PQ Service Embodiment Scholarship - $1000
OPEN TO LOW-INCOME QUALIFYING STUDENTS
U.S. and International Students accepted
High school junior, senior, or undergraduate freshman
Application Deadline: November 10th 11:59pm
Minimum GPA: 3.2
PQ Service Embodiment Scholarship - $500
OPEN TO ALL STUDENTS
U.S. and International Students accepted
High school junior, senior, or undergraduate freshman
Application Deadline: November 10th 11:59pm
Minimum GPA: 3.5
Business Sector Launch
We are excited to announce the launch of Project Querencia's new Business Sector that will work towards the long-term goal of our mission statement, Empowering the Changemakers of Tomorrow. Our goal as a sector is to make service accessible to the youth across our country and soon world regardless of their ethnicity, gender, income status, etc.
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Our philosophy in the sector is based on the saying
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"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime" - Lao Tzu.
Just like that, simply providing the youth or those in need with resources, money or essentials will only sustain them for a finite time but if we work towards these people and towards educating them on how to self-sustain themselves and help their communities from within, we will be able to teach them how to survive and succeed on their own leading to a self-sustaining world. If we all actively make a change every day, we get closer to achieving a real and authentic world.
Meet The Business Team
Shraavya Pydisetti
CEO
Sri Jishnu Chintha
Director of Business & Foundation Activities
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Vrishti Jain
Director of Business & Foundation Activities
Harini Chandrasekhar
Director of Business & Foundation Activities
Bhaumik Tiwari
Director of Business & Foundation Activities
Ajay Alluri
Director of Business & Foundation Activities
Serve Foundation
The serve foundation is one of the programs that will be by the business sector in order to bridge the gap between the low-income and business / real world. Our goal is to teach these students how to approach real-world situations through different simulations and seminars to build skills like public speaking, interviewing, authentic leadership, constructing efficient writing styles as well as developing a service-oriented mindset. Alongside this program, the Querencia Serve Foundation will also start off by awarding 4 $1,500 scholarships to the underrepresented youth who embody service in the best way and develop the best service initiative to help their community through our organization. We believe that our mission and this foundation will allow each and every one of these students to become their own changemakers.
The Foundation Story
What Inspired the Serve Foundation
Last year, we partnered with a variety of organizations to hold a resource fair for low-income families in Dallas. Our group was responsible for providing books for the community to utilize. We did not put much thought into the partnership or event in the beginning; then everything changed in the blink of an eye. A little girl came up to our booth, her head barely visible over the box she was holding in her thin arms. With shining eyes and a soft voice, she asked us if she could take all the books we had home. We filled her box to the brim; she quickly returned with another box the size of her with a grin on her face. She told us her story, about how her school did not have books, and how she wanted to help. She got quiet as she said she didn't know how she could get more books to help her school. We were moved by her situation, opinions, and desire to help and it made us want to give her a solution. It broke our hearts when we realized that all we could do is fill up her box and watch her leave. We felt guilty on the drive back home. It was disheartening that we couldn't help these children empower themselves to change the community, and more importantly, their futures. The lack of opportunity for underrepresented and underprivileged children is a highly relevant issue today. These students have so much potential but are pushed down by the environment they live in. As a result, their ability to receive good chances is stunted, enforcing the cycle of no opportunities. These people lack the tools and resources to bring change in their communities and don't have the education to rebuild their societies by themselves. Volunteers and service are vital parts of improving neighborhoods and the youth of every community should be empowered to bring about their own change rather than solely relying on others. The help and resources provided must target many issues; there's no one issue that will fix all the problems.
The Emerging Changemakers Program
3 step program : Elementary (3rd to 5th), Middle (6th-8th), High School (9th to 12th)
The business sector is also introducing the E.C. Program which focuses on introducing service to students from a young age through a structured program (free of cost) to build change-making skills over time.
Students can enter the program from 3rd grade where they will partake in the E.C. elementary level of the program where they will learn introductory skills in leadership and service. They will learn about the importance of having a growth mindset and understanding different perspectives of those around them as well as have the opportunity to construct and take part in different service projects. Upon the conclusion of the program (end of 5th grade), these students will have an induction into the E.C. middle-level program and earn an award for completion.
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The E.C. middle-level program, which comes next, consists of 6th through 8th graders. They will build on the skills they learned at the elementary level and begin using researching and critical thinking skills on different world issues and social change movements. They will apply skills and use creative problem-solving to tackle issues prevalent in our communities and have the chance to conduct a passion project on an issue that is affecting their community.
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The E.C. middle-level program will then branch into the final, E.C. high school level program (9th through 12th). This final level will branch out into the application of these skills in the real world. They will learn and apply their skills to conduct purposeful youth activism, create and lead projects with their own teams, and get the opportunity to run for officer positions at the chapter and executive board levels. What makes this part of the program really stand out is that our mentors will guide them in writing a research paper related to social issues and potentially have the chance of getting their work published/presented. They will then use this paper to build an initiative/program to create an impactful change which will then make them our full-fledged changemakers.
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The program will also give them the opportunity to receive leadership positions, service awards including Barbara James, the Presidential Service award, and Querencia Service award, and chances at internship and mentorship experience.
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