HDSF to suspend 3-on-3
Tournament in 2009.
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Upcoming Events

7th Mentoring Workshop
Saturday, April 25, 2009
2:00 - 5:00 pm
National Youth Service Day
Click here for more information.

11th Annual HDSF
Congressional Reception
Thursday, May 7, 2009
5:00 - 8:30 pm
The United States Capitol
The Mansfield Room
Register today to enjoy complimentary admission.

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HDSF Sponsors
EDS, an HP Company
(HDSF Founding Sponsor)
AOL/Time Warner
The Coca-Cola Company
Capitol File
Comcast Cable
DC Children and Youth
Investment Trust Corporation
Educational Direct
Freddie Mac Foundation
Friedman Billings Ramsey
Global Giving
Government of the
District of Columbia
Harry's Clarendon LLC
Hogan and Hartson LLP
The Leonsis Foundation
Bruce & Karen Levenson
McGettigan Foundation
The Princeton Review
Paul and Virginia Singh Foundation
Scion
Susie's Silent Friends

Click here to see the full list of HDSF sponsors

Visit us at HDSFtv .
Board of Directors
Ed Albert
Steve Boyd
Donella Brockington
Dan Cohen
Demetri Diavatis
Kathy Etemad Hollinger
Curt Gallagher
Chris Greene
Michael Hines
Shannon Hughs
Donald Jackson
Ernie Jarvis
Ernest Jenkins
Susie Kay
Jimmy Lynn
Susan Mooradian
John Richardson
Lamont Rooker
Frank Ross
Jerry Sachs
Dori Silverman
Dennis Stolkey
Curtis Symonds
Jim Tanner
Gary T. Williams
T. Clark Weymouth

Advisory Board
Reggie Aggarwal
Kevin Chavous
Bill Dvoranchik
Albert Edmonds
Mark Ein
Ari Fleischer
Marie Johns
Jonathan Ledecky
Bruce Levenson
Albert L. Lord
Patrick H. McGettigan
George Newstrom
Michael O'Neill
The Honorable Jack Reed (D-RI)
William Reeder
David Ruffin
Devin Schain
Paul Singh
Rodney Slater
John Veihmeyer
Lawrence Ward
Jerome Williams

Life's Tough Choices

As Alecia Winters sat in a conference room inside a downtown Washington, D.C. office building last October she couldn't escape the feeling of disbelief. Continue Reading
.

Career Exploration with Deloitte

Ask any working adult the keys to enjoying a successful career ... Continue Reading
.

11th Annual HDSF Congressional Reception

For more than a decade, HDSF has had an incredible impact on the Washington metro area, uniting Capitol Hill, local businesses, and community members towards a common goal of promoting higher education for hard working...
Continue Reading
.

A Night to Remember

A night out at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is always a great treat.
Continue Reading
.

Alumni Q&A with Earl Postellx

HDSF: How did you find out about HDSF?
Earl: I initially heard about HDSF through my cousin who completed the ...
Continue Reading
.

Island of Dreams

Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund (HDSF) would like to thank everyone who helped make Island of Dreams a success. This incredible event ... Continue Reading
.

Continued from above

Life's Tough Choices
There she was, a former "D student" who preferred skipping class and sleeping late to homework and study hall, sitting among 85 high school seniors each ready to join Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund's (HDSF) Empowerment Program, which would link her with a volunteer mentor. Together the newly formed pair would spend the coming months building a relationship that would help ease the arduous college application process.

For most high school seniors the thought of studying for the SAT, writing essays and completing an endless stream of applications and financial aid forms is enough to make their heads spin.

But Alecia, an 18-year-old senior at H.D. Woodson High School, was far from a typical teenager.

Alecia said her first introduction to hardship came at an early age as she gradually began to understand that the force behind her mother's absence was a substance abuse problem. Not having her mother around created emotional problems, Alecia said. She would grow bored with school and found homework useless.

By the time she entered high school she found herself skipping class more frequently. She said she never took time to give her future much thought. That all changed one day as she sat in her father's car stopped at a light. Looking out the car's window she saw a familiar looking figure whose presence had been absent from her life: her mother.

At that moment Alecia said all she could think about was the future and how the path she was traveling would lead to a dead end.

"I saw my mother walking the street in clothes similar to what I was wearing and I said I didn't want to end up like that," Alecia said. "My motivation was that I didn't want to be like that."

But turning her life around did not happen overnight.

Alecia said she started off trying to master the basics, like attending class daily and completing homework assignments. During the process she discovered she actually liked school and was capable of earning good grades.

Each year, from her freshman year through her junior year, Alecia's grades steadily rose.

"I put forth a lot of effort to make myself a better student," Alecia said. "My grades were terrible my first couple years of high school, mainly because I would run from things I didn't understand. I barely went to class and I just had to get it together."

By her senior year of high school she was thinking about college and looking to join HDSF's Empowerment Program. After the first semester of her senior year she had plenty to celebrate. She'd made the honor roll for the first time ever and attending college was a reality and no longer a dream.

Academically things were going well. But her personal life was in shambles. Her father, the one constant figure in her life, had been diagnosed with liver disease and his health was declining fast.

Alecia, who had worked so hard to turn her grades around, had to juggle her schoolwork with caring for her ailing father.

"I had to grow up faster than I wanted to," she said of her situation.

A few days before Thanksgiving 2008, Alecia's father died.

