The Scholarship Academy Wins Prestigious 2012 Echoing Green BMA Fellowship The Atlanta-based Student Empowerment Organization Selected out of Thousands of Nominees World-wide

ATLANTA, GA, July 08, 2012

After a rigorous six-month evaluation process, Echoing Green announced that The Scholarship Academy had been selected as one of its 2012 BMA Fellows. As one of its global fellowship award winners, The Scholarship Academy was recognized as, "one of thirty-six visionaries with ideas so bold and convictions so strong they could shake the world," through the official announcement by Echoing Green. As an Echoing Green BMA Fellowship winner, The Scholarship Academy will also receive a significant financial award.

Since its founding in 1987 by the leadership and investment of the leading global growth equity firm, General Atlantic, Echoing Green has provided more than 500 promising social entrepreneurs working in over forty countries with $31 million in start-up funding, customized support services, and access to a global network of leaders. Echoing Green social innovators have gone on to launch, and now lead, some of today's most important social enterprises throughout the world.

Echoing Green's premier program is its highly competitive global BMA Fellowship, which provides more than $2 million in seed support to a diverse group of emerging social entrepreneurs every year. From thousands of applicants, typically less than one percent are ultimately selected to receive up to $90,000 over two years to support the launch and, or development of their new organizations.

Echoing Green has created key social innovation pipelines for national service, workers' rights, food sovereignty, and college access including: Teach for America, City Year, Public Allies, Citizen Schools, Blue Engine, The Workplace Project, Freelancers Union, the Workers' Rights Law Center of New York, Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, The Food Project, Added Value, The Real Food Challenge, Gardens for Health International, One Acre Fund, College Summit, the SEED Foundation, Native American Community Academy, and Langston Hughes Academy.

Upon the award announcement, Jessica Johnson, founder of The Scholarship Academy, stated, "The Scholarship Academy is extremely honored to have been selected as a 2012 Echoing Green BMA Fellow. To be selected out of thousands of notable organizations from a world-wide stage is truly an honor of distinction. We are extremely privileged to have received this significant recognition and award from such a distinguished organization as Echoing Green."

Since its founding, The Scholarship Academy's outreach operations have engaged thousands of families and students through its scholarship workshops, boot camps, and fairs. What sets The Scholarship Academy's outreach operations apart from other scholarship programs is that not only do parents and students receive a structured education in scholarship funding and collegiate finance, but also the students are directly engaged to embrace civic activities designed to help them assume total ownership of their scholarship experience. "Now more than ever, it's time for us to empower young people to take ownership of the financial aid process," said Jessica Johnson. "It's going to take more than a workshop or a list of resources; it's about people helping students and families develop strategic college funding strategies."

Students of The Scholarship Academy are not only educated in collegiate funding, but they are also mentored in embracing civic engagement and community service. This key component of The Scholarship Academy program helps students build considerable leadership skills which in turn afford them significant leverage when it comes to scholarship attainment.

Since its founding, students of The Scholarship Academy have garnered over $5 million in scholarship funding and have earned recognition on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and in publications including U. S. News and World Report, Ebony, and The Washington Post.

About Jessica Johnson

Jessica Johnson, founder of The Scholarship Academy, was a recipient of over $200,000 in scholarship funding through her personal initiative. A Howard University graduate, Johnson is a renowned expert in scholarship and collegiate funding. Johnson is the author of The Scholarship Workbook: A 3-Step Scholarship Tutorial; was named one of Root Magazine's Top 100 Emerging Leaders; has been featured in Black Enterprise magazine, and is the recipient of numerous distinguished awards including the Discover Card Tribute Award, the J. C. Penney Golden Rule Award, and the Women Leaders in Government Relations Foundation Award.

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