Growing up in a family that relied on public assistance, Scholarships Liaison LaToya Davis (BCC and Lehman alum), is determined to help relieve the financial burden for students at BCC and will do almost anything to ensure that students get the assistance they need. “I want to make it easier for students than it was for me,” she said.

Growing up in the Bronx (having come from St. Thomas, Virgin Islands when she was two), Davis saw how much her mom struggled to put food on the table. Davis sold cupcakes at local playgrounds on weekends from the ages of nine to 14 and pumped gas in order to make money for her family. In fact, she and her six siblings all held jobs under the age of 10, and she is the only one of her siblings to have completed high school. “I didn’t want to end up being a mom who struggled the way my mom did,” said Davis.

Today, Davis manages scholarships for the BCC Foundation, speaking and working with students to ensure they meet scholarship requirements. She also assists the Office of Access Resource Center (ARC) with emergency aid through the Petrie Foundation, which exists under the umbrella of the BCC Foundation, providing money for rent, utility, transportation, food and other items. Assisting international students and undocumented students, she said, is critical because these students are otherwise ineligible for financial aid. In addition to her work with the BCC Foundation, Davis serves as an assistant in the Office of Development and aspires to continue moving up the career ladder and someday own a house with her family.

“Ninety percent of the students who fill out applications for Foundation scholarships actually receive the awards,” Davis said. “If students are in the ten percent not granted a scholarship, it is typically because they either don’t have the required 2.0-2.5 GPA or have not completed the one-semester eligibility requirement.”

Davis herself is a devoted mother of five children spanning the ages of 20 months to 26 years of age. She credits her mom, the grandmother of 26, for instilling in her the desire to help others (both within and outside the family) even when life gets tough.

She adds, “I love life. I love to see people happy, and I love to project happiness. Most of all, I love to help.”