When Best Friends girls reach ninth grade, they enter the Diamond Girl Leadership, a program designed to keep girls interested, involved, and committed to their character development through high school and college.
All Diamond Girls participate in the Diamond Girl Jazz Choir or Performance Dance Troupe which fosters discipline as well as the social and presentation skills important for future success. Our goal is for all Diamond Girls to graduate from high school with specific college, vocational, or career plans.

Diamond Girl Leadership Curriculum
Follow this link to see our curriculum subjects and schedule for a school year. You can also view a .pdf file of a sample section of our curriculum program guide. This page also provides a table of contents list of our curriculum subjects and resources to consider for use in your own youth development/character building program.

For Diamond Girl Leadership students:


Developed by professionals with almost 40 years of experience in linking high school students with colleges and universities, My College Options® connects students to 2,000 colleges and universities nationwide and has almost 5 .5 million students already enrolled. The My College Options® system of matching students with the colleges and universities that are right for them will play a large role in helping students reach their post-secondary goals.

My College Options Scholarship Search

 

2011 Scholarship Recipients

Diamond Girl Leadership
*Hope Ajayi George Washington University
Kevwe Ajueyitsi North Carolina A & T
Tori Dugger University of New Haven
Yaa Yaa Hunt Pennsylvania State University
Lauren Mauney Bryn Athyn College
Mbachur Mbenga Trinity University

Best Men Leadership
DeAngelo Anderson Montgomery Community College
Jamal Childs North Carolina A & T
Cameron Harris Howard University
Christopher Holness Virginia Commonwealth University

*Hope Ajayi has received a full scholarship from George Washington University.
Her Diamond Girl Leadership award is a U. S. Savings Bond to be utilized within the GWU scholarship guidelines.
Please join us in helping Best Friends girls reach for the stars and achieve their dreams by donating to the Best Friends College Council Scholarship Fund. The Best Friends College Council Scholarship Fund encourages academic excellence by assisting qualified Diamond Girls with their college tuition. From 1996 through 2009, Best Friends Foundation has granted $848,089 dollars in scholarships.


Best Friends has given me the self-esteem needed to pursue a career in communications. When I began the program, I was a very shy and soft-spoken 13 year-old. Through Best Friends, I have blossomed into a young woman who is not afraid to speak her mind, follow her dreams, and strive for the best. It is easy to have this outlook on life when so many people believe not only that you can, but that you will succeed. Thanks to financial support from Best Friends, I have been able to attend school with few financial problems.

Best Friends Graduate Senior, Temple University

Eligibility
Scholarships are awarded on a semester-by-semester basis according to the following criteria:
• Participation in Best Friends for at least six years before high school graduation;
• Enthusiasm and overall commitment to Best Friends and its messages;
• Demonstrated leadership;
• Academic aptitude and performance; and
• Courage in overcoming personal adversity.
Our Record
• 100% of Best Friends high school girls have graduated from high school in
Washington, DC, a city where only 56% of public high school students graduate.
• Many Diamond Girls have received help with their college tuition from the
Best Friends College Council Scholarship Fund.
• Hundreds of Best Friends girls have graduated from college and many have attended graduate schools.
• Best Friends Foundation has granted $848,089 in scholarships from 1996 through 2009.
• Best Friends scholarship recipients currently attend or have graduated
from the following colleges: 
American University
Barnard College
Bennett College
Bethune Cookman College
Bryn Athyn College
Charleston Southern University
Cheney University
Clark-Atlanta University
Coppin State University
Cornell University
Davis & Elkins College
Delaware State University
Elon College
Emory University
Fisher College
Fisk University
Florida A & M University
Florida State University
George Washington University
Hampton University
Hofstra University		 Hood College
Howard University
Johns Hopkins University
Johnson C. Smith University
Katherine Gibbs College
Lord Fairfax Community College
Montgomery Community College
Morgan State College
Norfolk State University
North Carolina A & T University
North Carolina Central
North Carolina School of Arts
Ohio Wesleyan University
Pennsylvania State University
Prince Georges Community College
Shaw University
South Carolina State University
Spelman College
Spelman University
St. Augustine's College
Stanford University
Temple University
Trinity University
University of Alabama
University of Arizona
University of the District of Columbia
University of Maryland
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
University of Miami
University of New Haven
University of New Mexico
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh
University of Virginia
Vernon College
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia State University
Virginia Tech. University
Wells College
 

© 2011 Best Friends Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
Send questions or comments to webmaster@bestfriendsfoundation.org

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