ready willing - Darden Restaurants

To thousands of young men and women, this actmeans the path of knowledge is open to all thathave the determination to walk it. It means a wayto deeper personal fulfillment, greater personalproductivity, and increased personal reward. Thisbill . . . means that a high school senior anywhere inthis great land of ours can apply to any college orany university in any of the 50 States and not beturned away because his family is poor.— Lyndon Baines Johnson, 1965,upon signing the Higher Education Act into lawreadyandwillingto partnerRecipe for SuccessFor generations of Americans, a high schooldiploma provided a valuable educationand a ticket to the American dream. A highschool graduate had the opportunity to geta steady job that paid enough to support afamily and launch a career. But now, a highschool diploma is no longer enough. Thereare millions of young adults – especiallylow-income young adults – who haveboth the ability and desire to continue theireducation past high school. However, theyare stalled by limited access to affordable,quality options and competing demands fortheir time and energy.Currently, income level and race/ethnicity canbe a bigger determinant of college accessand success than academic preparation.The students who are least served by ourhigher education system – low-income,African-American and Hispanic – are alsothe fastest growing U.S. populations. Thenumber of students from all backgrounds whoattend college has increased, but significantenrollment gaps for African-American andHispanic students and for students from lowincomefamilies have not been reduced.Darden Restaurants, Inc. Foundation's "call toaction" is to help address this systemic issueas part of our Recipe for Success initiative.Recipe for Success is designed to enable andempower youth to pave their own path tosuccess by providing them access to the toolsand information necessary to navigate theprocess of post-secondary education. Recipefor Success will support and honor youthworking toward their individual goals whileinspiring others to follow in their footsteps.D A R D E N F O U N D A T I O N P A R T N E R S / 5