ABOUT
KREATIVE SOLUTIONS
MISSION & HISTORY.
Kreative Solutions HBCU Scholarship Foundation was founded by Rufus and Kristen Johnson in 2020 as a philanthropic endeavor. As graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the couple felt inspired during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic to support the pipeline for current and future HBCU scholars through financial assistance. They began the scholarship program with their own personal funds and planned to award two students $500 each. However, they received enough funds from a few other donors who they had briefly shared their vision with and were ultimately able to award three deserving students a $500 scholarship each. After receiving many applications and tripling their initial giving goal, they recognized the need to grow the scholarship fund and award more scholars on a yearly basis. KR Scholars is recognized as a 501c3 non profit organization.
OUR WHY.
As graduates of Historically Black Colleges, we have benefitted personally and professionally from the rich heritage of those institutions. We want to support the pipeline of future leaders emerging from HBCUs and help them navigate from campus to career.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) make up only 3% percent of the country’s colleges and universities, yet, they are responsible for 22% of bachelor degrees attained by African Americans.
Understanding that many students attending HBCUs have unique needs and situations such as first generation college students, our desire is to help bridge the wealth gap by lessening the burden of student loan debt and empowering our scholars with tools like stock investing and other wealth building tools at an early age.
FUTURE PLANS.
In the simplest terms, our goal is to raise significant money yearly to invest in scholars at HBCUs. We are focused on three strategic pillars:
- Scholarships
- Financial Literacy Programming
- Career Development
