- PNC is proud to support "Business Forward", where community leaders discuss the issues confronting business in central Illinois.

(bright music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Welcome to "Business Forward", I'm your host, Matt George.

Joining me tonight.

Mary Jo Schettler, Executive Director of Peoria Promise, and Dr.

Rob Bell, President of the Board of Peoria Promise, welcome, Mary Jo, and welcome, Rob.

- [Both] Thank you.

- I mean, let's get right down to it because I've always loved Peoria Promise and you know how I feel about community and how I feel about kids.

And so, we've talked over the years of the impact that Peoria Promise has, but for those who don't know, but they need to know, Mary Jo, what is Peoria Promise and how did it start?

- Well, Peoria Promise started 15 years ago now, and it was developed and founded by Mayor Jim Ardis, and group of local businessmen and companies that recognized that the labor pool that was needed to fill the jobs in the Peoria market, just wasn't there, the educated skilled workforce that the region needed.

So they put this plan together.

Initially, the first Promise organization that had been started was out of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Kalamazoo provides tuition to their high school graduates to attend a local community college.

But the difference between Kalamazoo and Peoria Promise, Kalamazoo had a large endowment that had been gifted by DuPont, and Peoria Promise is a 100% donor funded organization.

We did not have a big endowment.

But 15 years later, this program is still here.

And the purpose of Peoria Promise is to provide tuition to city of Peoria high school graduates to attend Illinois Central College.

That's exactly what the program is, it is that simple.

- So, students, is it 100% tuition or is it, I've read different things, 50%, 100%, what's the exact?

- So the reimbursement model was established about five years ago with Peoria Promise.

And what it is is Peoria Promise is a last dollar program, meaning all students who graduate from high school in the state of Illinois are required to apply for FAFSA, which is free financial student aid through the government.

And in that program, they are given what is referred to as an EFC score, estimated family contribution.

So it is determined, based on need, how much financial aid you are eligible for.

What happens then is based on the EFC score, Peoria Promise students are eligible for 50 to 100% reimbursement of whatever tuition is not covered by the financial aid.

That's how it works.

- That's awesome.

So, Dr. Bell, you come on the board, and somebody like you, there's many opportunities to go on different non-profit boards or committees, or even within your work, you're asked to be on state boards or maybe even national boards.

What made you choose to be on Peoria Promise board?

And because when you go all in as board chair, that's a lot of time.

- Sure, so, I like Peoria Promise because of my commitment to education.

And why do I have such a commitment to education is because I know what education has done for me.

Education has literally been like a ticket that has allowed me to do so many things in my life, to go places that I never dreamed I would go to and to do things I never thought I would be able to do, frankly.

So I would like to get other people to buy into education so that they can do the same thing.

I think that education can change their life, the life of their kids and the lives of their seeds, just going forward.

I think it's the surest way for a person to change their socioeconomic life.

- I know that you love education because right before we started this show, you got a text from your son about an opportunity with education and you just started glowing.

So it's real, right?

- It is, absolutely.

- It's real.

So, MJ, let's talk about nonprofits for a minute, and you know this has been my space for years, but outcomes are what drive dollars.

And I think a lot of times nonprofits and the community or funders, whoever it may be, they forget about that piece, but there's a value piece to a program that's very important.

But along with the numbers, which we'll get to numbers in a minute, there's also success stories.

And over time, what's happened is you start building these stories and when people ask me towards the end of my nonprofit career, what was your job like?

I would say, "I'm just a storyteller right now."

So tell us a story, give us an example that just blows you away.

- Oh my gosh, there are so many.

In the five years that I've been involved with the organization, we've worked really hard at getting those stories together.

Not only getting the data, but really communicating well with who we refer to as our alumni.

And there are so many great stories to tell.

I can think of right now, a woman who was a single mom, just out of high school, went into Peoria Promise, found out about the program, went through Peoria Promise, went through the nursing program.

First of all, became an LPN, then she went back to school, became an RN.

- [Matt] Wow.

- And she is now, just this past April, she is now a doctor of nursing, and she was one of our first- - That just gave me chills.

- Yeah, I agree.

She was one of our first Peoria Promise recipients.

So in 2008, 2009 is when she started.

And she is just, and there's a hundred more of her.

There is a dental hygienist who did the same thing and actually didn't know where they were gonna go and found out about the program.

