An Interview with SFA Founder Kitty Porterfield
In a recent conversation with Kitty Porterfield, she exuded warmth, joy, and wonder when recounting the origin story of the Scholarship Fund. Kitty smiled as she remembered those who worked with her to create the Fund, expressed delight at what they were able to create, and marveled at the longevity and success of the SFA.
In 1984 when Kitty was helping her daughter navigate the college application and financial aid process, she was surprised at how frustrating it was. It occurred to her and to her friend, school board member Tim Elliott, that if it was this difficult for them, it must be doubly hard for students whose parents had not gone to college themselves or who were not native English speakers. Kitty and Tim appreciated the help provided to them by the Director of Guidance, Jim McClure. But still, in a time before the internet, Kitty and Tim felt that there should be greater resources for the kids at T.C. Williams High School.
Kitty recounted how karma really seemed to be at play when she found herself seated next to a woman at an alumni event at her college who was the director of a scholarship fund that served local kids in Cleveland. Kitty learned that there were at that time only four community-wide scholarship funds in the country. Kitty was intrigued and eventually shadowed the Cleveland fund’s director for three days to see what she could learn.
The idea to create a scholarship fund in Alexandria gained steam, and thanks to Kitty, Tim Elliott, Jim McClure, Lou Cook, who later became the SFA’s first board chair and superintendent of schools Bob Peebles, and others who were excited to bring a novel approach to helping the public- school students of Alexandria, the SFA was born in the fall of 1985.
Kitty said that another stroke of divine luck occurred about two months after the creation of the Scholarship Fund when she found herself riding the metro with then City Council member Bob Calhoun. They started talking about Kitty’s involvement in creating the Scholarship Fund and Bob suggested the City Council should contribute some seed money. With Mr. Calhoun as the SFA’s advocate, the city did end up allocating a $25,000 matching grant, which was exactly the boost the new fund needed.
ACPS generously offered to fund the salary of the director of the SFA. At the time, Kitty was the director of a K-12 arts-in-education program in Arlington, but her heart was all-in with the fledgling Scholarship Fund, and she applied to become its first executive director. Fortunately for the SFA, she was chosen among several applicants, and she and the SFA were off and running!
The first scholarships were awarded in 1986 with $7,000 from some already existing local scholarships and with the $25,000 allocated by the Alexandria City Council.
Kitty recalled that when the Fund was created in 1985, the city was barely beyond Alexandria’s struggles with desegregation. She described how some of Alexandria’s African American leaders including Melvin Miller, Patricia Stanford, and former mayor William Euille joined forces with white community leaders eager to support black and brown students, “Our diverse community is a blessing, and we were just reacting to a big need in the community. This community deserves a huge amount of credit because people cared.”
In the early years Kitty was the only paid employee of the SFA. Although she had help from volunteers and some college student interns, she said that there were never enough hands. “We made it up as we went along!” was Kitty’s take on the first year. She remembers spending hours sitting with students and parents, guiding them through applying for college and financial aid. Kitty said that when the Fund was in its infancy, she and others recruited their friends and members of the community to read and evaluate scholarship applications. Born out of a lack of having a formal committee and staff, Kitty maintains that involving members of the community as application readers served the program well. She is happy to see this approach still used today, inspiring community members to learn more and to become donors and volunteers.
The SFA gala is Alexandria’s annual not-to-be missed black-tie event. Five hundred generous people come together each spring to raise money for our kids. The origins of the gala go all the way back to 1989 when Cassandra Bradley wanted to fund a scholarship in her late daughter’s name. The first gala was held at the Bradley home on Braddock Road, gathering 200 guests to raise money for the Staci C. L. Bradley Memorial Scholarship. As Kitty recalled, “This was a big party for Alexandria. A lot of people who came in the early years were friends of Cassandra’s from D.C.”
The Fund has grown to award scholarships to over 200 students annually plus renewal awards. To date the SFA has awarded over 17 million dollars in scholarships! When asked if she could have foreseen what the SFA would become, Kitty exclaimed that she never had any idea. At its inception Kitty and those who worked to create the SFA were only focused on the immediate need of Alexandria’s students. They certainly never imagined what the Fund would grow into or that it would still be going strong 37 years later!
When asked to assess the impact that the SFA has had on the community, Kitty was deeply moved to point out that, “The SFA really represents everyone pulling together to help Alexandria’s kids.” She also noted that many former scholarship recipients have returned to Alexandria as professionals and donors to the SFA. For this reason, Kitty loves the Portraits of Success. Alexandria invests in its kids, and they, in turn, invest in their community. It really is a thing of beauty.
We salute Kitty Porterfield and the other savvy and generous people who came together in 1985 to create the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria. These determined Alexandrians embraced a then novel approach to helping students realize their college dreams, and for that, we are grateful.
By Lois Cramer-Brown
