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A dear colleague that I considered to be a mentor once told me something that has stuck with me over the years: “You can tell the true mission of an organization by looking at its balance sheet.” It made so much sense to me because financial resources are finite, mission-critical, and have a direct impact on results. This same colleague was also known to say, “No money, no mission!”

Here at Presidio Graduate School, this concept applies to our admissions scholarships. These scholarships are funded by the school, which means that our choices about how we allocate these resources really show what we value when it comes to advancing our mission of educating changemakers to help solve the world’s sustainability and social justice problems through systems thinking.

We have three admissions scholarships at PGS, and one of them was just instituted this year. We are quite proud of how these scholarships embody the values of our mission-driven school.

Representation Matters Scholarship

This scholarship is specifically for incoming students/new applicants who are members of the BIPOC community. Attracting a diverse student body is important to Presidio Graduate School not only because social justice is one foundation of our curriculum, but more importantly because equitable solutions cannot truly be created without equal representation. We believe careers in sustainable business and policy are in need of greater diversity. Our goal is to assist in filling the gap that currently exists within these areas.

Economic Access Scholarship

We’re all about igniting the passion of changemakers and empowering them to create impact at scale. To us, there’s no greater honor than to witness the transformation of our students into leaders capable of effecting sustained systemic change. To that end, we’re committed to our goal that no qualified students are turned away due to lack of funding. We encourage anyone feeling the financial stress of paying for higher education to apply for this scholarship.

Academic Leadership Scholarship

Solving the world’s unprecedented challenges in an era of disruption, uncertainty, and rapid business change requires a new brand of leadership. We’re proud to recognize selected students who embody our core values by demonstrating ethical leadership, an exceptional commitment to equity and inclusion, promotion of social justice, and a drive for sustainability. We award academic leadership scholarships to students with an exemplary academic track record and/or inspiring cases of leadership in their community or organization.

To learn more about these scholarships, or to discuss the mission and values of Presidio Graduate School, I am always available to have a conversation. Schedule time with me here if you would like to chat.

About the Author / Amanda Opperman

Amanda Opperman earned her PhD in Education with an emphasis in Social Justice from the Claremont Graduate University / San Diego State University joint doctoral program. She has been an adjunct faculty member at San Diego State University, California University of Management and Sciences, and Claremont Lincoln University. Amanda put herself through college by taking out too many student loans and by working as a telemarketer, a bartender, an ESL teacher, and a camp counselor. A San Diego native, Amanda moved to the Bay Area in 2017 and now calls the East Bay her home. She is the proud mom to her two fur babies, a black lab/collie mix named Nathan and a miniature schnauzer named Monster. When she is not working at PGS as our Associate Vice President of Admissions, she can be found binge-watching 90s TV shows and reading re-reading one of her all time favorites, Noam Chomsky's "On Anarchism."

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