In the weeks after her father's death, Alecia said the pain of losing her father consumed her. She began to drift back into her old habits of cutting class and not completing homework. But that was the old Alecia. The new Alecia, she decided, needed to step up to the plate.

"I had to use school and Hoop Dreams to take my mind off of my situation," Alecia said. "If I didn't have those things I don't think I would have been encouraged to apply to college or continue trying to do better."

Tahira White, a Program Coordinator with HDSF, said she gains personal inspiration from Alecia's perseverance.

"Alecia has experienced so many traumatic things in her life, and yet she always manages to have a smile on her face," White said.

There is not a day that goes by where Alecia doesn't think about her father. She often wonders what he'd say about her being so close to graduating from high school and enrolling in college.

"When he died I was close to giving up but I couldn't," Alecia said. "I had to finish what I started and become the educated woman my dad wanted me to be."
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Career Exploration
Ask any working adult the keys to enjoying a successful career and you're sure to hear advice centered on working hard, minimizing mistakes and remaining at the office until your job is complete.

While these are all good keys to success one should never overlook the power of successful networking.

On Wednesday, March 18, 2009, about 30 students, currently enrolled in Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund's Empowerment Program were treated to a Career Exploration Workshop hosted by leaders at Deloitte's Washington, D.C. offices. The special gathering was organized by Ray'Shawn Elliott and Carla Cunningham, both Deloitte employees and HDSF mentors.

The luncheon featured Stanley Porter, Managing Director at Deloitte and a distinguished panel of employees from the firm's diversity program. The panelists provided the HDSF students with a breakdown of their respective job duties and what qualifications allowed them to be considered for their positions. Students were taught the difference between merely knowing an individual and actively building a relationship with someone that could serve as a future career network to tap into.

HDSF would like to thank Carla and Ray'Shawn and the distinguished members of the Career Exploration Panel: Clarence Chase, Dimitrius Hutcherson, Kimberly Leonard and Tamara Williams.
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Join us for the 11th Annual HDSF Congressional Reception
Join members of Congress, local elected officials, business leaders and many others on May 7, 2009 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. as we celebrate the academic and career achievements of Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund scholars.

The reception is presented by The Coca-Cola Company and will be held inside the Mike Mansfield Room of the United States Capitol. Register today for complimentary admission.
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A Night to Remember
But on March 19, 2009 a group of young ladies, who are currently enrolled in Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund's Empowerment Program, enjoyed a spectacular celebration of global achievement during Vital Voices' 2009 Global Leadership Awards.

The tickets, which were donated by Vital Voices, allowed eight young HDSF scholars the opportunity to experience a great organization that is making a difference around the globe.

"Vital Voices Global Partnership is an extraordinary program that believes in the power of women, young and old all across the world," said Vivian Williams, a senior at H.D. Woodson High School. "This amazing ceremony reassured me that I can and will achieve great things with the help and support of my community."

Vital Voices Global Partnership is a leading non-governmental organization that works to identify, train and empower emerging women leaders and social entrepreneurs around the globe, enabling them to create a better world.

A few of the honorees during the 2009 Global Leadership Awards ceremony were Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sadiqa Basiri Saleem, who founded a learning center in Afghanistan to help provide uniforms, supplies and funding for young girls to study in an abandoned mosque, and Somaly Mam, a Cambodian woman, who founded an organization that uses holistic victim services and sustained mentorship to rescue, rehabilitate and reintegrate girls who are forced into prostitution.

HDSF student Marlene Anderson said she drew strength from the many women honored during the awards ceremony.

"Vital Voices is an organization that truly taps into hidden potential by investing in women through education, much like Hoop Dreams invests in teens living in D.C. Both organizations understand the importance of improving the community," Marlene said.

"Not only has Hoop Dreams inspired me, but the organization has also given me opportunities to interact with other organizations and partnerships like Vital Voices, which further inspires me as a young female to better educate myself and pass that education on to others."

We here at Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund would like to thank Mary MacPherson and Vital Voices for providing our students with such a wonderful opportunity.
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Alumni Q&A with Earl Postell
HDSF: How did you find out about HDSF?
Earl: I initially heard about HDSF through my cousin who completed the program and told me how great it was.

HDSF: What compelled you to participate in HDSF?
Earl: I wanted to join HDSF because in addition to providing me with resources to pursue my dream of going to college, HDSF also hosts events to help me network and build lasting relationships with members of the local business and political community.

HDSF: Tell us a little more about your involvement with HDSF
Earl: In addition to being a member of Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund's Empowerment Program I also serve as a volunteer during HDSF monthly mentor workshops where I help with registration and serve as a back-up mentor.

HDSF: What are you currently up to?
Earl: I'm currently a sophomore majoring in management information systems at Prairie View A&M University. I am on track to graduate in December 2011.
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Island of Dreams
This incredible event would not have been possible without the support of the management team and employees at Harry's Tap Room.

Whether you purchased a ticket, encouraged a friend or co-worker to attend or donated your time as a volunteer we can't thank you enough.

HDSF has been able to continue helping students from Washington, D.C. public schools for nearly 14 years because of the generosity of so many caring individuals.

Island of Dreams was a special event because it allowed HDSF to showcase our crop of bright and hard working students, many of whom will become the first in their immediate families to attend college.

On behalf of the entire HDSF family, thank you for helping us further our mission of empowering students to reach their dreams of academic and career success.
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info@hoopdreams.org | www.hoopdreams.org