Your Story Here! Be a Coke Scholars Ambassador

Remind me how the program works – it’s been a while!

• We award $20,000 scholarships to 150 high school seniors across the United States each year.
• Coke Scholars are visionary leaders. They are selected in recognition of their leadership, service, and dedication to positively affecting others.
• There are 3 stages in the selection process. After students apply online, around 1,900 Semifinalists are selected, then 250 Regional Finalists, then 150 Coke Scholars.

Give me some key numbers that show how CCSF and the alumni network are making an impact.

• Through the Coca-Cola Scholars Program, CCSF has awarded over $66 million in scholarships to 30 classes of Coca-Cola Scholars, empowering 6,027 students through education since 1989.
• Alumni include:
  • 7 elected government officials
  • 300+ nonprofit founders, board members, and founders
  • 700+ national, state, and local government staff
  • 30 college administrators
  • 200+ c-level executives, including 2 fortune 1000 presidents
  • 175+ business entrepreneurs
  • 5+ broadway actors and playwrights
  • 100+ Rhodes, Marshall, Fulbright and Truman Scholars

Please do!

You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

We really appreciate you spreading the word about our scholarship!

If you publish an article about CCSF on your website, we would be happy to promote it.

A great example is Aaron Chadbourne's piece below, which he wrote in Medium after serving on the Regional Interview Committee.

The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation

“Congratulations to the 2016 Class of Coca-Cola Scholars. It was an honor to be part of this year’s selection process. The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation has been instrumental to my life — not just because of the significant financial help with college, which was huge — but due in large part to the network of great scholars and the support of the Foundation, the Coca-Cola Company (including CEO Muhtar Kent, who personally champions Scholars and the Foundation) and local bottlers. Looking forward to continuing to build a dynamic community of Scholar alumni. Thrilled to welcome a new group of inspirational young people.”

To get started, email Lauren O’Brien with an idea for your content.

That would be amazing! We’re always looking for great content for our site.

Possible subjects include:

• how becoming a Coke Scholar has positively impacted your life
• how you are bettering a community of people either alone or with other Scholars
• your experience at a CCSF event

Benefits (writing takes time and we want it to be worth your while!):

• Your content featured and promoted on CCSF’s website and social channels
• A link to your website in the post
• Reach a new and large audience
• Resume-building experience

Some examples of Scholar-created content on our site:

Sam Gorman: Increasing College Access Through Peerlift

Sam had a hard time finding help to go to college, so he co-founded Peerlift, transforming access to opportunities for high school students across the United States.

Heather Weller: A Leadership Experience Like No Other

2017 Scholar Heather Weller shares her experience at the Coca-Cola Scholars Leadership Development Institute, and how it changed her mindset as she heads to college.

5 Ways to be an Everyday Change Agent

Change agents aren’t superheroes. They’re everyday people, just like you. Here are 5 ways to incorporate our hands, heart, and knowledge to create a lasting change. (A recap from the 2016 Service Summit.)

To get started, email Lauren O’Brien with an idea for your content.

Of course! We're open to any of your ideas.

One that worked really well was an Instagram takeover.

Coke Scholars Take our Instagram to Haiti

Alice Park and Jany Brown took over our Instagram as they explored how to make an impact with Haiti Babi, an organization dedicated to keeping families together.

Alice and Jany posted using the CCSF account for a few days, and when they were done, we used Storify to create an article of their posts for our website.

If you have a storytelling idea, email Lauren O'Brien.

That would be awesome! Just use the "share" buttons at the end of these articles.

Si Se Puede: How Coca-Cola Scholar Adan Gonzalez is Freeing Himself and His Community Through Education

In hopes that an education would give him and his family a better life, he sat on the curb outside a local McDonald’s, using a borrowed laptop and hacked Wi-Fi access, to write an application for the Coca-Cola Scholars Program scholarship.

It’s a decision that changed his life.

Wesli Jones: 'Once You Become a Coca-Cola Scholar, You’re Part of an Amazing Family'

Wesli Jones’ motto is as simple as it is profound. “Live life with an open hand. Freely give and freely receive.”

Jones has lived and breathed those eleven words in recent months. The associate producer on CNN’s digital programming team recently completed her final chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin Disease. Tough stuff for a 23-year-old.

Daron Roberts: A Gentleman and a Scholar

You would have better odds of becoming an astronaut than a high-schooler has of getting into the Coca-Cola Scholars program. Daron Roberts beat those odds 20 years ago, and today, he teaches collegians about the same qualities that forged his success: empathy and vulnerability. He’s so good at it, he can break through even the hardest shells.

Sam Gorman: Increasing College Access Through Peerlift

Sam had a hard time finding help to go to college, so he co-founded Peerlift, transforming access to opportunities for high school students across the United States.

Bridget Galaty: Raising Awareness with Her Lens

From arts education to transgender rights, Bridget enlightens viewers with her documentaries.

Lorenzo Daniel: Racing to Make a Difference

An athletic and academic star, LJ took it a step further. He started In the Game, a tutoring organization to help keep his fellow athletes eligible to participate.

Adriana Nazarko: Committed to the Common Good

Whether she’s building an app to register viral and bacterial genetic codes, empowering youth through FLASTEM, or getting hospital patients to the ER, it’s all about helping others.