Name of Scholarship

Papitto Opportunity Connection Transform Rhode Island Scholarship

Eligibility

All BIPOC students in grades 9-12 in Rhode Island, must be enrolled in a public, private or parochial school or actively home-schooled.  Previous winners are NOT eligible to participate.

Residency

State of Rhode Island or enrolled in a Rhode Island public or private high school.

Award may be used

In connection with the expenses relating to a student’s education at an accredited two-or-four-year college/university or vocational/technical school in the United States of America and/or for other qualifying expenses such as tuition, housing and/or healthcare expenses.

Annual Awards

One $25,000 award
Two $15,000 awards
Two $10,000 awards

Five $5,000 awards

The awards are for one-year and are not renewable.

Application requirements

Applicants must answer the following question:

“If you were given $1,000,000 to better the lives of Rhode Island’s BIPOC communities either through education, job skills training, business, housing or healthcare, how would you do so?”

Students may submit either an essay of no more than 1,000 words or a video no longer than 3-minutes or a comparable multi-media presentation to answer the question. Essays or videos exceeding those limits will NOT be considered.

Note: The substance and creativity of an application will carry more weight with the judges than the writing style or video production skills of the applicant.

Deadlines & Fees

The application period is January 10, 2023, to April 7, 2023.The application deadline has been extended to Friday, April 7, 2023. All completed applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. On April 7.

There is NO fee to apply.

Notification date

Winners will be announced at a public event in May 2023. Details to come.

How to submit an application

Students may fill out an application and submit a written essay through our website. If you are submitting a video, please upload to YouTube and provide a link.

How will applications be judged?

Every application and accompanying essay/video/multi-media presentation that is submitted will be reviewed by members of the POC Advisory Board for originality, feasibility, and to ensure it aligns with the mission of POC.

The Advisory Board will then recommend the applications and essays/videos of six to ten finalists to a three-person panel of judges, including the managing trustee of the Papitto Opportunity Connection and two others not affiliated with the Papitto Opportunity Connection.

The three-person panel of judges will make the final selections and award the scholarships. The substance and creativity of an application will carry more weight with the judges than the writing style or video production skills of the applicant.

POC to Fund Winning Idea

Annually, the Papitto Opportunity Connection will commit to investing a minimum of $1,000,000 to bring the winning student’s idea to reality.

Contact Information

Papitto Opportunity Connection
100 Westminster Street, Suite 105
Providence, Rhode Island 02903
Tel: 401- 270- 1236
Email: info@pocfoundation.com