The Dr. Anil K. Mody Scholarship provides college scholarships to Northwest Education Access enrolled women of color in the King County region. Since 2015, the Dr. Anil K. Mody Fund has supported 46 women of color on their postsecondary journey! Each Mody Scholarship recipient receives free academic advising, career counseling, tutoring, books, technology access, and mentoring. In addition, each student is paired with an Education Advocate who is physically located on the student’s college campus. These Advocates work with students to identify potential barriers to their academic success, address those barriers, and achieve their goal of higher education and overcoming poverty and adversity.
Dr. Anil K. Mody, the father of board member Simmone Misra, believed in the transformative power of education. He grew up at the time when conditions in his home country of India were not conducive for higher education, so he studied and lived in Germany for over eight years to pursue a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Stuttgart and followed with some work experience at German pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Mody then returned to his home country, where he set up the first manufacturing facility for industrial strength adhesives in India.
Even though he returned to India, his global perspective and passion for education was one of Simmone’s favorite memories of her father. He instilled the value of education, the importance of curiosity and joy of learning in Simmone, always ensuring there were enough books to read, including books from the US and Europe. Rare at the time and place, especially for a father, Dr. Mody always reminded his daughters they could be whatever they wanted.
Unfortunately, Dr. Mody passed away at the very young age of 42. His wife and two daughters survived him. He had the foresight to invest in a fund for education for his daughters. With the loss of the main earning member of the household, the family faced some difficult times. However, his daughter, Simmone, was able to complete her higher education thanks to the investment her parents had made and on her own fortitude.
When Simmone celebrated her 50th birthday - recognizing 8 additional years of life than her father - she and her husband, Ashok, wanted to give back to other young women what her father had inspired in her. While Simmone’s journey was long and winding, she & Ashok wanted a much shorter journey for other women. On her path to higher education, Simmone faced many, many hurdles navigating the convoluted steps to and through the higher education system. For the Misras, getting scholarship funding for school is not enough—it's just the beginning, so partnering with NWEdA so students get additional navigation support felt right.
The joy of learning and opportunity for financial stability is what drove Simmone & Ashok to create the Anil K. Mody Scholarship Fund for young women of color, hoping to help others like Simmone who are driven to improve their lives and circumstances through education. As Simmone shared, "I have an incredible husband with similar values and for us to combine forces to do our tiny part in making gigantic changes in the lives of a few other women feels absolutely phenomenal."