And so much of it, as we'll talk about later, but 65% of our students would not have been able to even go on to college, according to the surveys, without Peoria Promise, that we made that difference, just that little bit of money, I mean, 2, 3, 4, $5,000 makes a difference for them to go on and get their certificates from ICC, and how lucky are we to have such a great community college like we have in ICC here?

- Well, I had Dr. Sheila Quirk-Bailey on the show here, and you talk about a lady in charge.

- [MJ] Mm-hm.

- I mean, she knows what she's doing, number one, but she's got a plan.

And I just love the way she operates because both her and President Standifird at Bradley, they both have different ways of knowing that education is changing, which means your business is changing along with that, right?

- Absolutely.

- I mean, it's crazy.

- We work very closely with Dr. Quirk-Bailey and Arnitria Shaw, who is workforce development and diversity for the ICC, Kim Armstrong, Bruce Budde, we work very closely with them because everything that we do with our students is all verified through ICC, so it isn't just random here, that we work very closely with them and, my God, the programs that they offer are just wonderful and the goals that they have.

And then you also have to remember to mention Dr. Jamel Wright at Eureka College.

- Yeah, I mean, again, yes, another great president of college.

- So, she's great.

I did wanna go back to, we talked about success stories, we've come full circle to this point, we have two of our Peoria Promise alumni that are on our board of directors now.

- Are you kidding me?

That's awesome.

- And they are both successful in our community, they have gone on and done exactly what we hoped and it has for hundreds of our students, but hoped would happen, that they completed their education, got into the career path that their goal was, had become successful in their jobs, have gotten married, had children, bought a home and become productive contributors to the community.

And that's what the whole goal, that simply is the whole goal of Peoria Promise.

- Yeah, I mean, I think that's one of the coolest things.

And so, Rob, let's talk about this for a second.

So one of the things that I talk about a lot on this show, and I think it's very important is, how do you retain students and keep people in this region, right?

Well, Peoria Promise, what Mary Jo just said, it just proves that and that's pretty cool stuff.

- Absolutely.

91% of the people that complete our program actually stay in the Peoria region, so we're very, very happy about that.

- [Matt] That's phenomenal.

- Yes.

- That's phenomenal.

So think of terms, you were talking about education earlier and the importance and the impact it had on you, right?

So think about the confidence, or I'm gonna take a step back, think about a kid that wants to go to school, or at least has dreamt of going to school, but they don't have the wherewithal to do it, tough situation, whatever it may be.

And they sit here and they find out that they're eligible for Peoria Promise, they get the scholarship, think about what that does for the confidence.

- Absolutely.

When people feel like they have a definitive skill set that helps them to be more confident, They know they have value add to a company or to an industry where they would like to work versus a kid who feels like, geez, I don't know what I can do.

But when a kid has an idea that this is what I can do, I know I can do it, I've been trained to do it, they're much more confident as they face the world.

- And you know what's cool too is, we were known for years being a manufacturing town, and now really all of central Illinois has become a medical community, a healthcare community, and ICC, so with the help of Peoria Promise, then they get their certificates, you get CNAs, you get people that are going into the trades, and it is just cool stuff.

- Oh yeah, 34% of our kids that go through Peoria Promise do stay within healthcare, and that's that confidence piece we were just talking about.

They gain the education, they feel like they have something to offer.

And that's exactly what they go and do.

They recognize that healthcare is big in our industry, and so they get those skills and that training in those areas and they go out and confidently seek jobs.

And the good news is they are met with their needs, their needs are being met, so these companies are saying, "Yes, we need you, come on, come on in."

And so I think that's a great and tremendous confidence builder for these kids.

- I agree, so, Mary Jo, let's talk process for a second.

You said Peoria students, so who's eligible?

- So eligibility is any city of Peoria high school graduates, so they have to reside in the city of Peoria for a minimum of four years, and they have to graduate from high school.

So the caveats there are this, you live in the city of Peoria, but you attend Dunlap, yes, you are eligible.

You live in the city of Peoria, but you attend Limestone.

- [Matt] Or homeschooled.

- Exactly, yes, you are eligible, and our homeschool students.

So initially, the program was public school students only.

And in 2015, 2016, we just broadened that because we heard from the community and said, "Hey, how come?"

Because not all the kids that go to Notre Dame are going on four year colleges, they may just be going to ICC.

So you graduate from high school, you're a resident of the city of Peoria, and you apply for Peoria Promise and there's no GPA, I wanna make sure we talk about that for a minute, there's no grade requirements, no GPA requirements to be eligible for Peoria Promise.

