The NAACP Vancouver Branch ACT-SO Scholarship Fund: Recognizing Black excellence and history

The NAACP Vancouver Branch ACT-SO Scholarship Fund is a beautiful reminder that history is made every day.

As we recognize the 100th anniversary of Black History Month, we’re honoring both the leaders who created space for Black excellence and the young scholars who are carrying that legacy forward today.

In 2022, we partnered with local NAACP leaders and generous donors to launch a special scholarship for students in our community. The NAACP Vancouver Branch ACT-SO Scholarship Fund supports African American high school students in Southwest Washington who participate in the local ACT-SO Achievement Program. The goal: help students pursue their dreams after high school.

The scholarship is open to students working toward college, technical training and other post-secondary goals. So far, it has provided $35,500 in financial support. Last year alone, it assisted six students who are working hard in school, giving back to their communities and preparing for future careers.

Elevating Black Student Excellence in Southwest Washington

These ACT-SO scholars represent the impact of scholarships for Black students in Southwest Washington — supporting leadership, creativity and academic excellence. We’re honored to walk alongside these students as they make their own history.

Talile - Informatics major at the University of Washington

Talile is a driven first-generation college student who is passionate about increasing equity in the technology field. As Vice President of Black in Informatics, she helps recruit new members, builds partnerships and organizes career-focused events.

She also volunteers with UW’s AVELA initiative, where she teaches Python, electrical engineering basics and college-readiness skills to K–12 students from underrepresented backgrounds. Talile is a Dean’s List student and an MLT Career Prep Fellow.

Her motivation comes from her own life experiences, including growing up in a single-parent household and facing systemic barriers. After earning her undergraduate degree, Talile plans to pursue graduate studies in urban informatics, using data to improve community health and infrastructure.

Layla - Early Childhood Education major at Central Washington University

Layla’s journey to college shows strength, determination and a deep commitment to helping others. After experiencing homelessness as a child and later managing anxiety and depression, she worked hard to succeed in school and become the first in her family to attend college.

Giving back has always been important to Layla. She has supported staff at the Boys & Girls Club as a junior volunteer leader and helped her mother distribute food and hygiene kits to people experiencing homelessness.

On campus, Layla is involved in the Black Student Union and hopes to take on future leadership roles that support students of color. She plans to become an elementary school teacher who helps children feel seen, supported and capable.

Stephanie – Business Economics major at Washington State University

Stephanie is deeply committed to expanding access to education. That passion led her to become a student caller for Call a Coug, WSU’s alumni fundraising program. In this role, she builds relationships with alumni to raise funds that support scholarships and grants for current students.

Stephanie brings the same dedication to her studies and has earned a place on the President’s Honor Roll. She also serves her community through faith-based outreach, tutoring students, and volunteering at food drives and neighborhood clean-ups.

Her drive is shaped by challenges her family has faced, including managing chronic illness and navigating racial barriers. Stephanie hopes to become an economist and work toward creating economic stability and opportunity for underserved families.

Nia – Digital Media Arts major at Clark College

Nia is a student and employee at Clark College, where she is earning a degree in Digital Media Arts. Her studies span STEM and the arts, combining key subjects like programming, videography, web development and graphic design.

She is also making an impact on the community at Clark as an Events Coordinator in Student Life. Working on a team of four, she budgets, plans and promotes events for fellow students. Several events she helped lead this year set records for student engagement at Clark since the start of the pandemic.

Nia maintains a 3.8 GPA and has earned a place on the Vice President’s List for student achievement. After graduating this spring, she plans to return to Clark and study welding.

The ACT-SO Program: Recognizing Black Students from Chicago to Portland and Beyond

The ACT-SO Achievement Program is more than a competition. It is a source of encouragement, empowerment and support for hundreds of students each year.

This is possible because of the late Vernon Jarrett, a scholar and journalist who moved to Chicago in 1946 during the Great Migration. Jarrett became a leading commentator on African-American history and the first Black syndicated columnist for The Chicago Tribune. But his proudest accomplishment was founding the Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics or ACT-SO for short.

The program was first created to celebrate Black academic and artistic achievement in Chicago. Later, Jarrett collaborated with the NAACP to expand the program. In 1978, ACT-SO arrived on the national stage during the NAACP National Conference in Portland, Oregon.

Nearly fifty years later, more than 300,000 young people have participated in this “Olympics of the Mind.” That includes local students like Nia, Stephanie, Layla and Talile, and distinguished alumni like actors Anthony Anderson and Jennifer Hudson, musicians Alicia Keys and Lauryn Hill, and authors Tananarive Due and Tayari Jones.

A Legacy of Recognizing and Celebrating Black Excellence

Knowing that so many accomplished leaders once stood on the ACT-SO stage inspires today’s students to aim high.

Help invest in this legacy, and the Black students across southwest Washington who are carrying it forward, with a gift to the NAACP Vancouver Branch ACT-SO Scholarship.

Carter G. Woodson, the founder of Black History Month, understood the virtuous cycle of recognizing Black excellence. He believed that recognizing and learning about Black achievements would help future generations imagine greater possibilities for themselves. And his idea changed the course of history.

ACT-SO founder Vernon Jarrett remembered his own teachers using Negro History Week (now Black History Month) to educate students about Black heroes. As a young man, he also spent countless hours at the George Cleveland Hall Branch Library — likely reading some of Woodson’s books. Even the words of head librarian Vivian Harsh stuck with Jarrett:

Inspired by mentors like these, Jarrett created ACT-SO to celebrate the brilliance of Black youth.

“It is urgent that we resort to a strategy…which can keep alive the inspiration and learning required to solve complex problems,” Jarrett insisted. “Our history says: We must never write off the potential for greatness among any of our beleaguered youth. Never!”

Through his program, generations of students have been encouraged to pursue excellence and believe in their potential. The NAACP Vancouver Branch ACT-SO Scholarship Fund keeps his vision alive locally by investing in Black students across Southwest Washington.