The FUTURE Foundation of Sacramento is a nonprofit that provides scholarships to high-achieving students from at-risk backgrounds who are first-in-family to attend college. Future Foundation awards five-year scholarships of $5000 per year, totaling $25,000.

Originally launched by former KCRA news anchor Stan Atkinson as the Stan Atkinson Foundation, upon his retirement, the organization became the FUTURE Foundation of Sacramento in 2006. The impact since inception includes 128 annual scholarship awards distributed, $780,000 of scholarship funding to local students and $2.9 million in financial aid grants and other scholarships accessed by award recipients.

In 2023, FUTURE welcomed community leaders Wally Borland and Raquel Williams to its board of directors, and Yoon Chao to the position of executive director. “FUTURE Sacramento comes with a rich history assisting students from low-income backgrounds through their college experience. I’m proud to be part of an organization with a vision to propel our youth,” Chao says.

FUTURE Foundation students are an ever-increasing corps of successful young achievers and leaders, growing year by year. Here, a
few of them note FUTURE’s role in their educational journeys.

Thomas Norse
A Foothill High School 11th-grader says, “FUTURE Foundation enabled me to meet new people and explore the great opportunities they offered. FUTURE has helped me foster innovation, engage with my community, build a network, and experience personal growth. They also made me realize that it’s worth putting in effort toward a goal because you’ll thank yourself in the end.”

Estefania Ortiz Garcia
A Florin High School 11th-grader says, “The scholarship money is an enormous help to my family, but what has impacted me most is having people support me in my future engineering career — support I didn’t have before as a first-generation student. After only a couple of months with my mentors, I feel I’m one step closer to achieving my goals.”

Gabrielle Montgomery
A CSU San Diego psychology major says, “I’ve been an A student, but even with my good grades, I knew paying for college would be challenging. My parents are supportive, but not in the best positions to help with the high cost of a college education. Having a scholarship through FUTURE Foundation is immeasurable. I’m grateful for their guidance and support on my continuing collegiate journey.”

Vladyslava Noga
A UC Davis pre-med/human biology major says, “FUTURE Foundation has been my financial and emotional support through all my years in high school and thus far in university. It inspires me to be a better version of myself knowing I have so many people who believe in me and are sure I can do great things.”

Manh Huynh
2020 Sacramento State mechanical engineering graduate and current senior project engineer says, “My appreciation and relationship with FUTURE started in high school 10 years ago and have continued to this day working as a construction engineer assisting in the building of Sacramento-area hospitals. Their financial aid and mentorship paved the way for many students like me to receive an education and become contributors to society.”

Fundraising events support FUTURE’s operations, including the annual Fairway to the Future golf tournament. The next tournament will be held Sept. 30, 2024, at Catta Verdera Country Club. Jerry Royster and Nick Johnson hosted in 2023 and FUTURE is working with several other celebrities to host the 2024 tournament.

Star power also infuses other FUTURE fundraisers. In 2024, FUTURE will sponsor a play featuring Danielle Truitt, a Sacramento native, from the hit TV show Law & Order Organized Crime.

To support and learn more about FUTURE Foundation’s mission, visit futurefoundationsacramento.org