LaunchNW, a regional community initiative of Innovia Foundation, has secured $500,000 in matching scholarship dollars from the Washington State Legislature as part of the recently passed 2024 state operating budget. With the support of Senator Andy Billig, Representative Marcus Riccelli, Representative Timm Ormsby and Representative Suzanne Schmidt during this legislative session, a budget proviso of $250,000 was put forth to match LaunchNW’s 2024-2025 anticipated expenditure. Legislative support for this proviso surpassed expectations, doubling the original request to $500,000 to benefit high school seniors in Eastern Washington this spring.
Funding from the scholarship match will open educational opportunities for students residing in Spokane County, Garfield County and Columbia County who have a household income at or below 150% of median household income levels in Washington State, which vary depending on household size. Select seniors from the following high schools, along with senior students residing at Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington properties, will have the opportunity to apply this year:
- Medical Lake
- East Valley
- Riverside
- North Central
- Shadle Park
- Liberty
- Lakeside
- University
- Cheney
- Rogers
- Lumen
- Dayton
- Pomeroy
Seniors at Medical Lake, East Valley, Riverside, North Central, Shadle Park, Liberty, Lakeside, University and Cheney high schools become eligible for the scholarship by participating in the Mpower Mentor Program, which LaunchNW initiated this past fall in partnership with 21 community organizations. In addition, select students at Rogers, Lumen, Dayton and Pomeroy high schools will have an opportunity to apply.
The opportunity to engage with our legislators and bring post-high school funding to our local students is critical,” says Shelly O’Quinn, CEO of Innovia Foundation. “This investment and partnership with LaunchNW will open up a landscape of post-high school supports and opportunities to students who have never before had access to them.”
As announced at Innovia Foundation’s annual Community Leadership Summit in March this year, regional rural communities who take steps to opt in to the LaunchNW initiative can unlock scholarship funding for their own communities. Adopters of this opportunity include Columbia County and Garfield County. Community leaders in each county took advantage of a matching challenge hosted by Innovia Foundation, raising over $100,000 in their respective communities to bring the LaunchNW scholarship to their 2024 graduating class of seniors.
“LaunchNW has been implemented initially in Spokane County, but has always been intended to expand throughout Innovia Foundation’s 20-county region,” says Ben Small, Executive Director of LaunchNW. “We believe that the impact of this initiative will be far reaching, and that the youth and family-serving strategies we have developed in Spokane can serve as a starting point for regional communities to develop their own version of LaunchNW.” LaunchNW is hosting a webinar on April 17 where rural communities can learn about opting in to the initiative. Register at LaunchNW.org/rural.
For more information on how to bring LaunchNW to your community, visit LaunchNW.org/rural. For more information about our 2024-2025 scholarship eligibility guidelines and postsecondary partners, visit LaunchNW.org/FAQs or contact our team at LaunchNWinfo@innovia.org