SYRACUSE, NY, Sept. 28 — Ahmeed Turner, the scholarship director of Say Yes Syracuse since 2012, has been named the chapter’s executive director, the Say Yes to Education national organization announced today.
Launched in 2008, the Say Yes Syracuse partnership has marshaled an array of public and private entities – including the Syracuse City School District; the city of Syracuse; Onondaga County, and the Central New York Community Foundation, as well as nonprofit organizations, local businesses and higher education institutions – around the goal of all public and charter school children in the city not only graduating high school, but doing so ready for college or other postsecondary education and with the wherewithal to afford it.
“As the scholarship director of Say Yes Syracuse, Ahmeed Turner has made a difference in the lives of families across the city,’’ said Gene Chasin, the president and chief operating officer of Say Yes to Education. “Those of us who have been fortunate to work closely with Ahmeed know that he combines a life-long, first-hand knowledge of Syracuse with an encyclopedic understanding of college access — all of which he brings to bear in support of instilling hope in young people and helping them maximize their gifts and talents.”
The Say Yes Syracuse Scholarship Board has raised more than $30 million – including through a $20 million grant from New York State’s Upstate Revitalization Initiative — for a scholarship fund that covers the cost of tuition (after Federal and state aid has been applied) for qualifying SCSD graduates who attend public colleges and universities in the SUNY and CUNY systems. Since 2009, more than 3,800 Syracuse City School District graduates have gone off to college with scholarships or other support from the Say Yes Syracuse partnership.
Over that same period, the high school graduation rate in Syracuse has risen 12 points — from 52 percent (in 2008) to 64 percent (2016), according to New York State figures, and the high school graduation rate of African American students in particular has climbed 17 points, from 49 percent to 66 percent, and is now effectively comparable to that of white students.
Turner, who joined Say Yes Syracuse in 2009 as a site coordinator at Bellevue Elementary School, is a graduate of Nottingham High School in Syracuse. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Cheney State and a master’s degree, in marriage and family therapy, from Syracuse University.
“I’m excited to continue to build on the momentum of the Say Yes Syracuse partnership,” Turner said. “Working together, we are not only supporting the children of Syracuse and preparing them for adult success, but elevating the community as a whole.”
