Access Reports

Message from the President of The Sallie Mae Fund

Kathleen M. deLaski, president of The Sallie Mae FundThis fall, The Sallie Mae Fund has seen the reach of our "college is possible" message grow exponentially through two key media partnerships. Sometimes you just get lucky.

We were so fortunate to have Vince Papale working for us when he got the call from Disney. "We're making a movie on your life," he was told. Read Vince's story and see how the oldest rookie in the NFL went on tour for The Sallie Mae Fund to inspire students with not one, but two dreams he fulfilled: to play professional football and to be the first in his family to go to college.

We also stepped up our media partnership with MTV this year as we launched The Sallie Mae Fund's third "Paying for College" Bus Tour. We visited 19 East Coast cities this fall, introducing families and students to sources of financial aid. This story introduces our new national spokeswoman, Lilyan Prado, who is inspiring families at each stop.

Vince and Disney and MTV and Lilyan are great examples of how passion plus media partnerships can take the "college is possible" message to a new level. If you have ideas on how to partner in these two areas, please email me at Kathleen.deLaski@thesalliemaefund.org.

Lastly, we are excited to announce that more than 1,000 students are closer to achieving their college dreams this fall, thanks to $2.6 million in scholarships from The Sallie Mae Fund. A complete listing of the 2006 scholarship recipients and the schools they are attending, as well as application information for the 2007 scholarships, can be found at the newly redesigned www.salliemaefund.org.

The Sallie Mae Fund wishes you a happy holiday season.

Kathleen deLaski
President, The Sallie Mae Fund
Kathleen.deLaski@thesalliemaefund.org

Also in this issue of the Access Report:

Worth checking out:

The links provided in this "Worth checking out" section are third-party websites not hosted by The Sallie Mae Fund.