Improving access to education is one of the most effective ways to change lives and strengthen communities for the long term. Education opens up opportunities, and empowers people to earn more, raise healthier families, and achieve their fullest potential year after year.
At The John R. Oishei Foundation, we support best practices and partners across the entire P-20 continuum (from prenatal through early adulthood). We believe that all students should enter school ready to learn, be able to successfully graduate from college or post-secondary programs, and be prepared to enter the workforce.
Our Education focus area is typically our largest investment area. Our support begins at the preschool level as we fund early childhood programs such as Buffalo Promise Neighborhood and Read to Succeed Buffalo. The Foundation was instrumental in attracting Say Yes to Education to Buffalo and has continued to provide support for the scholarship program as well as for the critical wraparound services that help students to thrive.
In addition, our dollars fund scholarships for elementary school students to attend private or parochial schools through the Bison Fund, and through our Oishei Scholarships, which make a private high school education possible for students of color who have a financial need.
Strategic Objectives
- Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education from cradle to career to strengthen the education pipeline.
- Build connections across the education system and with outside partners to enhance the education pathway with seamless points of transition.
- Strengthen the capacity of providers to address the complex challenges facing students and their families.
- Enhance training, leadership development, and engagement opportunities for teachers and parents to increase professional development and collaboration.
- Share best practices and create mutual advocacy platforms to strengthen opportunities for learning and encourage policy change.
We invest approximately one-third of our total funding in education.
Scholarship Programs
As part of our ongoing commitment to strengthening the education continuum, The John R. Oishei Foundation works with our community partners to fund life-changing scholarship programs from elementary school through college.
Our dollars fund scholarships for elementary school students to attend private or parochial schools through the Bison Fund. Through our Oishei High School Scholarship program we have awarded more than $10 million to 300 students in partnership with the Education Collaborative of WNY (EdCO) over the program’s 20 year history. These full-tuition scholarships are awarded to talented, dedicated students of color who have demonstrated financial need, enabling them to attend one of 14 private high schools. Our goal is to make a positive difference in the perception, attitudes, and lives of students, their families, and the people at the academic institutions the students attend.
We also provide college scholarships through Say Yes and our own Oishei College Scholarship program for underrepresented students of color with extraordinary financial need, managed by the Community Foundation.
