ASU-INSPIRE-PROPOSAL-FOR-TOHONO-O-ODHAM-NATION-GAMING-GRANT.DOCX

Tohono O’odham Nation Indian Gaming Grant Proposal
Distribution Priority Area: A (Education)
We appreciate the invitation to apply for Tohono O’odham Nation 12% Funding. We, at ASU,
understand that the Tohono O’odham Nation has the opportunity to fund many worthy and much
needed programs and services. The ASU Inspire Summer Program for disadvantaged high school
students is a new initiative that will have its first cohort participate in June 2016. This inaugural
offering was made possible by an Arizona Community Foundation grant of approximately
$75,000, which allows us to accommodate 80 students.
Our first Inspire offering has clearly demonstrated the need for such a program as we had over
180 applications from schools and communities throughout the state of Arizona. With your
support, we would like to expand this program in the summer of 2017 to accommodate more
students. While the amount of our request, $160,000, will help us accommodate more students,
we are flexible in what you can offer by way of support, provided that we have sufficient time to
identify additional sponsors and/or scale our program in way that allows us to accommodate
more students than our current offering. Thank you for your consideration.
B) NEED
Arizona State University is on the forefront of creating opportunities for disadvantaged students
to overcome long-standing challenges to success. The implementation of a college readiness
program for high school students creates hope and high expectations in young youth by giving
them the opportunity to see themselves living, learning, and belonging on college campuses.
C) WHO WILL BENEFIT:
“Inspire” is a one-week, college readiness program for 150 disadvantaged youth from diverse
communities across Arizona. Youth entering grades 10 – 12 in fall 2017 will be eligible for this
6-day, living and learning experience on ASU’s Polytechnic campus at no cost to their families.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
A key component of the Inspire program is the opportunity for students to make connections
with members of the ASU community. Students will meet undergraduates, faculty and staff and
hear their stories - where they came from and how they got where they are today – as well as
learn about their research and areas of expertise. By connecting youth to these roles models and
mentors, we seek to “inspire” them to see their own potential for future success and to increase
their motivation to complete a college degree.
As mentioned, ASU will offer the first Inspire program for 80 youth in summer 2016 with funds
from Arizona Community Foundation. Many units across ASU are collaborating to deliver this
innovative program, including Office of American Indian Initiatives, American Indian Student
Support Services, University College, Access ASU, ASU English department. This team has the
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expertise and dedication needed to sustain and scale Inspire going forward but will need funding
to make that possible.
By funding this proposal, the Tohono O’odham Nation will enable ASU to continue offering the
Inspire program to youth in summer 2017 and more importantly, to expand the program to better
meet the need and proven demand, at no cost to youth and their families. The programs impact
on application and admission rates to ASU will be tracked. We expect to see positive results and
use that evidence to seek multi–year support from other funders.
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