Camoy has accepted a full-time job offer from Apple Computer, Inc.
All of these students approached graduation with outstanding sums owed before they could receive their degrees on the order of a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. They had exhausted their available financial resources. Level the Field Fund stepped in to cover these expenses and secure degrees for these promising young people.
ABOUT US
Christie Worrell
Christie is a lawyer, a wife, a mother of two adult children, the daughter of a retired elementary school teacher, and a huge believer in the transformative power of education. She has a bachelor’s degree in English and American Literature from Brown University and a law degree from Harvard University. She has worked as an international corporate lawyer and a real estate investor and manager, and has recently written a children’s novel. She has served on the boards of directors of a public charter school in Washington, D.C., an international school in Switzerland, a Swiss foundation that benefits a Tanzanian charity and a political action group to promote voting by Americans living abroad. She has lived in England, Italy, Australia and Switzerland.
Karen Lipsey
Karen is the mother of four grown sons, whom she helped shepherd through the maze of higher education and where she observed firsthand the impact of even small, but timely, interventions on the success of that journey. She has worked as an intellectual property attorney, and organized fundraisers for a variety of organizations, including The Jane Goodall Institute, various public and private schools, and a number of political campaigns. She is currently serving on the Board of Directors as Treasurer of The Interplay Orchestra at Strathmore and as Secretary of The Iowa Condominium Association in DC. Karen has a bachelor’s degree in English and a law degree from the University of Florida.
CONTACT US
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MAKE A DONATION
Thank you for your
generous donation.
All donations to Level the Field Fund are tax deductible. All fundraising costs are paid by our co-founders. No one at Level the Field receives any compensation for their time or work.
For online donations, click the button below to be directed to our page at the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia, Level the Field Fund’s custodian.
Level the Field is a part of the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia which is a foundation of philanthropic funds and a 501(c)3 organization. It has the highest rankings for a non-profit organization including a Four Star Charity Rating from Charity Navigator and the GuideStar seal. A financial accounting statement is available upon request.
If you would like to avoid transaction fees, you can donate via check payable to the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia, with Level the Field Fund in the memo line, and mailed to:
Community Foundation for Northern Virginia
3201 Jermantown Road, Suite 660
Fairfax, VA 22030
EVENTS
Wine Tasting Fundraiser
On May 11, 2024 we held a wine tasting fundraiser generously hosted by Marilee and Lance Ransom. Thanks in part to a matching gift offer by a group of generous donors, we were able to raise over $21,000. Here are Christie and Karen’s remarks:
Webinar: Structural Racism: Historical Roots and Contemporary Impacts
This talk weaved data, primary sources, and abstract concepts into an engaging narrative on contemporary impacts of structural racism.
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