And that's super critical.

We cover all the certificate work, any certificate work that would be issued through ICC, whether it be in the skilled trades- - [Matt] IT.

- IT, community service, which is police and firefighters, EMTs, engineers, no matter what, it's covered.

Once you've enrolled in our program, we do let you know that you're accepted, the only caveat is you must maintain a C or better in your coursework.

- Okay, that was one of my questions.

I think that's a nice incentive, sit there and you can still have a C average, but still, 'cause I was that guy.

(laughs) So do the students pay up front or do they do that and then they're reimbursed or how do you do that?

- So the process is this, like I mentioned before, they have to apply for FAFSA, and then FAFSA confirms to them what they're eligible, the amount that they would be eligible for, all right?

So they enroll at ICC.

ICC is aware of how much they are eligible for through FAFSA.

So with most of the students, there is a balance.

Many of the students, there's a balance.

Those are the dollars that are eligible for Peoria Promise.

We reimburse each semester.

So at the end of each semester is when we reimburse the dollars.

So that in between number is ICC has a deferred payment program, if you will, where if there is a balance due on their tuition, let's say their tuition for the fall semester is $4,000, they're gonna get 3,000 from FAFSA, the thousand dollars is what they're liable for and what's eligible through Peoria Promise.

- Okay.

- But then what we also tell them, remember, Peoria Promise is 50 to 100% based on that EFC score.

80% of our kids are low income students so they fall in the 100% - [Matt] 80%?

- About 75, 80%.

- [Matt] Wow.

- Of our students are considered low income.

So they're eligible for that hundred percent reimbursement of their balance.

- How hard is it to track post ICC?

I'm guessing it's just really up to the student to kind of share that story because I think you said something earlier that I have always had a hard time with is once kids get a certain age and become adults, sometimes they don't wanna have anything to do with the social service, that life's behind me, and you want 'em to feel that way.

But at the same time, you wanna celebrate those successes with them because you saw them as 11 year olds and 12 and all the way up, right?

- Well, and exactly that, Matt.

What we've tried to do, especially over the past five years, is really engage with that alumni.

That's part of why we have two alumni board members, they're actively identifying these students.

- That's smart.

- Initially, it wasn't always as easy to contact them once they graduated because of not having current phone numbers or not having a current personal email, but we have that and we've worked really hard at identifying these students.

And they've become very open in communicating with us, and we're really pleased about that because we wanna celebrate them.

- I love it.

I mean, I love the idea of giving these kids opportunities to further their education because, Dr. Bell, you don't know what's gonna go on next, right?

This could turn into four year college, it could turn into being a doctor like yourself.

- Absolutely.

- [Matt] I mean, it's pretty cool stuff.

- So that's what's so good about Peoria Promise, kids are given an opportunity to get a start, once they've completed their two years at ICC, they can then transfer many of their credits to either Eureka, like Uniquely Eureka, I believe is a program, they could also go to Bradley, they could go to the state schools and turn this opportunity to a four year degree for them.

- It could be the kickstart to Harvard.

- Absolutely.

- You don't know.

- Graduate school, you never know, that's the beauty in education.

- I think that is what's cool about it.

And what's also neat is people are always pounding about tax dollars and this and that, there's no local state or federal tax dollars tied to this.

That's what's neat about this program.

I love it, I love it.

- Absolutely.

- So, MJ, Peoria Promise is the only program of its kind.

Why aren't there more programs like this throughout the United States?

Because you'd think this would be, everybody's always worried about jobs and keeping people in regions and everything, this seems like it's a pretty cool model.

- Well, as I mentioned earlier, the Kalamazoo was the first of the models.

There are now over 300 Promise organizations across the country.

- [Matt] Oh, I didn't know that.

- But they all operate differently.

There isn't a blueprint for this is how a Promise organization operates.

Some of them are really more mentoring driven, some of them are funded by their local and state governments, there's all kinds.

There is a national organization called College Promise that really is a marketing tool for all the Promise organizations across the country, it's kind of a resource, you can go on there, you can see information about Peoria Promise, you can find out what might be available.

But like I said, they're all different.

But here in our region, we are the only program of its kind, period.

- That's crazy, so I'm just gonna read some stats that I got here that, and I'm not gonna go over all of 'em, but ones that blow me away.

Over 4,600 students have been awarded funds.

- Yeah, and actually we're up to almost 5,000 now with this spring graduation, we just went through.

- All right, so you talk about changing lives and saving lives, that number's pretty big.

