Riley Institute receives grant for national afterschool policy fellowship program

The Riley Institute at Furman University has received a $310,000 grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation for its White-Riley-Peterson (WRP) Policy Fellowship program.

The WRP Fellowship equips graduates with a real-world understanding of the art and science of sound policy-making for afterschool and expanded learning.

In the 10-month program, which begins each September, Fellows study afterschool and expanded learning policy and develop and implement state-level policy projects in partnership with their Statewide Afterschool Networks.

“Afterschool and summer learning adds to what kids learn in school, enriches and engages them with creative activities, and keeps them safe in those afterschool hours,” said former South Carolina Governor and U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley. “The Riley Institute works with advocates from across the nation to help support these vital programs,” he added.

Since the fellowship was launched in 2012, 106 individuals from 49 states have participated in the program. The Mott grant will support the institute’s eighth and ninth classes of fellows.

The WRP Policy Fellowship is named for Riley and for William S. White, chair of the board and CEO Emeritus of the C.S. Mott Foundation, and Terry Peterson, national board chair with the Afterschool Alliance.

“No organization has done more for the field of afterschool than the Mott Foundation, and the Riley Institute is honored to work with them to provide this program for emerging leaders in the field of afterschool and expanded learning,” said Cathy Stevens, director of the WRP Fellowship at Furman.

Learn more about the White-Riley-Peterson Policy Fellowship online, or contact Cathy Stevens at the Riley Institute 864-294-3265, and cathy.stevens@furman.edu.

About the C.S. Mott Foundation
The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, established in 1926 in Flint, Michigan, by an automotive pioneer, is a private philanthropy committed to supporting projects that promote a just, equitable and sustainable society. It supports nonprofit programs throughout the United States and, on a limited geographic basis, internationally. Grantmaking is focused in four programs: Civil Society, Education, Environment and Flint Area. In addition to Flint, offices are located in metropolitan Detroit, Johannesburg and London. With year-end assets of approximately $3 billion in 2018, the Foundation made 358 grants totaling more than $132 million. For more information, visit www.mott.org.

About the Riley Institute at Furman University
Furman University’s Riley Institute broadens student and community perspectives about issues critical to South Carolina’s progress. It builds and engages present and future leaders, creates and shares data-supported information about the state’s core challenges, and links the leadership body to sustainable solutions. Launched in 1999, the Institute is named for former South Carolina Governor and former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. (Dick) Riley. It is committed to nonpartisanship in all it does and to a rhetoric-free, facts-based approach to change. For more information, visit riley.furman.edu.