Knea Hawley, Executive Director of the Riverside Unified School District Foundation, alongside the Foundation’s Board of Directors, is working to eliminate financial obstacles and clear pathways toward higher education for all RUSD students.
RUSD student, Christian, inaugural Tom Hunt Scholarship recipient, with counselor Steven Fuller II. Christian is pursuing a career as an EMT or Firefighter
That premise brought her to the Inland Empire Community Foundation, where Knea met with our Director of Donor Services, Paula Myles. Three endowed scholarship funds now carry forward the legacies of the educators and community members who helped shape Riverside students’ educational experiences. “I want to keep growing this list of funds so that finances are never a barrier to a student seeking their goals,” Hawley said.
Three Funds, Three Stories
The Glenn Allen King Endowed Scholarship Fund was established in 2023 to honor a beloved RUSD employee. King worked through every rank in the district as teacher, coach, principal and, ultimately, Assistant Superintendent over Human Resources. He tutored students and adults alike and promoted math as a path forward. When he passed, the community raised funds to ensure his legacy would continue. The scholarship in his name now supports RUSD graduates pursuing math-related fields. As an endowed fund, scholarships will be awarded in perpetuity, ensuring that Mr. King’s love for his students and passion for math will live on for generations to come.
The Tom Hunt Memorial Scholarship Fund honors a beloved Riverside local who served on the RUSD Board of Education until his death in June 2024. Hunt was a persistent advocate for career and technical education, the AVID program and the Dual Language Immersion program. He worked to connect students to local businesses through internships and job shadowing, and believed every student deserved the same starting point regardless of financial background. A fellow board member, Brent Lee, stepped forward after Hunt’s passing to help establish the fund, and the wider community followed. The endowed scholarship recognizes graduating seniors pursuing a trade-focused degree or vocational certification. Nine awards have already been made, with more planned for this spring – and for decades down the road.
The Athena of Riverside “Ignite Her Mind” Fund was established by the Athena of Riverside organization, which has long supported the award-winning Ignite Her Mind program, a hands-on STEM experience for 8th and 9th grade girls. The program brings students together to build robots, write code and hear from women who have built careers in science and technology. High school senior ambassadors guide younger students through the experience, a peer-to-peer model Hawley finds particularly effective. “Who do young girls listen to?” she said. “They look up to someone who’s a few years older.” This year, Athena established an endowed fund at IECF to ensure the program and its college scholarships have a permanent financial foundation.
A Champion at Every School
With a fourth fund, the Spirit of Poly High Class of ’74 Scholarship, nearly ready to endow, Hawley has a larger goal: a dedicated scholarship fund at every RUSD high school.
The Class of ’74 fund offers a model. It started when one Poly alumna came back for a reunion, was inspired by a tour at the school, and took up the charge to raise funds for Poly scholarships. Hawley is looking for that same enthusiastic person at every other high school in the district. “If I could find those champions out there who want to support their alma mater, that would be the best of every world,” she said.
If you are a Riverside-area high school graduate interested in helping establish a scholarship fund at your former high school, reach out to Knea at khawley@riversideunified.org.
Hawley also wants students to know that the search for scholarships does not have to feel like a long shot. Her goal is to aggregate every available opportunity, including those sponsored by other organizations, in one place on the RUSD Foundation website. This also offers reassurance to students and their families that the links they’re clicking on are safe and valid.
Wendy, a Tom Hunt Scholarship awardee, is attending nursing school at Riverside City College (RCC)
“There’s no competition between those of us offering scholarships. I would love, more than anything, for organizations that have scholarships to let me know. I’ll post them on our website,” she said, “so that students can go one right after the other and really build toward their college future.” On that note, don’t miss IECF’s Common Application, where students fill out one form and can be matched with up to 30 available scholarships across the region.
More Than Scholarships
While the endowments anchor the RUSD Foundation’s scholarship work, they are part of a broader effort. The Foundation’s Student Resilience program removes the everyday barriers that keep vulnerable students from staying in school: gas money, food and basic supplies. Students experiencing homelessness, those in foster care and others without consistent support are among those the program serves. The Foundation also funds a separate effort to cover costs families often don’t anticipate until they become a problem, things like a laptop or transportation to campus. “It’s the barriers, the unseen cost,” Hawley said. “We want to make sure students have what they need so they can keep going, not get discouraged.”
The Foundation supports the Civic Engagement program as well, where 400 to 500 students present year-long community projects at the Riverside Convention Center each spring. Community members attend, ask questions and award top projects with scholarships. Students gain direct experience presenting their ideas to adults, which Hawley considers one of the more practical outcomes of the program.
“IECF is grateful to Knea Hawley and the RUSD Foundation for entrusting us with the management of their scholarship funds,” said Paula Myles, Director of Donor Services. “Our organization was established 85 years ago as a scholarship fund, and today we award millions to students every year. It’s our great joy to continue this service in partnership with RUSD.”
To learn more about establishing a fund at IECF, contact our Charitable Giving Team at giving@iegives.org.
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