CFVI Broadcasts the $1 Million Rashida A. Hodge Scholarship Fund: Empowering Future Leaders of the USVI

St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, NC, December 18, 2024 –(PR.com)– The Community Basis of the Virgin Islands (CFVI) is gay to unveil the appearance of the $1 million Rashida A. Hodge Scholarship Fund, established by St. Thomas native and CFVI board member Rashida A. Hodge. This transformative scholarship represents no longer unswerving an investment in schooling however a courageous commitment to empowering the next abilities of leaders from the U.S. Virgin Islands.

This prestigious fund will offer a pudgy undergraduate scholarship, overlaying tuition, housing and funds at North Carolina Narrate University (NCSU), Hodge’s alma mater, where she earned each her bachelor’s and grasp’s levels in industrial engineering. The scholarship provides a life-changing opportunity for deserving students from the U.S. Virgin Islands public college machine.

Hodge’s Toddle of Giving Attend:
Hodge’s unheard of profession dawdle—from her days as a Charlotte Amalie High Faculty student to her present role as Company Vice President at Microsoft, where she leads the company’s Data and AI Buyer Success International Commercial Commerce—embodies the vitality of schooling. Sooner than her tenure at Microsoft, Hodge spent Twenty years at IBM, shaping her into the dynamic chief she is nowadays.

In 2020, Hodge used to be named one in every of Fortune’s 40 Beneath 40 in abilities. She used to be also named NC Tech Lady of the one year in 2021 and purchased the Triangle Commerce Journal’s Girls in Commerce Award in 2022. She for the time being serves on NC Narrate’s Board of Mates and used to be selected to celebrate her fellow Wolfpack graduates by delivering the autumn graduation take care of to the University’s class of 2024 on December 14, 2024, on the Lenovo Heart in Raleigh, where she talked about, “Giving will without close be my sure disruption of assorted.”

Reflecting on her resolution to attract the scholarship, Hodge remarked, “This endowment enables me to give Virgin Islanders a possibility to extra their schooling on the very region that used to be formative to my pattern and profession. I enact this in honor of my maternal grandmother, Ioline Hodge. It’s miles her legacy of giving and faith that formed me most. I mediate of who my grandmother would possibly perhaps perhaps presumably or would were had she bought opportunities for schooling and exposure. Because in each manner, my success is her success. It’s miles the legacy she started, and I’m blessed to continue.”

“This gift is my manner of honoring the beef up that formed my dawdle and ensures others possess the same probability to succeed. Too in most cases, these making predominant contributions construct no longer perceive admire me, and I must trade that. This scholarship is no longer unswerving about funding schooling; It’s about fascinating others to plot themselves as contributors and leaders. That’s the legacy I am hoping to attract,” she talked about.

A Transformative Gift for Virgin Islands Students:
The scholarship is originate to graduates of U.S. Virgin Islands public high colleges who possess demonstrated academic excellence and financial need, and who were authorised to NCSU. Recipients would possibly perhaps perhaps renew the award for as a lot as three extra years, supplied they preserve a GPA of 3.25 and remain in unswerving standing. This scholarship provides no longer unswerving financial reduction however the probability to transform their futures.

Empowering Dreams, Constructing Communities:
CFVI President Dee Baecher-Brown underscored the significance of Hodge’s $1 million contribution. “Rashida’s out of the ordinary gift embodies the spirit of community and selflessness. Her commitment isn’t unswerving about increasing opportunities for particular person students, it’s about strengthening the total Virgin Islands community, one future chief at a time.”

NCSU Welcomes Hodge’s Generosity:
“We’re proud to possess Rashida as an alumna of NC Narrate,” talked about NCSU’s Chancellor, Dr. Randy Woodson. This scholarship fund will no longer handiest bring extra unheard of students to our campus, however enable them to tag the uniquely impactful and fingers-on schooling on the assist of our Assume and Perform mindset.”

Jon Westover, NCSU’s Partner Vice Provost and Director of Admissions, praised the scholarship, noting, “At NC Narrate, scholarships enact greater than lower financial limitations; they bring diversity and capacity to our campus. Rashida’s generosity will enable students from the Virgin Islands to bring their queer views and abilities to enrich our learning atmosphere. We’re deeply grateful.”

A Legacy of Academic Beef up:
Since launching its scholarship program in 1996, CFVI has awarded greater than $4 million in scholarships to U.S. Virgin Islands students pursuing elevated schooling. The institution of the Rashida A. Hodge Scholarship Fund continues this customized of investing in the territory’s youth.

“We’re extremely lucky to possess Rashida as fragment of our CFVI household,” talked about Baecher-Brown. “Her vision and generosity house an outstanding example of what it capability to give assist, and we hope this inspires others to possess a study in her footsteps.”

Application Knowledge:
The inaugural Rashida A. Hodge Scholarship shall be awarded for the 2025-2026 academic year, and each year thereafter. Functions will originate in March 2025, with a submission nick assist-off date in Might possibly presumably furthermore.

For extra files about setting up a brand unique scholarship fund or supporting U.S. Virgin Islands students through donations to CFVI’s scholarship programs, please contact odd.knowledge@cfvi.procure or declare over with https://cfvi.procure/Scholarships.

Command to Media: Rashida is for the time being on St. Thomas unless January 15 and on hand for print, radio, and TV interviews in-person or remotely. Please contact Sean Liphard at seanl@cfvi.procure to time desk.