Episode 14: Pocket Change Podcast
Leaders was founded by educators in 1957 and is very passionate about serving educators and students. On this episode of Pocket Change Podcast, Leigh Anne Bentley, president of the Leaders Education Foundation, gives us some insight into the heart of the foundation, which is to give back to students and teachers in West Tennessee.
"We wanted a way to make the credit union do bigger things in the community. And so we thought we’d start a foundation as a separate 501C3. We were able to partner with other companies, get donations and sponsorships, and make a bigger difference with the community as a whole," Leigh Anne Bentley said.
Summary
Leaders Education Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Leaders Credit Union in 2019, with a mission to give back to students and teachers in West Tennessee. The foundation offers several programs, including LEADS Grants, scholarships, and sponsorships.
LEADS Grants are $1,000 grants for educators who want to implement projects that will help their students learn, experience, advocate, dream, and serve. The foundation awards $20,000 in LEADS Grants each year. The LEADS Grants program is open to all educators in West Tennessee. Applications open on July 24 and the deadline to apply for a LEADS Grant is September 8.
The foundation also sponsors several educational programs, such as West Teach and the Imagination Library. The foundation also has college scholarship programs, which has two types. One is collegiate scholarships for graduating seniors and the other is Workforce Readiness Scholarships which are for anyone that is in a workforce readiness program as outlined in the application.
Key Takeaways
- Leaders Education Foundation’s mission is to give back to students and teachers in West Tennessee.
- LEADS grants is an acronym which stands for Learn, Experience, Advocate, Dream, and Serve. They are $1000 grants for educators who want to implement projects that will help their students.
- Applications for LEADS Grants open on July 24 and the deadline to apply is September 8.
- The foundation supports several organizations such as West Teach, READ Team, Jackson Arts Council, and the WOW Wagon.
To learn more about Leaders Education Foundation or to apply for a grant or scholarship, visit the foundation's website.
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Full Transcript
Shea:
Hey, this is Shea.
Mary Helen:
This is Mary Helen.
Shea:
Welcome to the Pocket Change podcast.
Mary Helen:
Where you'll learn better ways to spend, save, and invest and take control of your financial journey.
Shea:
So you may remember that Leaders Credit Union was founded by educators many years ago in 1957. And so Leaders Credit Union is very passionate about serving educators. You know, we love our teachers. They make a huge impact in our community. And so actually we founded Leaders Education Foundation in 2019 as a way to really give back even more to students and teachers in West Tennessee.
Mary Helen:
And I think that's awesome because like you said, it's another way to give back. And I really didn't know that much about it when I first started at Leaders. And I think one of the greatest parts about diving in deeper to a company or a foundation or whatever is really getting to hear the mission and vision behind it and why they do the things that they do.
Shea:
Yeah, many of our members may not know we have this foundation, so we're going to actually look at that in today's episode and talk to the foundation president and learn more about what they're doing in the community.
Mary Helen:
Let's get started. We are so excited to welcome you to the podcast. Leigh Anne Bentley, president of the Leaders Education Foundation. Thanks for being here.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
Well thanks for having me. I'm super excited to be here today.
Mary Helen:
So start off by telling us a little bit about yourself and more about Leaders Education Foundation.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
Absolutely. Well, as Shea mentioned earlier, our foundation started in 2019. And so we wanted a way to make the credit union do bigger things in the community. And so we thought we’d start a foundation as a separate 501C3. And so we were able to partner with other companies, get donations and sponsorships, and make a- really a bigger difference with the community as a whole.
Shea:
And it's really designed - so education foundation - really to give back to students and teachers in West Tennessee, not just Jackson, but all of West Tennessee.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
Absolutely.
Shea:
With the different programs. So we're excited to learn more about it. And one of the programs I think we heard about or will learn more about is Educator Grants. So can you tell us more about those?
Leigh Anne Bentley:
Yes, we actually have the LEADS Educator Grants, which is actually an acronym for LEADS, which is learn, experience, advocate, dream, and serve. And so we asked teachers to, if it can fill one of those needs, that we want to make sure we're doing that for the students and for them.
Mary Helen:
What I love about the LEADS Grant is that it's... the impact is so vast and so a LEADS Grant can go towards an initiative, a project, something in the classroom that then affects students, that then affects homes, that then affects the community. And so it is this trickle effect that is really cool to watch and be a part of. And like I said, it's just so vast and it goes deep into other people's lives.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
Well, it absolutely is. And I'll tell you from firsthand knowledge, my mother was a teacher. My grandmother was a teacher, aunts and uncles actually, both were teachers. And they actually spent a lot of money, of their own money, out of pocket to put programs together. So we want to do one thing to help them to take the projects that they wanted and take it to the next level.
