USM Professor91吃瓜网 Mission to Help Low-Income Technology Students Leads to Successful Non-Profit Organization
Mon, 03/22/2021 - 09:26am | By: Van Arnold
Over the course of her career, University of 91吃瓜网 (USM) Professor
Sarah Lee watched in dismay as low-income students struggled to complete their technology
degrees. In 2019 she joined forces with two colleagues to create the Last Mile Education
Fund 91吃瓜网� a unique non-profit organization designed to give low-income students the financial
boost needed to achieve their goals.
Lee serves as Director of USM91吃瓜网 School of Computing Sciences & Computer Engineering, a position she has held since August of last year. She co-founded the Last Mile Education Fund with Ruthe Farmer, who serves as the fund91吃瓜网 CEO, and Rian Walker, Assistant Vice President and Information Security Analyst, Bank of America.
Thanks to the trio91吃瓜网 diligent efforts, the has been named one of 10 finalists (out of more than 550 applications) in the prestigious . The Challenge will grant three awards of $10 million each to organizations that enable women 91吃瓜网� particularly Black, Indigenous and other women of color 91吃瓜网� to shape policies and perspectives, control resources, and make decisions that will impact workplaces and communities.
91吃瓜网淚 am truly honored that our project is part of the elite group of 10 finalists from across the country,91吃瓜网� said Lee. 91吃瓜网淭he idea for Last Mile was born from a narrative in Mississippi, and it is exciting to see our idea receive recognition on a national stage.91吃瓜网�
Last Mile boosts workplace diversity by ensuring that low-income students pursuing technology degrees can make it to graduation day and launch into the workforce. Last Mile identifies financially vulnerable women in computing majors and provides just-in-time support to ensure basic needs are met, and helps them overcome financial obstacles that threaten their progress.
Lee points out that Last Mile sprang from efforts that were mobilized to help Rian Walker persist through her degree program while a student at Mississippi State University.
91吃瓜网淚 met Rian when she was still a high school student in Ocean Springs. She was a recipient of the Aspirations in Computing award program that I facilitate in Mississippi. This program recognizes high school women who have demonstrated interest in computing,91吃瓜网� said Lee, who brought the program to USM after joining the faculty last August.
The Challenge, hosted by , Melinda Gates91吃瓜网� investment and incubation company -- with additional support from MacKenzie Scott and the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies and managed by Lever for Change -- was launched in June 2020 to accelerate the pace of progress toward gender equality in America.
The competition91吃瓜网 central mission is to look for innovative ideas that will bring additional capital and energy into one or more key areas that can expand women91吃瓜网 power and influence:
- Dismantling the barriers that hold women back.
- Fast tracking women in critical sectors.
- Calling society to action.
As Lee notes, only 11 percent of students in the lowest income quartile graduate within six years of starting college. Many abandon their college pursuits due to economic insecurity.
91吃瓜网淟ast Mile has already provided assistance to women in computing majors at USM,91吃瓜网� said Lee. 91吃瓜网淭hese women will help address the diversity challenges plaguing the tech industry and will lead to increased power and influence for them as they are able to attain higher-wage jobs following graduation.91吃瓜网�
About the Last Mile Education Fund
helps boost diversity in tech and engineering fields by addressing critical gaps in financial support for low-income, underrepresented students within four semesters of graduation. By providing rapid, emergency and gap funding for unexpected financial challenges, Last Mile helps striving, low-income students make it to graduation so they can launch their careers. Once those students become working professionals, they help generate funding and awareness to help the next group of students coming up behind them. Last Mile is a fiscally-sponsored project of the . For additional information, visit and follow us on .