Nia Maat Khepera Born2Lead Scholarship Foundation

My name is Nia Maat Khepera and I am the founder and CEO of the Nia Maat Khepera Born2Lead Scholarship Foundation. As a career educator, author, life coach, and motivational speaker, I always had a longing to help young people succeed with their educational dreams. Although I did not come from a wealthy family, I was blessed to have parents who sternly believed that my education would be the foundation for my life. Even so I faced and overcame many obstacles along the way.

I was a first-generation college student. As the first in my family to go and graduate from college, it set a new standard for my family. Then to continue and earn a master’s degree in education became a monumental milestone and accomplishment for those coming after me to set as their own goals. My parents could not afford to pay for my college education, and we knew very little about financial assistance but with the help of some dedicated teachers and mentors, we made it work. During my college years, I received scholarships, grants and one short term loan.

The motivation behind our initiative comes from the young people who aspire to improve their lives and communities by building the skills, education, and resources needed to reach their full potential.  Also, we have found that there are so many youth that are quietly making good decisions in their lives and doing the right things even when faced with incredible negative situations and surroundings. When I was in school many years ago, it seemed as though everyone in the school, including the faculty knew all the kids’ names who misbehaved. The students that were quietly on task, well behaved, and doing the right thing were often overlooked and not given positive affirmations. I was that child and know firsthand how it feels to choose academics and character over negative societal influences. It can be somewhat daunting for a young person in today’s world.

Since our inception in 2019, we have awarded 48 scholarships to some very deserving students that went through a rigorous selection process.  The students’ growth has been phenomenal to watch as they find stability in their lives and gain an appreciation of lifelong learning. They are discovering confidence, both in themselves and in others – and in their ability to succeed.

This initiative has the potential to expand in size, scope, and substance positively affecting more young people and developing more leaders.  In the beginning, we were focused on female students, but with the help of some dedicated supporters, we have now been able to broaden the scope to male students as well. Also, we have focused on traditional higher education academic institutions, but would like to broaden that to post-secondary technical or vocational schools.

The primary challenge is this initiative needs additional funding as more needy students are identified.   We are a certified IRS 501 c3 non-profit organization, so we hope to have additional funding to continue and to grow.