And we've been able to do a lot of fun things with that. I mean, I've been very impressed with what the teachers have come up with because they are so creative and they want to do great things and sometimes they don't have the funding to do things. So they've been able to do programs like dissect a frog. They've had programs like for coding for Girls, they've had programs where we've actually helped an agriculture center with their pasture.
I mean, it's been such a variety of things that... reading programs, new seating for reading programs. So they're really creative and it's fun to see what they come up with, what they want to do and how they're able to take it to the next level for their students.
Mary Helen:
And it takes a special person to take an idea and-
Leigh Anne Bentley:
Well it does take the initiative on their part. I mean, because they have to apply for it, they create a video for it. They actually say, you know what they want to do, how will that impact students. And then we take that video and post it on social media and the community gets to vote on which ones they want to support and where does that money go.
And so we've been able to really take it and to expand it to a bigger level. We've done $20,000 per year in the last couple of years through the foundation, and we want to make sure we continue to do that and grow that through additional sponsorships and do additional avenues for the teachers.
Mary Helen:
So what platforms can they find our social media on?
Leigh Anne Bentley:
They can find them on Facebook. We're actually on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. But mostly our videos that they do for voting purposes is on Facebook. They can also find more information on leadersgives.org, which is our web address so they can kind of follow that, follow our social media, to make sure they learn more from all of those platforms.
Mary Helen:
And I definitely want to plug that in case people are interested in either seeing the initiatives or wanting another way to get involved. So we have some other initiatives and projects that Leaders Education Foundation is involved in. Can you name a couple of those?
Leigh Anne Bentley:
Absolutely.
We want to make sure, since we are an educator program, that we're providing funding for ones that are already out there. You know, we do work on some programs that we handle in house, but there are so many great education programs out there that we want to support and make sure they can go further. West Teach is one of them. It’s a program through UT Martin.
And so they take educators and teachers all throughout West Tennessee, and they go through the learning process. They learn what's happening in different counties; learn what's happening in different industries. They can take that back to their classroom. So we've been very proud to be part of West Teach. We've also worked with the Jackson Arts Council.
They created the Arts Box. We were able to give that to counselors through the different programs in Madison County and expanding outside of Madison County soon. A lot of time they've said, students are able to express themselves through art. And so that's one reason we wanted to make sure we're partnering with them. We've provided funding for the Imagination Library.
We're also a premier partner for the READ Team through United Way. So that's one that we have been committed to and give back to. The READ Team has two initiatives that we're very proud to support. They do such a great job finding volunteers, finding programs, finding tutors to go into the classrooms. So if you're looking for something to do and you want to be a tutor and go in to a classroom and help third graders learn, I encourage you to go the United Way website and learn how to sign up or the readteam.org website to find out more about that.
They also have the WOW Wagon. The WOW Wagon is “words on wheels”, and so they basically are a mobile library and provide free books to different communities. And so a lot of times they follow the RIFA bus. A lot of times, they do different programs, they're different parades, go to different neighborhoods, and provide free books to students and children of all ages.
So we're proud to support their initiatives. And those are a few things we've done.
Mary Helen:
Yeah, just a few.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
Just a few. Always looking for more and ways to help for sure.
Shea:
And not just in Jackson, but all of West Tennessee, because a lot of these initiatives expand outside of the area, which is great that the foundation is able to help students and teachers all throughout. So how can a teacher apply for a LEADS Grant?
Leigh Anne Bentley:
Oh, I'm glad you asked. It is very easy to apply. Everything is online - on our website. Again, leadersgives.org/grants and basically there’s an application there. They could read what the needs are. There's actually a video component which is great. And some people just use their iPhones to record something. Some people go all out and get mayors involved, students involved lots of fun, lots of fun graphics, etc. But it can be as simple or as detailed as you want it to be.
Shea:
But it is a lot better when, you know, a school or a group gets the kids involved, gets the school involved because, you know, that just brings more collaboration to it.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
Well, it really does and it actually brings... when it starts the voting period. I mean, when the whole school is involved and you can see your child up there and you can see your teacher and you know what the program is going for, it really kind of gets that school behind that program and it kind of helps push that grant out there, which is more likely to win if they have that.
Shea:
So take notes, teachers. If you're thinking about applying, that's a great way to do it. Get your school community involved in the grant video.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
Absolutely.
Shea:
So we've got... the foundation has $1,000 grants for educators and then there's also scholarship programs for students - supporting teachers and students. Tell us more about the scholarship programs through the foundation.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
We actually have two types of college scholarship programs. One of them are just collegiate scholarships for graduating seniors. So anyone who's graduating senior going off to an accredited college, we encourage you to go to our website again, keep up with that.
