Needham mother creates foundation to help low-income students in daughter's memory
NEEDHAM - Anaya Tipnis was bright, beautiful, and committed to creating a more equitable world. "I think she, as a woman-as a person of color herself-had experienced being 'othered' growing up," her mother Monica Kachru explains.
In her senior year at Needham High School, Anaya began a project that focused on addressing inequities in education. "She would talk about it. Somebody like her can take SATs multiple times," Kachru said. "A student who doesn't have the money cannot. It's not that she's smarter. It's that she has more resources."
But simply giving students money wasn't the solution Anaya imagined. She believed that in order to "level the playing field" students needed access to people who would help them navigate the entire college experience. Anaya's college experience was to begin at MIT. But in 2017, two weeks before the academic year began, she took her own life. A shock that devastated her mother, father, and younger sister. "When she passed, we struggled a lot," Kachru said. "What should we do?" In that despair, they recalled the project about which Anaya had spoken so passionately. "We built the foundation around that project because we knew it was really dear to her heart."
The Anaya Tipnis Foundation awarded its first scholarship that year. Monica and the friends (and friends of friends) who joined the effort to launch the foundation had no non-profit experience. (Monica is an Eversource executive in charge of offshore wind projects.) But they had a mission and a goal: to provide every Anaya Tipnis scholar with everything necessary to succeed. Financial aid, internships, financial literacy, workplace training-all of it provided by volunteers and mentors who partner with a scholar for the young person's entire college career. "Our hope is that we can give every student the tool of education to empower them to help themselves and their families," Kachru said. "It's really end-to-end support that any student needs in order to come into their own and be prepared to take on the world."
Five years after the foundation awarded its first grant, it now supports almost 40 scholars at colleges and universities all over the country. One of them is UMass senior Malu Andrade. A native of Cape Verde, Malu grew up in Brockton. She remembers feeling isolated in ESL classes as a child and proud as she excelled in high school. She learned of the Anaya Tipnis Foundation through Outward Bound. Her mentor's support, particularly her freshman year, made a huge difference. When Malu was struggling in math, her mentor's children tutored her. "My mentor is still there for me offering support," she says smiling.
Four years after she stepped into an academic world that no one in her family had ever known, Malu has an earned confidence that will serve her well. She credits the foundation for encouraging her to test herself and trust in her abilities. "I definitely want to continue doing things with the foundation after graduation to just... give back," she said. Malu graduates in May. In July, she will begin her career with Price Waterhouse Coopers.
Every first-generation scholar who graduates is beating the odds. Myriad studies show that students who are the first in their family to attend college have much lower graduation rates than students whose parent or parents earned a degree. The cumulative effect of that collective failure to graduate holds back whole communities. As a rule, college graduates earn more money and amass more wealth. Over time, the benefit of a four-year degree adds up, changing the future for the graduate, their family and future generations. But without external support, first-gen students may not have anyone who can help them navigate an offering as basic as a professor's office hours or the best way to find an internship. Many also work while they are in college to help support their families and even pay their parents' rent. By contrast, 100% of the Anaya Tipnis Foundation scholars are on pace to graduate in four years. "It is such a privilege to take this journey with them," Kachru said.
Brianna Feliciano's journey changed mid-way through her college career. The 2020 Anaya Tipnis Scholar is a junior at Tufts University. She was working toward a civil engineering major when she realized that her real passion is architectural planning and renovation. She recalls her family's move from the Bromley-Heath Housing Project to Hyde Park. Her mother bought a home that needed work and her grandfather was able to do it. Brianna remembers, fondly, helping him transform the house into their family home. When she made the decision to become an architectural studies major, she relied on her mentor for emotional support. "She helped me transition from feeling personal distress and pressure. I wanted to make my family proud." She says her mentor-and the foundation-were a consistent support. "They've been, like, redirecting me into being confident that I can do whatever I want ... and move forward in life happy with what I'm doing," Brianna said.
That happiness is on full display every summer when Monica Kachru hosts a picnic for the scholars, mentors and volunteers. To this day, the foundation has no paid staff. "To see them going from that first year and through the things they went through together and seeing them now just shine," Kachru said. "I know Anaya is smiling as well."
Anaya is--and will always be--the guiding force. "She left me an incredible legacy. I've paid a big price but she taught me a lot," Kachru said. "She taught me the difference between charity and giving."
Giving young people an opportunity to build a better future is the realization of Anaya's dream.
For more information visit: https://www.anayafoundation.org