Scholarships are part of the Foundation’s commitment to racial equity and are designed to open opportunity to talented students of color
Thirteen incoming freshmen have been awarded full, four-year academic scholarships to local private high schools from The John R. Oishei Foundation, a private foundation serving Western New York. The scholarships for the 2023-2024 school year mark the Foundation’s 25th year of scholarship support that has benefitted 378 students with an investment of more than $13.8 million since 1998.
The Oishei High School Scholarship program, established in partnership with the Education Collaborative of WNY (EdCo), offers an educational opportunity to local students of color with a financial need. The highly selective scholarship funds the full four-year tuition of one incoming freshman at each of 13 local private high schools. The scholarships are administered through EdCo and an independent selection committee made up of community representatives evaluates applicants and choses awardees each year.
The competitive scholarship program received 87 completed applications from a variety of talented, accomplished 8th-grade students from public, private, and parochial schools throughout the Western New York area.
The Oishei High School Scholarship program is part of the Oishei Foundation’s commitment to racial equity and is strategically aligned with the Foundation’s focus on providing resources and support in the education sector. It is intended to provide opportunity to students of color with a financial need as well as to help provide diverse perspectives and life experiences in private high schools.
The Foundation also supports EdCo’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) program in the local private high school ecosystem with a focus on creating schools of belonging. The collaborative DEI program is unique nationwide as local schools that are normally competitors work together to address issues of equity in their school environments together.
Those awarded the Scholarship and their associated high school include:
· Jovanni Batcho, Bishop Timon St. Jude High School
· Te’sinah Young, Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart
· Timnit Berhane, Buffalo Seminary
· Hannabel Kandolo, Canisius High School
· Kaaher Rafeek, Cardinal O’Hara High School
· Carly Kiska, Mount Mercy Academy
· Parleen Dosanjh, Mount St. Mary Academy
· Aaliyah Ryan, Nardin Academy
· Kabari Bagiam, Nichols School
· Tyzjon Johnson, St. Francis High School
· Anthony Johnson, St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute
· Isabella Young, St. Mary's High School
· Aleigha Tait, The Park School of Buffalo
The John R. Oishei Foundation is one of the most comprehensive private foundations in Western New York focusing on a broad range of interrelated issues and offering philanthropic support that goes far beyond funding. Our mission is to enhance the economic vitality and quality of life for the Buffalo Niagara region through grantmaking, leadership, and network building. The Foundation was established in 1940 by John R. Oishei, founder of Trico Products Corporation.