Your Impact
The Difference You Make When You Give Through the Art of Giving
On March 14, Evergreen publicly launched its first-ever college-wide fundraising campaign, Forever Green, to raise $55+ million to expand financial resources for students and programs, like the Art of Giving.
Your generous gift to the Art of Giving creates scholarships that remove obstacles to a college education and enhance the student experience.
Because of you, this year’s Art of Giving raised more than $400,000 and created 127 new, renewable scholarships for Evergreen’s remarkable students. Already, so far, Evergreen champions like you have given $49.1 million to the Forever Green campaign. Initiatives like the Art of Giving and your contributions to support scholarships propel us closer to reaching our $55 million-dollar goal.
Hear the difference you’ve made for Evergreen students Liz Arias ’24 and Onya Robertson ’23 below.
Read on to see how gifts to the Art of Giving have shown up for students like Onya Robertson '23, and others so they can show up for the world.
Evergreen Student Demographics (Fall 2022)
- Enrolled students: 2,116
- Average age: 29 years old
- 61% are women
- 32% are students of color
- 20% are first generation college students
- 35% of students are low income
Your Impact on Evergreen Students
Onya Robertson, Class of 2023
Evergreen Foundation Scholarship Recipient
My name is Onya Robertson and I am a senior at Evergreen Tacoma, graduating this June. Evergreen has allowed me to learn how to love myself and my unique journey.
Attending Evergreen Tacoma with other adult learners who have families, established careers, and the desire for more for themselves and their families has sparked a fire in me. I started my journey here as “just” a student. After interning with the Washington State Legislature, I was strongly encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities and am currently the Tacoma Services & Activities Board Coordinator, Editor of the Sankofa Newspaper, and I serve as a student ambassador. I always dreamed of being a judge and I am now well within that journey. I’m preparing for the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT); I have the cell phone numbers of very supportive lawyers and judges that have given me permission to reach out as needed while I’m on this journey. At the end of last quarter, with the support of the Dean of Evergreen Tacoma, seven African American women went to Kenya on a cultural reconnection trip. We spent time in the villages, we showed support in various ways to women and girls, we spent a day with Teach for Kenya, visiting a number of schools, we engaged with women in public office, we went on Safari, we connected to the people and culture and we got to, for the first time in most of our lives, step onto the soil of Mother Africa. I walked away from that two-week experience more confident, more centered, and with even more fire inside of me.
This quarter, I am engaged in two Independent Learning Contracts (ILCs); one with a nonprofit doing legal research and record expungements and one with a governmental relations firm doing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work. This Evergreen education has allowed me to rebirth my dreams I thought I left behind many years ago. I learned with Evergreen that I get to decide the life I want, I get to show my children and everyone else watching, that they do not have to give up on their dreams.
Because of Evergreen, I know the world is mine. And Evergreen has an amazing community of supporters. Without scholarships, I would not have been able to focus on my education the way that I have. The encouragement and empowerment that is given by the vast community of support is unmatched. I have received so much support from people I do know and many that I don’t know at all. I feel held up by this community. I feel the love of this program in all of your support. I’ve met supporters that love what this education has done for them, or for their children, their friends, and colleagues. And I am so moved by the encouragement and the positive words and the cheerleading, really. I sometimes feel like a football player with a sea of cheerleaders that I may or may not know. You are a huge part of what keeps me going. Thank you all.
To the outstanding donors of the Art of Giving 2023, you have our gratitude. Thank you!