Dollar a Day!
“A journey of thousand miles begins with a single step”, a famous quote from Lao-tzu appearing on their website, reflects the spirit of the nonprofit organization Dollar a Day. This is exactly the philosophy followed at The Community Concerns, that by taking tiny steps we can accomplish big goals.
Created with a vision: “To strengthen the community by advancing post-graduate education, professional development, leadership, and public service amongst Muslim students, and through education and professional development, increase the understanding among and between Islam and other cultures, religions and values.”
D.A.D. is run by a team of students and young professionals under the advice of the Board of Director(s) and the Honorary Board of Advisers. D.A.D is offering both scholarship and internships. Realizing that 40% of American Muslim Population is between the age of 18 and 29 (as per figures mentioned on their web site) and the hard choice many of them face (Interest bearing loans and other kinds of debt) to pay for their tuition, D.A.D has decided to help university students who are preferably enrolled in advanced degree program, by offering scholarships and stipend. They generally offer $1000.00 as scholarship to each student, though the number of scholarships offered depends on the funds available. They are thinking to increase both the amount offered as scholarship and the numbers of scholarships offered. They aim to achieve this by asking the donation of Dollar a Day from the donors. A really simple scheme and affordable amount!
D.A.D also has another wonderful scheme – International Internship Stipends.
D.A.D. also has plans to provide stipends to students who wish to pursue careers globally, and especially in Muslim countries. After successful completion of the fifth year of operation (2013), D.A.D. will begin awarding stipends to students who have successfully attained and completed an internship at one of the following:
- An international organization.
- A governmental or public organization in a majority-Muslim country.
- To be eligible for this stipend, the student must not receive any financial benefits from their internship.
The goal of this program is to give Muslim students in America an opportunity to attain internships at international inter-governmental, governmental, or non-governmental policy based organizations or organizations based in majority-Muslim countries. Many of such internships do not pay money for work or travel. D.A.D hope their International Internship Stipend program will help to defray the cost and encourage students to travel, work, and build sustaining relationships in majority-Muslim countries so that they may give back where help is needed the most.
Mentor-ship Program
D.A.D.’s Mentor-ship Program allows Muslim students interested in various fields of study to connect with both Muslim and non-Muslim professionals in their respective fields to network, learn from their experiences, and most importantly, build one-on-one relationships to develop contacts in their chosen field, so their work is made easier by those who are before them. The program offers many benefits and does not take a lot of time either. Mentors and Mentees are matched based on academic, professional, and personal interest provided by them in the application forms.
Professional Development List-serve
D.A.D.’s Professional Development List-serve brings together Muslim students and professionals from across the country to exchange ideas, post internships and jobs, and discuss issues relevant to careers and professional development.
You may request to join the List-serve by emailing at pd@muslimscholarship.org
Future programs
Dollar a Day are currently developing additional programs and resources to expand the number of services available to students. These include expanding Professional Development program to create a Career Center which will allow students to drop off resumes for posted jobs, attend networking conferences, and sign-up for mock interviews. They are also attempting to create an interest-free loan program and partner with other organizations to provide leadership workshops.
To know more about this simple and exemplary program, visit http://muslimscholarship.org/
