In 2019, Y.O.U. commenced the Carol Rivchun Development (C.R.E.D.) Fund Employee Scholarship as a way to enable full-time staff to further their professional development. Staff members apply to pursue an education of their choosing with the fund.

The fund, established through a generous donation from the Swaminathan and Garg Foundation, is administered by College Now, a Cleveland-based non-profit that specializes in designing and delivering educational funding opportunities.

The scholarship is named in honor of former C.E.O. Carol Rivchun, who led Y.O.U. to new heights from 1998 to 2018, and strongly advocated for continuing education of her staff. Below we feature this year’s winners and learn what impact the fund has had for them.

2023 Recipients

Bryce is pursuing a Digital Marketing Professional and Professional Certified Marketer (PCM) certificate . He is excited to learn more about content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), Google Ads, and more with his two new accreditations. Bryce believes in consistent growth and this scholarship affords him the opportunity to deepen his knowledge of the digital space. He looks forward to finding ways to strategically position Y.O.U.’s services across the region using social media.

Christian Howard-Smith is pursuing a masters of business administration in finance at Ohio University. She feels blessed to gain financial support to engage in higher education. Christian see this as an opportunity to grow as an employee and as a person. She looks forward to building her financial literacy skills so that she can continue to pass this knowledge to the youth at Y.O.U who may struggle to understand the importance of finances and support their spending habits in healthy ways. Christian got her bachelor's degree in neuropsychology knowing that she want to pursue finance next. She says, “I can be able to connect how psychology plays a part in spending and saving habits with our youth. I hope to get the participants on track to begin creating generational wealth while time is on their side!”

Celeste is pursuing a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages) or TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate. Celeste recognizes how unique it is to have the opportunity to access education with the support of her employer and she feels grateful to get to continue her path towards lifelong learning. She wants to continue to learn new strategies to help bridge any language barriers that her students might face. She wants her students to feel like they have a teacher who cares and wants to meet them where they are.

Allie Levin is pursuing a master of public policy and management in the graduate school of public and international affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. They completed a certificate of nonprofit management at Cleveland State University in 2022. Allie hopes to use the career to grow as a manager and leader within the nonprofit and movement organizing realm. Within their work at Y.O.U., they look forward to leveraging their education to confidently display a vibrant vision of the future of the organization to better engage our stakeholders.

2022 Winners

Tobin Buckner, Sean O’Brien, Kim Bell, Voncille Wratee and Christina Kester

2021 Winners

Koya Graham, Artemus Carter, Kim Bogan and Cassidy McMahan

2020 Winners

Eric Lewis and Claire Levin