Millionaire philanthropist Pete Kadens is trying to do what President Biden hasn’t been able to get done.
In this image provided by Hope Chicago, Pete Kadens, Hope Chicago co-founder, shares the stage with Dr. Janice Jackson, CEO of Hope Chicago, where they announced on Feb. 25, 2022, that the entire student body, 503 students total, at Farragut Career Academy High School in Chicago, were receiving full, debt-free college scholarships to partner colleges and universities.
“No one walks out of this room the same today,” he said at Benito Juarez Community Academy. “We will walk out of here with a changed perspective on generosity, on humanity, on equality, and the fact that if we all put our minds together as a city and as a community, that we can and will do better.”Kadens, who made the bulk of his fortune as CEO of a billion-dollar cannabis operation, may be chasing a pipe dream. He needs to secure $1 billion in Chicago alone for 10 years of scholarships.
In the past five years, the number of promise programs has grown from 50 to nearly 350, according to College Promise, an advocacy group. Local donors — families, companies, universities and community colleges, and others — often drive and fund programs. “You’d be hard-pressed to find a promise program that is not based in or connected in some way to an area’s philanthropic sector,” says Michelle Miller-Adams, a Grand Valley State University scholar.
City leaders of Columbus, Ohio, fast-tracked a program in discussion for two years when the pandemic both deepened labor shortages and hurt college-going rates. “Talent development is the new economic development,” says John Tannous, the effort’s project manager. None of the new programs — and very few old ones — are as robust as Kalamazoo’s. “Cost constraints are a big issue,” says Miller-Adams of Grand Valley. “All of these are running on a shoestring.”
Pittsburgh offers perhaps the best example of how the vicissitudes of philanthropy’s backing can influence impact. Launched with the high-school class of 2008, the city’s promise program has provided scholarships to more than 10,000 students, along with wraparound services. The appeal of that aid has contributed to growth in the city’s population after decades of decline, says Max King, a former foundation chief who helped start the Pittsburgh Promise.Still, fundraising hasn’t been easy.
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