Meet the Beneficiary: WWIN
By Patti Payne
Meet Deb Frockt, Executive Director of WWIN, a 32-year-old nonprofit that provides scholarships and support for Washington women to help them succeed in college and their careers. Deb has been in nonprofit management for 18 years. Nine of those years were with Jewish Family Services here in Washington and Kentucky.
“WWIN offers a holistic program called the Star Scholar Program. It’s a decade old and has served almost 500 women through a generous renewable college scholarship. A woman is eligible for up to $20,000 in her lifetime in scholarship dollars, up until she receives her first Bachelor’s degree,” Deb explains. That’s significant and life-changing in so many positive ways. “True,” says Deb. “Our best estimate is we’ve given more 7,000 grants totaling more than $21 million in 32 years, and we serve above 150 Scholars (clients) a year. “ They range in age from 18 to 65 years old, with the average age being 29. These are high-potential women ready to contribute to their families, communities and state. “Some 60 percent are first-generation college students,” says Deb. “Over half are women of color and they carry the highest student loan debt. We drive down that debt to help them earn their degree.”
Deb wants people to know that in Washington there are nearly 600,000 women over the age of 25 years old who have completed some college but have no degree. She also offers other statistics. Over the years, WWIN Scholars have had a 99 percent persistence and completion rate. “99 percent!” she reiterates. “They are ready, they know what they want to do. Our job is to remove barriers. They have big ambitions, and we help them to reach their self-determined goals without financial barriers.”
About 70 people will graduate from that program each year, 44 percent of them with no debt. “A third of our Scholars are parents. Most have one job outside of school. Almost half are heads of their households,” she says. Because Deb worked in Human Services for nine years, she knows what it’s like for women in crisis. “By investing in women who are ready for opportunities, WWIN provides an upstream solution to help avoid major crises later,” Deb says. “These are strong powerful women who know what they want to accomplish. They just need the financial barrier and other hurdles out of their way to achieve this.”
In addition to the financial support, WWIN’s staff makes clients feel supported through a high-touch experience, meaning they get to know them individually, to help them navigate details and stay on track. To this end, extra dollars are offered through what WWIN calls “resiliency grants” for up to $2,000 in the lifetime of a WWIN Scholar. “Those are the stay-in-school grants, to help with things like unforeseen car or medical expenses, or unsafe living situations.” And for all women who are, have been, or will be part of the program, there’s lifetime career coaching into perpetuity.
“It’s not a piece of cake to get into this scholarship program. It’s very competitive. One in five women make it, through an incredibly selective process, but when they become Scholars we provide an incredible amount of financial and community support,” Deb says. This year out of 320 applicants, WWIN will only be able to fund 70 of them. “Every one of the women that apply are deserving of their goals. There’s a huge amount of talent and ambition in our state. These are women too often overlooked and underserved but they are pure potential,” says Deb. “There is endless need.”
WWIN is the beneficiary of 100% of the ticket sales from the 2024 Trend Takeover Runway Show. Tickets can be purchased here.