By Elisabed Lejava for Investor.ge
In September 2023, AmCham Georgia and the McLain Association for Children Georgia (MAC Georgia) launched a new university scholarship program to offer students from low-income and disadvantaged families an opportunity to pursue higher education. With the generous support of AmCham member companies, the program offered 30 scholars four years of tuition payments as well as a stipend to help cover the cost of living.
In Georgia, financial hurdles too frequently derail the dreams of higher education for many talented students. This not only leaves them on the sidelines of opportunity, but also hurts the country’s broader economic development. To help address this issue, a new university scholarship program launched by AmCham Georgia and the McLain Association for Children, Georgia (MAC Georgia) at the start of the 2023-2024 academic year offered new educational opportunities for some of Georgia’s most underprivileged students.
The program identified 30 students in its first year and offered them financial support to pay their tuition and provide a modest living allowance. Using the government’s targeted social assistance evaluation system to identify those with significant financial need, the program, which was designed to account for both merit and need, offered its first-year students a wealth of opportunities – both inside and outside of the classroom.
The project was financed by AmCham members, while AmCham and MAC Georgia took the responsibility for recruitment, administration, and financial management. In the first year, supporters included TBC/TBC Leasing, Gulf, Bank of Georgia, Nutrimax, Hilton Batumi, GeoWel, Batumi International Container Terminal, BLB, Peri, Ronny’s Pizza and School of Progress.
Extracurricular Opportunities
While, for many students, the financial support was the main immediate benefit of the project, to go beyond just financial assistance to help students fund their studies, the program instituted a monthly check-in system for its first-year students. Scholarship holders met with AmCham and MAC Georgia representatives on a regular basis to discuss the general progression of their schoolwork and learn about upcoming events.
CEO of MAC Georgia Jeremy Gaskill says these informal discussions served as a great opportunity to get feedback from the participants and develop relationships with them to better assist them in taking full advantage of the opportunities offered by the program.
“It’s been a great year, and the program, I think, has been a real success,” Gaskill tells Investor.ge. “I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity of getting to know each of the scholars better, and am continually impressed by their motivation and enthusiasm. There’s a real sense of gratitude among them. They recognize the uniqueness of this gift, and it’s clear to me that they’re taking advantage of it!”
AmCham Executive Director George Welton echoes this sentiment. “I feel that the program has been more successful than I could have hoped for. The students are truly excellent, and the fact that we could raise so many scholarships in the first year was real evidence that Georgian business people want to help.”
In addition to regular financial support and regular check-ins, the program has also offered free English language instruction.
As the first academic year came to a close, the scholarship recipients also had the opportunity to meet with AmCham member companies and learn more about the work they do. In June, they visited TBC Bank headquarters, where they were welcomed by strategic leaders and had the chance to engage in a Q&A session, followed by a visit to an art exhibition by Georgian modern artist Koka Ramishvili. Following this, the students toured the manufacturing division of Nutrimax, where they learned about the production of animal and poultry feed. The program culminated with the scholarship holders participating in AmCham’s annual US Independence Day celebration, where they participated as volunteers and helped welcome more than 2,000 guests to the US Embassy to ring in the 4th of July.
Opportunities to Come
Looking ahead, both AmCham’s Welton and MAC Georgia’s Gaskill say they have high hopes for the program’s growth and future opportunities for the scholars. Welton says he would like to incorporate an internship program for second-year students starting this fall to offer valuable networking and hands-on experience, with the aim of building a range of support moving forward. “In the next few years, I want to see the program grow in terms of the numbers that we include and the ways in which we interact with the students.”
Gaskill shares similar aspirations, expressing gratitude to the sponsors whose generosity makes the program possible. “Currently, we’re able to sponsor 30 students. I hope that more companies will see the value of this initiative and that this number will continue to grow,” he says, noting that the program also plans to introduce English language tutoring and more professional development opportunities, based on scholar feedback.
Gaskill says one truly unique aspect of the program that he hopes to leverage more in the coming years is its ability to connect scholars with AmCham members. “AmCham has this incredible member network, and the idea of plugging our scholars into that and allowing them to gain skills, knowledge, and connections within their areas of interest is really exciting. It’s often as much who you know as what you know, and giving the scholars the opportunity to gain experience while building a network will, I believe, be invaluable.”
As for next year, Gaskill says that preparations for the next round of applications are already underway. “We’re already gearing up for the next round of applications, and are communicating with our partners and the Ministry of Education so that word gets out to the students with the most financial need. The number of new scholars that we can award is of course dictated by the number of new sponsorships, so we’ll be reaching out to AmCham’s members over the coming month so that everyone who wishes to make a difference by giving will have the opportunity to do so!”
“AmCham and MAC Georgia would like to express our deepest gratitude for the generous support of this year’s scholarship sponsors. This program would not be possible without you!”
By Elisabed Lejava for Investor.ge
