Birmingham Promise: Supporting Students to Learn, Thrive, and Lead Our City
Helping Students Build What Comes Next
Figuring out what comes after high school can be overwhelming.
College applications, tuition, financial aid, career choices, internships, and entering the workforce all bring decisions that students may be navigating for the first time.
For students in Birmingham City Schools, Birmingham Promise is helping make those steps easier to navigate.
For our October Nonprofit Highlight, Brickers Foundation journalist Tianna Monet spoke with Birmingham Promise CEO Samantha Williams about the organization's work helping young people access college, career opportunities, mentorship, and the resources they need to build their futures.
Taking Tuition Off the Table
Birmingham Promise’s mission is centered on helping Birmingham City Schools students achieve economic mobility, security, and prosperity.
One of the organization's largest programs is its last-dollar tuition scholarship. After grants and other eligible financial aid are applied, Birmingham Promise helps cover the remaining tuition costs for students attending public colleges and universities in Alabama.
The organization also recognizes that getting into college is only one part of the journey. Students may still encounter unexpected costs, financial aid questions, or challenges that can threaten their ability to remain enrolled.
To help, Birmingham Promise provides success coaching along with emergency financial support for students facing smaller expenses that could otherwise derail their education.
Building Career Experience Early
College is only one pathway Birmingham Promise helps students explore.
Through its internship and career programming, Birmingham City Schools students can gain professional experience while they are still in high school.
Students receive support with resumes, interviews, workplace expectations, communication, and professional dress before entering their placements. Birmingham Promise also works directly with employers to make sure internships provide meaningful projects, mentorship, and opportunities for students to build real skills.
Some of those experiences have already grown into longer-term opportunities. Williams shared that employers have brought interns back for summer positions and, in some cases, hired students into full-time roles after high school.
Seeing Students as the Investment
At the center of Birmingham Promise is an asset-based approach to working with young people.
The organization keeps many of its scholarship requirements intentionally accessible. Students are given the opportunity to pursue their goals without first having to prove themselves through a long list of academic achievements or extracurricular activities.
Williams put the philosophy simply:
“They’re the asset.”
Birmingham Promise works from the belief that students already bring talent, potential, experiences, and strengths with them. The organization’s job is to help connect those strengths with opportunity.
A Promise to Birmingham’s Future
For Williams, the long-term vision extends beyond individual scholarships or internships.
She hopes to see the young people Birmingham Promise serves return to the city as professionals, entrepreneurs, property owners, civic leaders, and community members who help Birmingham continue to grow.
That makes investing in students and investment in the future of the city itself.
As Birmingham Promise continues growing, its goal remains rooted in giving young people the opportunity to explore what comes next and the support to keep moving toward it.
Learn More
Learn more about Birmingham Promise, its scholarship program, internships, and ways to support its work.
