MISSION

The mission of the Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation is to promote access to educational opportunities in Cook County and to improve the quality of life in the North Shore communities of Cook, Lake and Southern St. Louis counties through grantmaking in the areas of Arts and Culture, Community & Economic Development, Education, Environment, and Social Welfare programs to qualified organizations.

The Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation 2020 Annual Report

Scholarship Summary

New Post-Secondary Scholarship Awards: 8 Awards; $22,062

Post-Secondary Renewal Scholarship Awards: 6 Renewal; 3 Second Renewal; $44,371

The Lloyd K. Johnson Post-Secondary Scholarship

While 2020, wasn’t exactly the college experience any of our students were anticipating, we are so proud of all of them for their adaptability and commitment during these challenging times.

For us, this year provided an exciting program expansion - adding a Financial Literacy class to our structured student supports. We spent the beginning of the year finalizing a curriculum tailored to college-aged students and drafting a participatory class structure via Zoom; then launched the pilot class in July in partnership with three amazing volunteers from Cook County who joined as knowledgeable and fun guest speakers.

Our first pilot financial class saw great results:

  • 100% of respondents were satisfied with the class
  • 100% of students increased their financial knowledge (by an average of nearly 2x)
  • 100% of respondents felt their relationship with Foundation staff was stronger after taking the class

    Best practice and student feedback, has us aiming to integrate this class within Cook County High School for all seniors; but until then, we will gladly offer it to our awardees. And while we’re pleased with the results, we’re most proud of the last – stronger relationships – as we know this is the key to a successful partnership between our staff and our students.

    This year also provided us with an opportunity to describe what we do in a more polished way. Our Scholarship Program is non-traditional, and we’re proud of that. Over the years, partners have asked us to describe how and what we do. This year, we were happy to make that a reality; sharing our newest Foundation report with area funders and national partner Exponent Philanthropy this past fall.
    Take a look!


    Despite changing and challenging times, we’re pleased to remain a steady option for student’s higher education. This year may or may not be the college experience students have hoped for, but we’ll be proud to walk alongside them, every step of the way.

    Post-Secondary Scholarship Award Recipients

    Doran Acero, Trevor Berglund, Chloe Blackburn, Mason Liljestrand, Masen McKeever, Sarah Slivinski, Dominic Wilson, Bianca Zimmer

    Post-Secondary Renewal Scholarship Award Recipients

    Dyami Blackwell, Jaymee Dossey, Luke Johnson, Andrea Larsen, Cecilia Swader

    Post-Secondary 2nd Renewal Scholarship Award Recipients

    Finnian Garry, Joseph James

    To learn more about the Scholarship Program, click here.