Our Story

The SFSF program had its genesis when a Governors Club employee described in a casual conversation the challenges of pursuing and financing a college degree while working full time.  This type of perseverance and accomplishment in any individual is laudable and led to an idea that members of the club should help and encourage committed employees and their children to further their education.  A proposal was made in October of 2018 to the Board of Directors of GC to form an independent organization to provide scholarship funds with the intent of supporting a broad spectrum of education opportunities from vocational training, high school equivalency certification, English as a second language to college courses leading to a degree.  This opportunity would provide these employees with a “Step Forward” in meeting their education and career aspirations. The GC board endorsed our approach and encouraged us to move ahead.  In the Spring of 2019, SFSF formed its Board of Directors, incorporated in NC and was granted not-for-profit status by the IRS.  Due to the economic hardships brought on by Covid-19 and the generosity of GC members, in 2020 the maximum grant was increased from $3,000 to $4,000 per year. In early 2021 the SFSF increased the maximum again from $4000 to $5000, and in 2022 to $6000. In addition, the organization plans to award one annual $10,000 scholarship named the Governors Scholarship. Since its establishment, the SFSF has awarded 80 scholarships totaling more than $380,000.  A total of 42 awards have gone to employees and 38 to children of employees.  The SFSF expects applications, recipients and average awards to increase in the coming years and to expand the scope of its programs. In early 2020, the SFSF established a mentoring program to provide career and education counseling to current and future applicants and recipients. In 2022, the organization began to cover the costs of application and test fees, housing deposits and initiated a program to provide financial support for recipients who take non-paying or low-paying internships. In 2023, the SFSF added program to provide stipends to recipients taking non-paying or low-paying internships. Our long-term goal is to significantly increase the number of members contributing to this program, and to assure that this opportunity will continue to be available to our outstanding employees and their children in the years to come.

Our Board of Directors

Nancy Broaddus
John Zaremba
Udo Koopmann
Eduardo Sanchez
Janie Butler
Janet Shaw
Bill Wallace
​Bhavna Patel
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President
Vice President
Treasurer
Secretary
Director
Director
Director
Director
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Committees

Nominating and Governance - ​Bill Wallace Chair; John Zaremba, Janet Shaw Members
Marketing and Communications - Janet Shaw Chair; Keith Peterson, Dan Kaferle Members
Scholarship - John Zaremba Chair; Jim LoFrese, Ellen Peirce, Carol Smithwick, Richard Andre Members
Fundraising - Bhavna Patel Chair;  
Mentoring - Janie Butler Chair; Marc Ingelbinck, Larry Manaugh, Kate Brekke, Leslie Strohm​ Members
Investment - John Zaremba Chair; Udo Koopmann, Cynthia Frost, and Bill Wallace Members
Governance - Bill Wallace Chair;
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Other Critical Volunteers

Barbara Bourn - Website Design and Maintenance
​Peter Pront - Legal and Tax Guidance