- [MJ] Yeah.

- All right.

73% of Peoria Promise recipients are employed while in school, that's a big one.

- That is true, many students have to do that.

- But what I love about it is that keeps them ingrained into the community, and I think that's an important piece.

Maybe that's why you have board members that actually come through and stay.

We talk about being that productive tax paying citizen.

Now, you mentioned a stat earlier, MJ, and I find this one really hard to believe.

68% would not have attended college without Peoria Promise.

- It's true, and 47% are still first in family to attend college.

That number just still blows me away, in the years that I've known about the organization and now personally been involved with it, 47% of our kids are still first in family to go to school.

That really is impressive to me as well.

- That's unbelievable, if you think about it.

Another one that I find that I love, 64% diversity in students, Asian, African American, Latino.

This is huge, this is huge for our region.

- [MJ] It is.

- 70% of the available jobs in the market required a two year certificate, did you know that stat before you came on board?

Would you have ever guessed anything like that?

- I did not have any idea.

I've learned so much since I've been involved with Peoria Promise.

- I think it's running a nonprofit for so many years, I always find it interesting to talk to board members because I think a board member typically goes into, what am I getting myself into?

Number one.

What do they want from me?

Number two, besides checkbook.

You know, you think of all those things.

But the thing that I always, when I talk to great board members, they always say the impact that the mission has on me has really changed a piece of my life, is that true?

- Absolutely.

What I also have enjoyed particularly about Peoria Promise is I get a chance to actually interact with kids, to really tell them my story, to tell them how important education is.

We live in a world today where some kids see education as the hard way, right?

You can look and you can make money doing TikTok videos.

So I think it's still very important for us to tell people how important education is so that whenever I get that chance to talk to kids, one on one or in a group, face to face, and tell them my story, I believe they begin to buy into this idea of education because although there are other ways to make money, some are illegal, other ways to make money, education gives you the best odds to doing what you want to do in life.

- Well, that's well said.

And if you think about our education structure around central Illinois, I mean, you have Bradley, you have Illinois State, you've got Eureka, you've got so many great schools.

So when you're at ICC on a Peoria Promise scholarship, it is endless, and I think that is what's great about this.

And having five kids myself, I keep pounding into my own kids, you have to get your education, you have to get these As and Bs, it's important.

I don't care if you happen to slip and maybe get a B or a C, but as long as you just keep trying.

And I think that I use the word "grit", that these kids, kind of like a little chip on your shoulder, like go prove it.

If you're the first person in your family to go to college, wouldn't it be cool to get a four year degree?

Wouldn't it be cool to be a doctor like you?

That's cool stuff.

- Absolutely.

- So, MJ, what's the next year look like?

- [MJ] Oh my God, - You've got so many students that are, you said what another few hundred?

I mean, that's crazy.

- Well, we have been providing support to an average between three and 400 students a year.

Now during COVID, that number went down a little bit, as I think everyone has seen ICC's enrollment went down, but now we think we're post COVID or we're into the new side of COVID is where we're at, our applications went up about 20, almost 30% for this fall semester.

We just have started, ICC just opened.

So our students are now actively in school right now, we've got about 380 students who are in school right now at ICC.

And we're already starting to work on our application with our high school juniors and seniors.

What we've been trying to do is get the message down even into the lower grades, at least at a minimum starting with freshmen.

And we work directly with all of the high schools, and you will see us now that we can get back in person, not only our staff, but our board is wonderful.

We go to the high schools, we sit and we talk with the students, we've got posters everywhere, they include us in their social media, on all their websites, in their parent newsletters that go out.

So it's really a grassroots kind of, we don't have a big marketing budget, we're not buying commercials and spending a lot of money that way, we're really boots on the ground, hand to mouth with our kids, and it's working.

We're seeing consistency in those numbers.

If our application numbers went down, that's because enrollment numbers went down, 30, actually, I'll give you stats, 27 to 35% of the students who are graduating from our high schools will apply for Peoria Promise and use it.

- [Matt] That's awesome.

- So again, you talked earlier about going on for four year degrees, so, of our graduation rate, 70% of our kids go out and get their two year certificate and are going out into the workforce right away.

We have about 30% who transfer, which is great.

- I want you to keep up the good work because Peoria Promise is awesome.

So, Mary Jo Schettler, thank you for coming on, Dr. Bell, we appreciate your service on the board.

I'm Matt George, and this is another episode of "Business Forward".

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