Apply for the Sandy Mazur Excellence in Leadership Scholarship

2024 Winner Hannah DeGraaff

Spherion Gives Back

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Spherion's franchisee-funded Sandy Mazur Excellence in Leadership scholarship awards funds to outstanding students who wish to further their education with college, technical, or skilled training. Last year, we awarded two $5,000 scholarships. In 2025, we will award at least two scholarships of $5,000 or more.

This scholarship honors the contributions of past Spherion president Sandy Mazur and recognizes students who best represent the excellence and passion Sandy displayed during her distinguished 16-year tenure as president of Spherion.

The Spherion franchise community, led by franchise owners Michael Chalmers and Beth DeLaney, funds the scholarship and promotes it to potential applicants. The Ohio-based nonprofit Richland County Foundation collects the online applications. With names and locations removed, Spherion's franchise community reviews the applicants and selects the winner. The Richland County Foundation disburses the scholarship grants.

The Sandy Mazur Excellence in Leadership Scholarship application is now closed for 2025. Thank you and good luck to everyone who applied! Decsions will be announced this summer. Look for information about our 2026 scholarship later this year.

2024 Winner Hannah DeGraaff

The 2025 Sandy Mazur Scholarship is now accepting applications!

These are our current scholarship application requirements to qualify for our 2025-26 academic year scholarship:

Applicants must plan to pursue a degree or certificate at a career technical, 2-year or 4-year institution.
Applicants must hold a 2.5 GPA or above.
Applicants must attach the current year's Student Aid Report (SAR) generated by FAFSA to their application.
Applicants must share examples of their dedication to community service and how they plan to "pay it forward" in their future endeavors.
Scholarship is merit-based although financial need will be considered.

The Sandy Mazur Scholarship is administered through the Richland County Foundation, an Ohio-based nonprofit. All scholarship decisions are made without regard to the applicant's age, race, location, gender, or field of study.

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Who can apply for Spherion's Sandy Mazur Scholarship?

Anyone who plans to pursue higher education in pursuit of a career! While there is no age limit for our scholarship, we do require a minimum 2.5 GPA at your current or previous educational institution, a current copy of your FAFSA summary, and proof that you plan to enroll in a trade school, 2-year or 4-year institution of higher learning.

If you're a ...
- High school senior
- Current community college student
- Current college or university student
- Current technical school student
- Former student intent on re-enrolling to support a career pivot
- Former student with a goal of completing your degree

.... you're eligible to receive this scholarship! For questions about your specific situation, email the Richland County Foundation via the button below.

Contact the Foundation

Watch us Surprise Our 2024 Scholarship Winners!

Each year, our franchise community funds the Sandy Mazur Scholarship, a monetary award given to outstanding students who demonstrate academic and leadership excellence and plan to further their education at a post-secondary institution. In 2024, we were thrilled to honor two superb students with our largest gifts yet: $5,000 each! Watch our video compilation of our two winners finding out they won a scholarship for the 2024-25 academic year! Could this become you in 2025?

2024 Scholarship Winner

Hannah DeGraaff

Congratulations to Hannah DeGraaff, one of two winners of Spherion's 2024 Sandy Mazur Excellence in Leadership Scholarship! DeGraaff’s impressive involvement in the Temple community stems from her desire to seek out opportunities to pay it forward to others. She has honed her leadership and interpersonal skills through her time providing local blind citizens transportation and living assistance, competing with the Forensic Sciences Club to win the SkillsUSA Texas Championships competition and working at the local HEB as a checkout clerk. DeGraaff graduated from Temple High School with her general associate's degree from Temple College as well in spring 2023 and is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree from Sam Houston State University.

“Hannah is an exemplary student and a dedicated community member. Our office is delighted to present her with this award and support her as she continues to seek opportunities to make the world a more positive place,” said Sol Melton, franchise owner of Spherion Temple.

Meet Hannah

2024 Scholarship Winner

Kimarra Turner

Turner is deeply involved in the Warner Robins community. She works as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) and was a school ambassador at Warner Robins High School, where she acted as a liaison between students and faculty. As a CNA, she has been able to pay it forward by spreading kindness and positivity to her patients. She accredits extracurricular activities such as tennis and cheerleading with teaching her the value of teamwork, dedication, and perseverance.

“It was Kimarra’s passion for leading by example and being a positive light for others in the world through her work as a CNA that stood out to our committee as we reviewed each of the applicants,” said Michael Chalmers, franchise owner of Spherion Middle Georgia and co-lead of the Spherion Scholarship Advisory Board. “We’re looking forward to seeing all that she accomplishes as she takes this next step in her educational journey at Tuskegee University!”

Meet Kimarra

Support Local Students Through Your Scholarship Donation

There's more than one way to support your community's students. Beyond encouraging students you know to apply for the Sandy Mazur Scholarship, you can donate to the scholarship fund via The Richland County Foundation. Click the button below to go to the Foundation's secure donation site. Once there, select "Sandy Mazur/Spherion Excellence in Leadership Scholarship from the "I would like to support the..." dropdown menu. You can make a one-time or recurring gift. On behalf of our entire franchise community, we're grateful for your support!

Donate Here

2020

Ellie Furnish

Jaden Johnson

2021

Lovenya Perry

Caleb Qiu

2022

Jacob Reeder

Emma Schultz

Elizabeth Wunderlich

2023

Amari Johnson

Ella Riddle

Jocelyn Stopka

2024

Hannah DeGraaff

Kimarra Turner

Supporting the Future of the Workforce

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Application Requirements

The 2025 Sandy Mazur Scholarship is now accepting applications!

Who can apply for Spherion's Sandy Mazur Scholarship?

Watch us Surprise Our 2024 Scholarship Winners!

Hannah DeGraaff

Kimarra Turner

Support Local Students Through Your Scholarship Donation

Past Scholarship Winners

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024