WSFS awards $300k grant to TeenSHARP

Generous contribution will last three years beginning this fall and support program growth

Wilmington, Del.—By 2025, the nonprofit TeenSHARP wants to send another 2,025 students through its top-college access programs, and a generous grant investment from WSFS Bank—announced today—will help them get there by expanding their reach across the Delaware Valley region.

The WSFS Cares Foundation Board unanimously approved a $300,000 grant last week, to be paid out over the next three years beginning this fall.

“The WSFS CARES Foundation is thrilled to provide this multi-year grant to further support the great work of TeenSHARP and the impact it is having in the community,” said Vernita Dorsey, Senior Vice President, Director of Community Strategy at WSFS Bank. “For nearly 200 years, WSFS has been deeply rooted in our communities, and we continue that work through our Foundation by supporting qualified nonprofit service organizations within our regional footprint that are invested in improving communities, while fostering a spirit of inclusion and diversity.”

Atnre Alleyne, the nonprofit co-founder and executive director, said his team was celebrating TeenSHARP’s 12th birthday on Friday, August 20, when he got the good news from Dorsey.

“It’s an unforgettable birthday gift,” said Alleyne, who co-founded TeenSHARP with his wife, Tatiana Poladko, in 2009. “We’re immensely grateful to WSFS Bank not only for this substantial commitment, but for helping us get where we are today.”

WSFS has been supporting TeenSHARP for years, said co-founder Poladko. In 2017, after a $50,000 investment, the bank became one of TeenSHARP’s first multi-year contributors with a $270,000 investment. Since then, the nonprofit has grown its G2C (Going to College) academies from 100 students to more than 500.

“No doubt, our small-but-ambitious startup has transformed in recent years—growing our staff, our scope, our scale, and our vision— thanks in large part to WSFS Bank and its catalytic generosity,” Poladko said. “WSFS also stepped up in 2020, our toughest year yet, helping us not just remain operational but respond aggressively, and effectively, to the unprecedented challenges our students and their families were facing.”

The latest grant from WSFS will support TeenSHARP’s core programs as the nonprofit enrolls more students, and doubles down on its services:

• TeenSHARP Striver program, a full day of programming that takes place every Saturday of the school year and includes college-level courses, math classes, and group and individual college advising.
  
• Cyber SPARK, a six-week summer program that runs all week, full day, to offer continued college-level courses, math training, and more to students, including lessons on independent study skills, time management, and community leadership.
  
• G2C Academies, which offer perennial college admissions bootcamps in partnership with state and local education agencies along with working sessions throughout the year, for students preparing for, or undertaking, the college application process.
  
• Parent workshops, which TeenSHARP offers year-round (in English and Spanish), including networking groups, a weekly newsletter, one-on-one support, and more to engage a student’s family around their success.Alleyne said the timing was good for another reason, too: in just a few weeks, on Sept. 11, TeenSHARP will host its opening ceremony for the new Striver Saturday year.“This week is orientation for our new and returning students—one of the most exciting times of the year, because we’re just getting to know the emerging young leaders who will journey closer to their potential, and college dreams, at TeenSHARP,” Alleyne said. “WSFS sees that potential, sees those dreams, and honors them as enduring partners in this work.”

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About TeenSHARP: TeenSHARP is a Wilmington, Del.-based nonprofit that prepares Black, Latino, and low-income students to attend and thrive at America’s top colleges. Founded in 2009 by Atnre Alleyne and Tatiana Poladko, TeenSHARP hasevolved into a leading provider of innovative, at-scale college access and leadership development in Delaware; N.J.; and Pennsylvania. Year after year, 100 percent of TeenSHARP scholars successfully pursue a 4-year college education, with 95 percent admitted to the most selective colleges; and the majority graduating with $15,000 or less in college debt. TeenSHARP’s mission is in service of a bold vision that, one day, the diversity of our country’s top jobs and most influential leadership positions will reflect the country’s rich diversity.

About the WSFS CARES Foundation: The WSFS CARES Foundation brings WSFS’ mission of We Stand for Service® to life across the communities we serve. The mission of the WSFS CARES Foundation is to support qualified nonprofit service organizations within our regional footprint that are invested in improving communities, fostering a spirit of inclusion and diversity, and whose focus aligns with the WSFS CARES Foundation’s transformational vision.

About WSFS Financial Corporation: WSFS Financial Corporation is a multi-billion-dollar financial services company. Its primary subsidiary, WSFS Bank, is the oldest and largest locally managed bank and trust company headquartered in Delaware and the Greater Philadelphia region. As of June 30, 2021, WSFS Financial Corporation had $15.1 billion in assets on its balance sheet and $26.7 billion in assets under management and administration. WSFS operates from 112 offices, 89 of which are banking offices, located in Pennsylvania (52), Delaware (42), New Jersey (16), Virginia (1) and Nevada (1) and provides comprehensive financial services including commercial banking, retail banking, cash management and trust and wealth management. Other subsidiaries or divisions include Arrow Land Transfer, Cash Connect®, Cypress Capital Management, LLC, Christiana Trust Company of Delaware®, NewLane Finance®, Powdermill® Financial Solutions, West Capital Management®, WSFS Institutional Services®, WSFS Mortgage®, and WSFS Wealth® Investments. Serving the Greater Delaware Valley since 1832, WSFS Bank is one of the ten oldest banks in the United States continuously operating under the same name. For more information, please visit www.wsfsbank.com.