Twelve years after being accepted into the Kaplan Educational Foundation (KEF)’s highly selective Kaplan Leadership Program, first-generation college student Nolvia Delgado will take the helm of the Foundation as its next leader: a living testament to the program’s mission of providing high-potential community college students with the opportunity to attend top four-year universities, and to become leaders in their professions and communities.
A graduate of Borough of Manhattan Community College (‘09) and Smith College (‘11), Delgado represents the talent that KEF’s nationally recognized Kaplan Leadership Program seeks to develop. The program helps high-potential, low-income community college students from underrepresented communities complete their associate’s degrees and successfully transfer to the nation’s most highly selective schools. Kaplan Scholars receive stipends for living expenses, extensive tutoring, academic advisement services, leadership and career training, and other resources and support to help them earn their four-year bachelor’s degrees, expand their personal goals, and eventually attain leadership roles in their professions and communities.
Delgado will take over for Nancy Lee Sànchez, who has accepted a role at Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society as Chief Opportunity Officer. As part of the transition, Sànchez will stay on with KEF through the spring, and will continue to stay engaged in the future.
“We at KEF are committed to ensuring that our Scholars have the preparation to lead in their communities and in their professions,” said Sànchez. “I believe that there is no better way to commit to your mission and to show confidence in its practices than to hire those you have trained and prepared for leadership. I always said that I hoped that one day a Kaplan Leadership Scholar would lead KEF, and that day has come. In passing the KEF torch to Nolvia, I know that she will take and carry forth its flame to support, guide, serve, and champion the goals and dreams of the next generation of Kaplan Leadership Scholars.”
Delgado said, “The Kaplan Educational Foundation changed my life. It broadened my perspective, taught me to dream big and equipped me with the leadership skills necessary to make this dream a reality. It is thanks to the Foundation that – as a first-generation native Spanish speaker – I’ve been able to be a voice for students and families across NYC, an advocate for refugees in London, and a bridge between the public, social, and private sectors. As a proud KLP alum, I’m excited to return home to the Foundation and lead the next generation of KLP scholars as they strive to achieve their big dreams.”
Since its inception in 2006, the Kaplan Leadership Program has helped more than 100 Scholars gain admission to the country’s most competitive schools, including Yale, Stanford, Brown, Amherst, Cornell, Mount Holyoke, Smith and many others. Eighty-seven percent of KLP scholars earn a bachelor’s degree. Today, Scholars are practicing law and medicine, conducting scientific research, serving in business, education and engineering, leading in government, and public and private industries.
Source: Businesswire
