Bravo Programs of America Inc
Scholarships for Foster Youth
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Bravo Programs of America Inc
EIN: 46-2088518
as of October 2024
as of October 15, 2024
Programs and results
Reports and documents
Download annual reports Download other documentsWhat we aim to solve
Education leads to higher income potential and improved well-being. Yet it is well documented that foster youth are at increased risk of poor educational outcomes. So instead of looking forward to better job prospects and employability, foster youth are more likely than their non-foster peers to become involved with the criminal justice system, have or father a child, or experience homeless – all by age 21. They are much less likely to graduate from college – only 3% do. It wasn’t their misstep or bad decision that put foster kids in this position, yet they are the ones paying the price. Bravo Programs of America views post-secondary education as an essential part of a foster youth’s path to success, and we aim to support them in reaching their educational goals.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Scholarship Program
Bravo Programs of America's awards scholarships for tuition and books to aged out foster youth.
Buddy Program
The primary goal of our Buddy program is to help ensure our students get the support they need to stay in school and graduate. We pair each scholarship student with a Bravo Buddy who provides support, resources, and encouragement and helps us track the student’s graduation progress.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
Macomb County Chamber of Commerce 2024
Rotary Club of Mount Clemens 2017
Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of scholarships awarded to foster youth
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Students, Young adults, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Scholarship Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Total number of scholarships awarded to foster youth in our College and Vocational scholarship programs
Repeat Scholarship Awards for foster youth
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Students, Young adults, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Scholarship Program
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Number of scholarship awards that went to previous scholarship recipients. Bylaws were changed in 2017 to allow repeat scholarship awards.
College Graduation Rate for foster youth receiving scholarships
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Students, Young adults, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Scholarship Program
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
% of total number College scholarship recipients that complete a 4-year degree program. The National average for college graduation of foster youth is 3%
Total dollar amount of scholarship awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Students, Young adults
Related Program
Scholarship Program
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of scholars who graduate from four year colleges and university within six years
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people, Young adults, Students
Related Program
Scholarship Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Our cumulative graduation rate through 2021 is 53% compared to the national average 3% for foster youth to graduate.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
We invest in the post-secondary education of foster youth by awarding scholarships for tuition and books. Investing in their education will open doors so they can create their version of success.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The key strategy we employ is providing scholarships for tuition and books to eligible students enrolled in an accredited higher education institution and have a good academic record.
When awarding scholarships to college students, we give priority to juniors and seniors. From what we have seen, this is the time when students run out of their federal student aid funds. We aim to assist these students finish their education.
Secondarily, we run a Buddy program to help ensure our students get the support they need to stay in school and graduate.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We work closely with social workers at universities, community colleges, and other foster care related nonprofits for student referrals.
We rely on fundraisers, solicitations, grants, and donations from companies and private individuals to fund our scholarship program.
We solicit volunteers from the community to staff our Buddy program and support our fundraising activity.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Our Impact:
Our first scholarships were awarded for the Fall semester of 2014. Through the Winter semester 2023, we have awarded over $317,000 in scholarships to 89 students. Nationally, about 3% of foster care alumni earn a 4-year degree by age 26. We benchmark our performance against this metric. The following summarizes where Bravo scholarship recipients stand in reaching their educational goal as of the end of December 2023:
- 89 students served
- 169 scholarships awarded with a total value of $302k
- 42 students have graduated
- 36 students continue to work toward graduation
Our Return on Investment:
We are a fiscally responsible, all volunteer organization with very low overhead. We have a detailed application process that we believe is very effective in highlighting the most deserving students. We want to make every dollar we receive count. The following summarizes our financial performance as of the end of December 2021:
- 97% of funds received go directly to student education
- 53% of funds received have been invested in students who have reached their educational goals by age 26
- 35% of funds received have been invested in students who are track to graduate by age 26
- 12% of funds have gone to students who are no longer in school or did not graduate by age 26
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome
Financials
Financial documents
Download audited financialsRevenue vs. expenses: breakdown
Financial data
Bravo Programs of America Inc
Balance sheetFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
The balance sheet gives a snapshot of the financial health of an organization at a particular point in time. An organization's total assets should generally exceed its total liabilities, or it cannot survive long, but the types of assets and liabilities must also be considered. For instance, an organization's current assets (cash, receivables, securities, etc.) should be sufficient to cover its current liabilities (payables, deferred revenue, current year loan, and note payments). Otherwise, the organization may face solvency problems. On the other hand, an organization whose cash and equivalents greatly exceed its current liabilities might not be putting its money to best use.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Documents
President
Ms Julie Miller
Vice President / Founder
Ellen Lysik
Bravo Programs of America Inc
Officers, directors, trustees, and key employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
There are no highest paid employees recorded for this organization.
Bravo Programs of America Inc
Board of directorsas of 11/02/2024
Board of directors data
Ms Julie Miller
President
Term: 2023 -
Ellen Lysik
Gerald Filipek
Filipek & Co. LLC
Ellen Lysik
Rachel LaPointe
Mastery Technologies
Julie Miller
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 10/31/2024GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.