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Supporting bright futures

May 23, 2019
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Stacey Riddick is going to be a doctor. Originally from Nashville, she’s a senior at Spelman College with ambitions of becoming a public health practitioner. She’s incredibly busy, balancing schoolwork with active volunteerism, working and a passion for photography. In her second-to-last semester, she had a gap in tuition as she was applying for her next step.

“Many people don’t know this, but if you have a gap, there is a hold on your account and you cannot send your transcripts. I was applying for a research fellowship at Harvard University and without this scholarship, I could not have done that,” Riddick said. Riddick was a recipient of a need-based, last-minute scholarship from the E. David and Linda C. Ballard Family Foundation Scholarship, which made all the difference. She’ll be heading to Harvard in the fall, and from there, into a bright future.

Makayla Stokes, an aspiring lawyer also in her senior year at Spelman, treasured the interview process for the Ballard Scholarship. “It wasn’t like a job interview, it was a conversation. The fact that the Ballards connected to me as a student first made an impact on me. It spoke volumes about who they are,” said Stokes. “We shared our stories – they learned about me, I learned about them.”


“We do not only gain an education while here, our character is built. We make a choice to change the world and our journey equips us with those skills.” – Makayla Stokes


“Someone sees a light in me. They said ‘she will do great things with an undergraduate degree.’ It inspired me to give back when I can.” – Stacey Riddick


This story was originally shared in our 2018 Annual Report. To read the full report, click here.