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WHY ACE

Everybody wants school reform. Kids like Javier actually need it.

Experts at every level of education and government have been talking about school reform for over 30 years. And while in that time we’ve made some progress, far too many kids are still trapped in schools that don’t work for them. And with the large bureaucracy that our educational system is, dramatic and practical improvements just won’t come soon enough, especially for kids from lower-income families. That means too many kids in each new generation will get left further and further behind. In fact, a large number of today’s kids from low-income families will never graduate high school, and that’s completely unacceptable.

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100%
High school graduation rate
Most of our graduates go to college
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66,000
Scholarships
worth nearly $170M have been awarded over 22 years
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10,651
ACE Scholars 2022-23
We helped over ten thousand students in the 2022-2023 school year

Let’s face it. Trying to tackle school reform all at once is a pretty daunting task.

But then we realized something — we don’t need to. Instead, if we could help just one child at a time, we’d be able to have real impact starting from day one. And so we set out on a mission. We noticed something that everyone else seemed to overlook. While there were a lot of kids from lower-income families failing in their current schools, there were a lot of really great schools with extra capacity. We saw independent schools operating with their own philosophies and teaching styles. Yet, as different as they all were, each excelled with the type of students they served. Maybe the problem wasn’t that there weren’t enough good schools, but rather that low-income families didn’t have a way into these schools. So we decided to change that.

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Why wait for others, when we could make a difference ourselves?

This is the philosophy behind ACE Scholarships, a nonprofit organization that raises money from generous donors and then awards financial scholarships to students from low-income families so they can attend the school of their choice. ACE Scholarships has quickly become an educational success story. In fact, since 2000, we’ve awarded over 66,000 Scholarships worth nearly $170 million, giving children from low-income families the chance to succeed. And succeed they have, graduating high school with most going on to college.

Who we help

ACE Scholarships works with low-income families from a variety of different circumstances across numerous states. To qualify for an ACE scholarship, a family must meet the income requirements for the federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program. Our families have an average income of $43,766 a year.  

Like any great idea, you have to start somewhere.

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We started in Colorado. Click to learn more about the states we now work in.

We major in economics.

ACE Scholarships makes financial and economic sense. For each student that graduates high school, it saves society $9,434 each year. Funding for public schools has increased by over 300% in the last 45 years. Yet, the academic performance of students has remained virtually unchanged. Kids in elementary and high school today can’t afford to wait any longer for the system to change. Especially when there’s a proven and cost-effective alternative. For about $2,500 a student, ACE can provide a scholarship to a low-income family so their student can get out of a situation where they’re failing and into an environment where they can succeed.

Meet our board members and staff.

Board of Directors

DEBORAH FLORA
Partner/Co-Founder Lamplight Entertainment and Whetstone Media Group

NATASHA HARRIS
Principal, Biegert Group, Inc.

ERIC KOEPLIN
CEO Alpha Principle

RICK SCHMITZ
Partner, SKS Ventures

JOE SMITH
Partner, Bartlit Beck LLP 
(Chairman)

MATT TURNER
Managing Partner, MorningStar Senior Living
(Secretary)

LISA WALSH
Denver, CO
(Vice Chair)

MIKE WARD
Owner, Mike Ward Infiniti, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, McLaren, Fiat

BERT WILLIAMS
COO, Johnson Financial Group

LIZ WRIGHT
Denver, CO 

National Advisory Board

JUDY AND DICK AGEE
Founder & Chairman, Wapiti Energy and Bayou Well Holdings Company
Texas

JOY AND DONALD "BOYSIE" BOLLINGER
Louisiana
National Advisory Board Co-Chairman

GOVERNOR JEB BUSH
Florida
Honorary National Advisory Board Member

BETH AND JONATHAN CARR
President, Christian Brothers Foundation
Texas

MARILYN AND PETE COORS
Colorado

FRAN AND TERRY COMBS
CEO, Integrated Airline Services
Colorado

CATHY AND ALEX CRANBERG
Chairman, Aspect Energy, LLC
Texas

HEIDI CRUZ
Managing Director, Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Texas

CYNTHIA FISHER
Entrepreneur

LYNN FRIESS
Founder, Friess Associates
Wyoming
National Advisory Board Co-Chairman

LANE AND BOBBI GRIGSBY
Founder & Chairman, Cajun
Industries LLC
Louisiana

SUSAN AND CHAZ  MUELLER
Texas

DIANE AND JEFF RIGGS
Principal - Essex Financial Group

LINDA AND EDDIE RISPONE
Louisiana

CAROL AND JOHN SAEMAN
Colorado

HANNA SKANDERA
Colorado

SUSAN AND RICK SCHMITZ
Colorado

KEELY AND SCOT SELLERS
Colorado

CECE AND MATT STULLER
Founder, CEO, and Chairman, Stuller, Inc
Louisiana

LISA AND TIM WALSH
CEO, Confluence Builders, LLB

LIZ AND CHRIS WRIGHT
CEO, Liberty Oilfield Services, LLC
Colorado

NANCY AND MIKE ZOELLNER
ZF Capital, Managing Partner, Colorado

Staff

JAY BALLARD Development Database Coordinator

SINDY BECKERLE National Foundations Manager

ERIK BILLINGER President, Western Region, Colorado

JO BRINKERHOFF National Events Manager

HANNAH BUNCH REBER Director, ACE Arkansas

LISA BURKE Staff Accountant

TINA BURKE Director of Development Operations

MIKE COLEMAN Chief Program Officer

JASON DIFRAIA President

KIRSTEN EASTWOOD VP of Scholarships

JACKIE GUGLIELMO Vice President of ESA Programs

RHONDA GONZALES Senior Accountant

KARI HEBBLE VP of Development & Planned Giving

CATHERINE "CAT" HENDRIX National Alumni Affairs Director

DACIA HENSHAW Senior Director of Marketing

DENISE HERNANDEZ Program Coordinator, Public Programs

RITA HOEFT Controller

AJ KUHLE Director, ACE Kansas

MELISSA LANDRY President, ACE Louisiana

JON LINEBERGER President, ACE Texas

HALLE MATHUES Human Resources Director

ELISE MATSON National Foundations Assistant

MACKENZIE MURRAY Director of Private Scholarship Programs

ALEX NUÑEZ Associate Director of Development, ACE Houston/San Antonio/Austin

BRITTANI O'BRIEN VP of Development, Colorado

DAVID OLSON President, ACE Mississippi

ROGER PATTISON Chief Development Officer

MARCY PHANNENSTIEL ESA Program Specialist

MIKE PRITCHARD Chief Financial Officer

NORTON RAINEY Chief Executive Officer

LINDSEY RHODES Director of Public Program

SHELLEY ROGERS President, ACE Houston/San Antonio/Austin

CALLI RULON Senior Events Coordinator

LISA RUSSELL President ACE Montana & Wyoming

RYAN SCHMITZ Development Associate, Colorado

SHEILA SILLETTO Executive Assistant

ALEX WALSH Data Engineer

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Want to see our report card?

ACE is proud to receive Charity Navigator’s highest rating, 4 stars.

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