Chicago Scholars

https://chicagoscholars.org/

Founded in 1996 by then Chairman of Nuveen Investments, Tim Schwertfeger, and his wife Gail Waller, Chicago Scholars provided a onetime award of $1,000 to a graduating senior nominated from every public, private and parochial high school in Chicago. The intent of the program was to highlight talent regardless of the student’s high school or neighborhood. Before long, the Foundation caught the attention of Manny Sanchez and Gery Chico, whose Chicagoland Scholarship Fund helped young Hispanic students realize their dreams of college education, and in 2002 the two organizations merged to become Scholarship Chicago.