As a new school year kicks off, Coast Capital is celebrating 44 youth across the province who have been named as recipients of the financial cooperative’s annual Standing Tall Education Awards.
Alessia Monai from Prince George is one of those 44 recipients.
Monai is a hard-working graduate of Prince George’s DP Todd Secondary School. While overcoming family and health
challenges during her adolescence, Monai remained focused on her education, excelling academically with incredible determination. This fall, she has started her Bachelors of Arts and Science in health studies at the University of Saskatchewan, and would eventually like to work with Doctors without Borders.
“Winning the Standing Tall Education Award helps propel me to my highest potential,” said Monai. “Thanks to Coast Capital, I’m inspired to use the difficult times I’ve faced as inspiration to help those in a similar position through a career in health care.”
The awards program, established in 2004, is one-of-a-kind in its focus on recognizing resilient youth who have risen up against the odds to pursue their post-secondary education. Unlike other grant or scholarship programs, Coast Capital’s annual education awards program looks at more than academic performance to celebrate the students’ achievements beyond their GPA.
“As a social purpose organization, Coast Capital is committed to building better futures through investing in three key areas that we strongly believe are essential to helping Canadians reach their goals and ultimately realize a better future for themselves and their families,” said Maureen Young, Vice President, Social Purpose, Coast Capital. “One of those areas is focused on driving equitable access to education and training as that is a significant driver in helping individuals unlock financial opportunities. We recognize that access to post-secondary education is not always within financial reach due to
systemic inequalities and believe that small steps can help to move the needle. We are committed to contributing to that shift through programs like our Standing Tall Education Awards.”
Each $3,500 Coast Capital Education Award makes the increasing cost of tuition and living expenses more manageable for young people who may not have access to funding through traditional means, such as parents or loan programs. For the first time in the program’s history, this year Coast Capital awarded 68 per cent of awards to BIPOC students, in an effort to help break down barriers for these historically marginalized communities.
Since its establishment 18 years ago, the program has supported over 1,000 students in funding their post-secondary studies with an investment of nearly $2.9 million.