When Denaisha Lesley-Coburn crossed the stage at TD Garden in Spring 2018 to receive her bachelor’s degree from UMass Boston, she wore a white stole over her graduation gown that she had designed and special ordered.The lettering on the satin fabric read “Alray Scholar, Class of 2018.” Denaisha, this year’s recipient of our Sam Swidey Finish Line Fund Award, says she was so grateful for the support she received from her mentor and the entire Alray family that she wanted to share this affiliation with the world. We were so impressed with her idea that we will be providing Alray stoles to all our future grads.
As we marked the 10th anniversary of this organization in 2018, the total number of Alray graduates climbed to 38, with many more scholars on track to collect their degrees soon. New grads found different ways to show their appreciation. Right after earning his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University’s Extension School, Alray Scholar Filipe Zamborlini began mentoring a new scholar in the program. Same for Jamel Williamson, who graduated from Salem State University.
Continuing the pay-it-forward theme, our Board of Directors now includes Keyana Washington, an educator in Boston Public Schools and our first-ever Alray Scholars graduate. As we begin our second decade, we are working to expand the range of support we provide our scholars. We now offer all scholars personalized career counseling, and we’ve begun work to establish formalized Alray networking groups at several colleges in Greater Boston. We are immensely proud of all our scholars, and are thrilled to be there to cheer for them when they receive their degrees. Their success, which would not be possible without the generous support of our donors and volunteers, is what makes this work so meaningful.
