Scholar Fund's Origins

The beginning of Scholar Fund was what David Coven would describe as a chance encounter. There was an opportunity to provide community support and Scholar Fund jumped at the cause.

Washington Dream Coalition came to David’s team asking for help to manage and raise $50,000 for undocumented immigrants in the state of WA who were not eligible for a stimulus. As they moved through building the entire process from application development to applicant support, they started gaining recognition and raised $7.1 million dollars for undocumented immigrants in the state of WA.

Washington Dream Coalition is the first and largest undocumented youth-led organization in the state of WA they address inequities and obstacles faced by undocumented immigrants in WA State. This is not all! As they managed these funds, they still saw a need for helping more people – so they turned to the community to organize and advocate for additional funds through the State of WA amounting to $40 million (original request of $100 million) for undocumented immigrants.

This had never been done before. It became the largest grassroots stimulus fund in the state!!

At Scholar Fund, we center community in an effort to understand needs and drive real-time scalable change. From education and workforce development to cash assistance and non-profit growth, we seek technical solutions to community needs. 💡💵⚖️📈✏️

Prior to being the Executive Director and Founder of Scholar Fund, David was running Scholarship Junkies, an organization guiding high school and college students through the scholarship application process with the goal of winning funds for higher education. Many things led to David living a life of wonderment and excitement, and creating these possibilities with his close friends. He did this by paying forward the care, kindness, and resources that were once provided to him by his 9th grade teacher, Adam. 

David comes from a single-parent household and is the youngest of four. He faced financial difficulties and homelessness. Adam was able to provide David with the support needed to see a pathway forward into his future and that included being the first in his family to go to college. In college, David worked at SpaceX, Boeing, and Tesla. Through a twist of fate, Adam now works for Scholar Fund. 😯

His goals as Executive Director of Scholar Fund are to focus on organizational, operational, and business culture. When asked about the culture at Scholar Fund, David said they align work to what peaks individual interest, team members are mentally and emotionally connected to the spirit of the work we are doing. With a growing team of over 40 people from various backgrounds, David and the leadership team are on a mission to always center compassion and care throughout the organization and beyond. If the world could know one thing about the work Scholar Fund does, it’s that we drive actual community change by leveraging the voices of the people who live it.