Mary Sylvia Harrison Joins Nellie Mae Education Foundation

Served as president and CEO of The College Crusade of Rhode Island for nearly 14 years

Providence, R.I., July 8, 2008 – The College Crusade of Rhode Island today announced that president and CEO Mary Sylvia Harrison has joined the staff of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation as Vice President of Programs. Based in Quincy, Mass., the Nellie Mae Education Foundation is the largest philanthropy in New England devoted exclusively to education.

“We are deeply grateful to Mary Harrison for her many years of service to The College Crusade and for her passionate dedication to the youth of Rhode Island,” said Paul Moran, acting chair of the Board of Directors. “Under her visionary leadership, The College Crusade has become a national leader in the college-readiness field with a proven strategy for improving high school graduation and college-going rates. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I thank her for her extraordinary contribution and wish her all the best in her new position.”

The mission of The College Crusade is to increase educational and career success for youth in Rhode Island’s low-income urban communities. During Harrison’s tenure, the organization established a highly effective and distinctive strategy of preparing students for postsecondary education, combining sustained adult mentorship with college-readiness programs from grade 6 through high school graduation. Nationally recognized as an innovator in the college-access field, The College Crusade served as a model for the U.S. Department of Education’s GEAR UP initiative (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs), a federal program created in the late 1990s to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in college. Over the past nine years, GEAR UP has awarded $19 million to The College Crusade to support college-readiness programs and services along with college scholarships for Rhode Island youth.

“The College Crusade is a standout organization with an approach that works,” added Moran. “We have a strong legacy of success in helping young people from Rhode Island’s most disadvantaged communities prepare for college. As we reported in May, Crusaders in 2007 graduated and went on to college at much higher rates than their peers in Rhode Island’s urban school districts – and they even outperformed the state overall. The College Crusade board has established a search committee to identify candidates for our next executive director. As we transition to new leadership, our board and seasoned management team will oversee the programs and services we put in place to support young people who pursue the goal of academic achievement.”

For more information about the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, please go to www.nmefdn.org.

About The College Crusade of Rhode Island

The College Crusade of Rhode Island is the state’s most comprehensive college-readiness and scholarship program for middle school and high school students in low-income urban school districts. It serves approximately 3,800 students per year and rewards the efforts and achievements of financially eligible students with up to four years of college scholarships. From grade 6 through grade 12, Crusaders experience the steady, nurturing presence of caring adults and participate in activities that focus on academic enrichment, social and personal development, career awareness and exploration, and readiness for college. Since 2001, The College Crusade has awarded over $18 million in college scholarships to more than 2,500 graduates from Rhode Island high schools. For more information, please visit www.thecollegecrusade.org.

The College Crusade is a nonprofit organization funded by a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s GEAR UP program, by the State of Rhode Island, and by private corporations, foundations, and individuals.