2023 Grant Applications are available by clicking here. All grant applications are due on March 21, 2023.
A grant will allow a panel of high school students from the central Georgia area to research, fund and support historic preservation projects in the Milledgeville area. The board will function as part of the educational programming at Georgia's Old Governor's Mansion, a unit of Georgia College.
The Watson-Brown Foundation junior board will be composed of eight to fifteen high school students who are in the 10th-12th grade from central Georgia who demonstrate a passion for historic preservation, are active in the community, have good academic standing and have strong references from teachers.
After reviewing preservation proposals, individual members of the board will present their selected project to the rest of the board for consideration and funding approval. The board which will meet monthly throughout the academic year will then be responsible for distributing the $33,000 in preservation grants.
The junior board is patterned after the junior board of trustees of the Watson-Brown Foundation. Tad Brown, president of the Watson-Brown Foundation, said the original idea to involve high school students began six years ago in an effort to influence youth philanthropy. Building on that mission, the Foundation formed a team of talented high school students and charged it with preserving history in the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) of Georgia. Since that time, the self-perpetuating junior board has awarded more than $100,000 in historic preservation grants, added Brown.
"It is important for the students to operate out of a historic environment," said Brown, "and equally important for them to benefit from the knowledge of their mentoring curators and educators."
Georgia's Old Governor's Mansion is a part of the School of Continuing and Professional Studies at Georgia College, a unit of the university's Academic Affairs Division.
For more information about this program or how to nominate a student, contact Matt Davis, director and coordinator of the Junior Board project at 478-445-4545.
2022-2023 Watson Brown Foundation Junior Board of Trustees Milledgeville Chapter
Helen Chow
Jenna Clark
Lyra Domingue
Hudson Will French
Ayesha Patel
Brian Sherwood
Kenyon Shy
Emma Liz Soltay
Ashley Tyson
Advisor: Mr. Matthew S. Davis