About
The Posse Foundation identifies, recruits, and trains young leaders from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds and sends them in supportive multicultural teams — Posses — to top colleges and universities. Founded in New York City in 1989, the organization is built on the belief that the leaders of the 21st century should reflect the country's rich demographic mix, and that a small, diverse group of talented students carefully selected and trained can catalyze increased individual and community development.
Mission
Posse pursues three goals: to expand the pool from which top colleges and universities recruit outstanding young leaders from diverse backgrounds; to help these institutions build more welcoming, interactive campus environments; and to ensure that Posse Scholars persist in their academic studies, graduate, and take on leadership positions in the workforce.
What they do
Posse's model has four interconnected components:
- The Dynamic Assessment Process (DAP): a non-traditional admissions method run each September through December that identifies 10 students per partner institution using group and individual interviews.
- Pre-Collegiate Training: weekly two-hour workshops from January through August of scholars' senior year of high school, covering academic excellence, team building, cross-cultural communication, and leadership.
- The Campus Program: four years of support including quarterly staff visits, weekly mentor meetings during the first two years, and annual PossePlus Retreats exploring campus and social issues.
- The Career Program: internships, workshops, career coaching, graduate school affiliations, and an alumni network, supported by more than 250 Career Program partners.
History
Posse was founded in 1989 by Deborah Bial after a student told her, "I never would've dropped out of college if I'd had my posse with me." Vanderbilt University became the first partner, awarding scholarships to five students from New York City. Bial received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2007, and in 2010 President Barack Obama honored Posse with a portion of his Nobel Peace Prize award.
Scale and impact
- More than 15,000 Posse Scholars have been selected to date.
- Posse Scholars graduate at a rate of 90 percent, and 57 percent are first-generation college students.
- 63 partner colleges and universities award Posse Scholarships each year; since 1989, partner colleges have awarded more than 2.65 billion dollars in scholarships.
- Posse recruits from more than 20 U.S. cities plus Puerto Rico, with offices in 10 cities including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, and New York.
- Since 2001, Scholars and alumni have won more than 600 prestigious national fellowships.
Financials
According to IRS Form 990 data on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer for fiscal year 2024, The Posse Foundation reported total revenue of 32,627,666 dollars, total expenses of 32,006,552 dollars, total assets of 189,237,580 dollars, and net assets of 156,352,237 dollars.
Governance
The Posse Foundation Inc is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 13-3840394), tax-exempt since July 1996. Founder Deborah Bial serves as President.