Scholars Equity Network (SEN) is a nonprofit network of Changemakers founded by the Gates Millennium Scholars Alumni Association. We provide professional and personal development, civic engagement, and economic empowerment opportunities to scholars from underserved communities, positioning them to give back to the communities they come from.

The Gates Millennium Scholars program created an unprecedented network of 20,000+ scholars from underserved communities. As the program sunsets, SEN ensures this community’s collective potential and power doesn’t fade. We're mobilizing this unique community (and friends) to address systemic challenges in professional and personal development, economic opportunity, and civic engagement where they're needed most.

Our mission is to empower scholars from underserved communities with the tools, resources, and networks they need to create lasting change in their communities. We believe that true success is measured not just by what we achieve, but by what we enable others to accomplish.

Our vision is rooted in gratitude and responsibility. “Paying it Forward” means recognizing that our success is the result of many hands: teachers who stayed late, mentors who believed in us, communities that invested in our potential. We honor that investment by lifting up the next person and building ladders for those who come after us. Our vision is a world where success is measured by how much we uplift others.

At SEN, “Scholar” means more than a degree. It reflects anyone who is committed to learning, growth, or leadership and uses that experience to create equity in their community. While our roots are with Gates Millennium Scholars alumni, our network is inclusive of friends, partners and community leader who share this mission.

Most education programs ask: "How do we get more underserved kids into college?" That’s important, but at SEN, we also ask: “What happens after they graduate?”

Most scholarship programs create individual success stories. SEN builds on that foundation to create collective power. Through our three pillars, Personal & Professional Development, Civic Engagement, and Economic Empowerment, we equip scholars not only to succeed themselves, but to open doors for the next generation.

While others focus on access, we focus on impact. While others celebrate individual achievement, we celebrate what that individual achievement enables others to accomplish.

Anyone. While our core community consists of Gates Millennium Scholars alumni, we welcome "friends" of GMS who share our commitment in uplifting serving underserved communities. SEN is still in the early stages of developing our programs, but one of our central priorities is supporting changemakers and community builders, those who are creating solutions, driving impact, and paying it forward in meaningful ways.

We also recognize that you don't need a college degree to be a community leader. Some of our most powerful advocates are the people who never left their communities, who've been doing the work all along. SEN supports connecting scholars who went out into the world with the leaders who never left, building a network for collective progress.