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A Word From RTF President Chris Sanders
I grew up in a small rural community in Western Kentucky with a passion for technology. In high school, I realized I wanted to make my living working with computers. In my home town, technology career opportunities were scarce. The resources I needed weren’t available, leaving me to learn on my own. When I looked at colleges, no scholarships existed specifically for someone with my background and career interests.
One memory really sums it up. At my high school graduation, I saw friends receive scholarships for math, science, agriculture—just about every possible field of study—everything except computer technology. I knew they weren’t really receiving a check; they were being gifted with an opportunity. Each one of those scholarships said that somebody valued that student’s hard work. The scholarships said that the education those students wanted to pursue was important, and that somebody believed in that student’s future.
I knew then that I wanted to be the “somebody” for other students some day. I wanted to let those students know that a career in technology was important, that their hard work was recognized, that somebody believed in them.
My career success has been due to hard work, some great mentors, and the grace of God. It was a hard road. I made up my mind that some day, I’d find a way to make that road easier for other students growing up in places like my home town. That’s why I started the Rural Technology Fund.
If you’ve found this page, I hope that you will help us bring this dream to life. As a student from a rural area with an interest in computer technology, we want to help you achieve your goal. As a parent, teacher or counselor working with students from small towns and rural communities, we want to be a resource. As a potential donor or community partner, we want to help connect you to students for whom you can make all the difference in the world. Welcome to the Rural Technology Fund.
Why We Exist
Rural students, even those with excellent grades, often have fewer opportunities for exposure to technology than their city or suburban counterparts. Growing up in rural Kentucky, RTF Founder Chris Sanders saw this problem first-hand, and decided to do something about it.
The Rural Technology Fund (RTF) recognizes the very real "digital divide" between country communities and non-rural areas. For rural communities to remain economically viable and at all appealing as a home to new industry, technology-based or not, these rural communities need to fully understand the potential that technology can provide to their communities and be implement these technologies.
Ensuring that students from rural areas are able to go out and acquire the education they need and desire will go a long way to helping these communities overcome the digital divide.
Unfortunately, unlike agriculture, healthcare, or even legal fields, where even the smallest communities have practitioners who can provide an accessible model of and support within the community for the career, in the ultimate Catch-22, because rural areas are generally not where technology companies have offices, students interested in this type of career often find little community support in terms of local internship opportunities, education training programs, and/or mentoring opportunities. Our Executive Director encountered this scenario when he graduated from his own rural high school.
With this personal experience driving The Rural Technology Fund, we seek to lower barriers to rural students and ensure that they have an easier road to technology-based careers.
Our Programs
The RTF accomplishes its mission through two unique initiatives.
Scholarship Programs
The RTF scholarship programs provide college grants to students from rural communities pursuing college education in computer technology.
Currently, the RTF provides two specific named scholarships. The Judith A. Sanders Memorial Scholarship is available to a student attending Graves County High School who exhibits a passion for their particular area of interest in technology. The Social Entrepreneurship scholarship is available to students from any rural county in the state of Kentucky.
Both of these scholarship opportunities are based entirely upon essay questions. The number of awardees and the amount of each scholarship is based upon the current years funding level.
In addition to scholarship funds, the RTF will work with partners to provide our recipients with other technology resources that may be relevant to their specific educational passions (i.e. a student interested in pursuing a career in computer graphic design might be provided a licensed copy of Adobe Photoshop along with additional books or training material).
Genesis Program
The Rural Technology Fund's Genesis Program is designed to give birth to opportunities for students in need through the collection, refurbishment, and donation of used computers.
The RTF partners with businesses and local school districts to collect used computers. These computers are refurbished by volunteers and then distributed to families in conjunction with local family service organizations. The RTF works with recipients of these donated computers to ensure they are educated on their use and also works to provide a level of technical support on donated equipment for a brief period of time after donation.
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