About us
Five people who grew up in West Chester. What this place gave us, and what we are giving back.
Why we started this
The five of us grew up here. We went to different places for school, studied different things and ended up in different cities, but the same thing happened to each of us: the education we got changed what we thought was possible for ourselves.
That is what we want to hand to somebody else.
None of it started with us. It started here, with the teachers, the coaches, the families and the neighbors who made it normal to aim at something. Some of us came back to Chester County and some of us did not. All five of us know where it came from.
There are students here right now who want that same education and cannot have it, for one reason: money. That is the only thing standing between them and it. So we are removing it.
What matters is that they get to go. If West Chester is the kind of place that sends its students after what they want, that is worth something to West Chester, wherever they end up.
Our mission
The Open Road Foundation exists to uplift Philadelphia Area students pursuing a college degree through financial support and mentorship, offering greater educational opportunities and a chance to explore their passions in the settings that will help them flourish.
One note on that, in plainer words: every award we make today goes to a West Chester Area School District student. "Philadelphia Area" is where we are going, not where we are.
Where we stand
- Registered 501(c)(3)
- Approved in Pennsylvania
- Articles of incorporation
We have completed every Pennsylvania requirement for a new nonprofit, and we are ready to operate as a 501(c)(3) partner.
Our partnership with WCASD
The school district has agreed to partner with us on four fronts.
- Sponsoring district-wide and school-specific events
- Promoting our scholarship in its schools
- Sharing input on the students who apply
- Marketing Open Road as an official district-wide scholarship partner
Where this is going
- $10,000This year's goal
- $25,000As partners join
- $50,000With sponsors
- Six figuresThe long run
Ultimately, we could see this becoming hundreds of thousands of dollars as a community endowment, generating thousands a year for scholarships. We plan year by year and review our goals annually. Over time, corporate sponsorships and partnerships will carry the fund from one milestone to the next.
The five of us
Five people, named, with our roles. Write to any of us at our shared inbox, openroadfdn.admin@gmail.com.
Joe Clark
President
West Chester East, then the University of Alabama for math, finance, and economics. Now an associate at BCG.
Riley Boutin
Treasurer
Connecticut to West Chester to Auburn University, for finance, picked because it was unfamiliar. Now in wealth management in Tampa.
Niko Levin
VP, Outreach
The University of Miami by way of West Chester East. Now an analyst at Accenture in Philadelphia, the closest of the five to home.
Jackson Kulp
VP, Development
Abilene Christian University after West Chester East. Now a doctorate in physical therapy at the University of Pittsburgh.
Demetrius Smith Jr.
VP, Marketing
The Ohio State University, chosen to see somewhere he had never been. Now an analyst at Accenture in New York.
Our first scholarship, this May.
We're building the fund now. Our first scholarship goes to a WCASD senior on May 1, and the fund keeps paying out every year after.