Shea:
And that’s leadersgives.org
Leigh Anne Bentley:
leadersgives.org. And so we want to make sure we're continuing doing that. And I think we’ve given away over $25,000 the last several years of collegiate scholarships. And our newest scholarship is Workforce Readiness Scholarships. There are a lot of great programs through TCAT and community colleges in West Tennessee, and we want to support the students who are attending those too. To be ready to go out in the workforce.
Ready to work, and be ready for these companies who are coming to town and already here. And so...
Shea:
They need workers. They are all hiring.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
They need skilled workers.
Mary Helen:
So we're talking a lot about scholarships. Who's eligible to apply for these scholarships?
Leigh Anne Bentley:
Well, the scholarships are eligible for any foundation member. And the great thing about it is it’s only a $10 membership fee. So it's very easy to join. You can do that again through our website - leadersgives.org. We can also make donations through the website and that way the money does go further and anything donated over $50 can be given in honor of or memory of someone.
Shea:
That even furthers the impact that you can give that way.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
It definitely furthers the impact. Anybody can join. There's not... you're not limited on that aspect. And so when you do join, we add you to our mailing lists. You can stay updated on when grants are available, when scholarships are available, maybe volunteer opportunities are available, like through the READ Team or see the programs that we are doing.
If people are looking for opportunities, they can stay updated by following us on social media and becoming a member. We can actually email you and let you know what's going on.
Shea:
So for the scholarships you have to be a member. There's collegiate scholarships for high school seniors and then Workforce Readiness scholarships. You don't necessarily have to be high school senior or just out of high school. Anyone that's in a workforce readiness program as outlined in the application.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
You just have to be enrolled.
They just have to be enrolled and show that they’re enrolled in school and they have their transcripts or registration. Yeah. And then they're good to go.
Shea:
So membership with Leaders Education Foundation. leadersgives.org. It's $10. Very easy and you're able to be a part of making an impact on students and teachers in West Tennessee.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
Absolutely.
Shea:
So remind us. Okay, we've got talked about scholarships. We talked about the educator grants and those are coming up very soon. So remind us about the LEADS Educator grants - how to apply, deadlines, things like that.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
The LEADS Educator grants, they will be coming up very soon. They’re for any educator in West Tennessee, you don't have to actually be a teacher. You have to be part of the school system.
Shea:
So that's public school, private school, colleges, anything like that?
Leigh Anne Bentley:
Absolutely. Any education program within Tennessee - West Tennessee, within our market area. And so we encourage anybody to do that. So we’ve had guidance counselors, we've had teachers, we've had people in different departments in colleges. Like you said, in high schools.
Shea:
Somebody could apply for the school as a whole. Maybe they want to do a school-wide initiative that impacts students. One person can apply, but it's a school-wide initiative, for instance.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
Absolutely. It'll actually open on July 24th. So as of July 24th, go ahead and mark your calendar so you can go ahead and get all the information. We'll have the information on our website so you can kind of see the criteria, see the information that you'll need. But then after July 24th, any time from that point until September 8th, you're able to submit. You can submit your video and your application.
Shea:
It's all online.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
It's all online. Everything is really simple. You can upload your video online and then at one point we will put all the videos on our social media on Facebook for the public to vote on.
Shea:
So the deadline you said... oop, well let's do opening July 24th deadline is...
Leigh Anne Bentley:
September 8th.
Shea:
September 8th. So that gives, you know, a good month and a few weeks to apply so they can get their script and their video together and create that and then upload that all online at leadersgives.org/grants. I believe that is the website.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
It is. And the great thing about it, about a month after that, after we have our winners, we actually even host a great little reception. You know, we give our awards out, they pick up their money and we're able to kind of see the teachers, meet the teachers firsthand and kind of hear from them. Sometimes they bring students with them.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
So it's really been great. We get to talk about the projects that were selected and some of the fun things that they're doing in the community.
Mary Helen:
Okay. So I've got a fun question! If you had some extra change in your pocket, pocket change, if you will, what would you spend it on?
Leigh Anne Bentley:
Oh, I guess I had to make a donation to the foundation. Since it is so easy to do online.
But in all seriousness, I really do encourage people to volunteer and to donate to the foundation. We have some opportunities to kind of help and be involved by becoming a member, but then by donating, you're able to make a contribution, make a difference in the organization. All of the staff that we have are all volunteer, our board of directors are volunteer.
And so none of the money that is donated or given through sponsorships are actually used for anything but the programs we've got going out, 95% of the money raised all goes towards programs which includes scholarships, grants, and then educational initiatives throughout the community.
Shea:
So it's a great way to make a bigger impact in the community to support students and teachers in West Tennessee.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
Absolutely. And we're so glad to be a part of that.
Shea:
Well, thank you for being here today.
Leigh Anne Bentley:
Well, thanks for having me. It was a lot of fun.
