Read our 2025 Impact Report as we gear up for our 25th anniversary this fall!

Preparing the Next Generation of Southeast Michigan Leaders.

Thrive Scholars helps high-achieving students from low income communities across Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, and Washtenaw counties succeed at top colleges and achieve their full career potential.

Through our comprehensive six-year program, Scholars receive academic preparation, personalized college guidance, ongoing college support, career development, mentorship, and access to a powerful professional network.

Support Scholars from Southeast Michigan
Contact the Southeast Michigan Executive Director

Expanding opportunity across Southeast Michigan.

In Southeast Michigan, Thrive Scholars supports talented students from high school through college graduation and into the early stages of their careers, helping close gaps in academic preparation and professional access while creating pathways to long-term economic mobility.

Average family income
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Average High School GPA
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First generation in their families to attend college
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Where Scholars from Southeast Michigan go.

Michigan, Columbia, Harvard, Penn — and campuses across the country. Scholars don’t just get in. They graduate with the record, the internships, and the relationships that turn a degree into a career.

How Thrive Scholars invests in students.

  • College Preparation

    Rigorous academic preparation for highly selective colleges

  • College Success

    Academic guidance, personalized coaching, encouragement, and support throughout college

  • Career Readiness

    Career coaching, mentorship, internships, and professional networks

  • Lifelong Community

    A national community of Scholars, alumni, employers, and supporters

Explore Our Six-Year Program

What Scholars and partners say.

Thrive Scholars has provided me with the essential skills to excel in higher education while fostering lifelong connections. Through its supportive networks, I have received emotional, academic, and financial guidance that has been instrumental in shaping my journey.

Kelly, Yale University Kelly, Yale University Southeast Michigan Thrive Scholar

Thrive Scholars is helping ensure that talented students from Southeast Michigan not only have access to college, but also the support and resources they need to thrive once they get there. Their commitment to walking alongside students from college preparation through graduation and into meaningful careers reflects what it truly means to support students ‘to and through’ postsecondary education. This work is especially important in Southeast Michigan, where expanding access must be matched with a commitment to persistence, completion, and economic mobility.

Brandon Gleaton Brandon Gleaton ​​​​Senior Portfolio Manager, Ballmer Group

General Motors is excited to work with Thrive Scholars and their data driven approach to support youth across the country. With nearly 2,000 students impacted, this programming is inspiring a whole new generation of innovators and leaders in STEM.

Hal Garling Hal Garling Head of Grantmaking, General Motors

Southeast Michigan Partners

Our Southeast Michigan program is made possible by individual donors, corporations and foundations invested in making a difference across the Michigan area.

Partner with Thrive Scholars Southeast Michigan.

Companies, foundations, and community leaders can help build a more representative regional workforce by investing in talented Southeast Michigan students.

Ways to partner:

  • Make a financial investment through multi-year grants, cohort sponsorships, or unrestricted gifts
  • Engage employees as mentors, speakers, and volunteers
  • Offer internships and early-career opportunities for Scholars
  • Host or sponsor regional programming
Become a Corporate Partner

Fund a named group of Southeast Michigan Scholars and follow them from high school to first job. Your company's name travels with them.

Sponsor a cohort

Regional Leadership

Meet the local leaders helping expand Thrive Scholars’ impact throughout Southeast Michigan.

    • Dawn Beatty avatar

      Dawn Beatty Bobbitt 

      Vice President of Human Resources, Microsoft Corporation (Retired)

    • Mike Lipinski avatar

      Mike Lipinski

      Partner, Plante Moran

    • Gerrod Parchmon avatar

      Gerrod Parchmon

      Managing Director, Regulatory & Change Management Governance, JPMorgan Chase

    • Dr. Soma Venkat avatar

      Dr. Soma Venkat

      Senior Vice President, Chief Information Technology and AI Officer, Cooper Standard

    • Mahja D. Zeon avatar

      Mahja D. Zeon

      Partner, Honigman LLP