The City of Topeka is a semi-finalist for a $50,000 Gen2Gen Encore Prize. The prize is awarded to an organization that comes up with an innovative solution that will tap into the talent of people over the age of fifty to partner with youth and help them thrive. Out of 110 applicants, the City of Topeka is one of 25 to make the semi-finals.
The City of Topeka needs your help to become a finalist. Our project is a program to partner people over fifty as mentors to youth in Highland Park High School, and help them to achieve their goals after high school, whether that is college, technical school or starting their own business. The program will provide ACT prep, financial literacy courses, college application fees, and college visits. The youth and mentors will also participate in a community service project. If the City of Topeka is awarded the prize, this program will be a pilot program, which we hope to expand to the other USD 501 schools in Topeka.
“We are excited to partner with USD 501 and Highland Park High School to help students achieve their dreams after high school,” said Monique Glaude’, Division Director of Community Engagement for the City of Topeka. “Pairing youth with experienced members of our community can help bridge the age gap and connect people across generations.”
In order to make the finals a public voting campaign is put on from September 12th – 25th. The semi-finalist with the most votes is automatically a finalist and awarded $10,000. The finalists will all pitch their projects in Los Angeles where the winner will win the $50,000 prize.
Everyone is allowed to vote once a day during the public voting period. Please help our project and vote here: https://bit.ly/TopekaCommonUnity
Encore is a non-profit organthat works to leverage the skills and talents of adults over the age of fifty to improve communities. The Generation to Generation program for Encore is a campaign to mobilize adults over fifty to improve the prospects of children and youth. Find out more about Encore here: https://encore.org/