A 501(c)(3) scholarship organization helping students in Tarrant County. We integrate art with scholarship awareness to inspire students to explore available scholarship opportunities. We collaborate with educators, artists, and community partners.
Our motto: "Our Children, Our Investment, Our Future."
Arlene Barnett and Shirley Pace are grandmothers dedicated to raising scholarship dollars for college students. They each parented three children through college and observed tuition and student loan debt soar. As veteran fundraisers for the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), Arlene and Shirley began questioning how they might serve the next generation of college hopefuls from families like theirs. They concluded that an endowment for working families was an excellent way to invest in our children's future.
They established the UNCF Tarrant County Education Foundation Endowment in 2019, a significant milestone made possible in collaboration with the UNCF Regional Office in Dallas, BNSF & Community Affairs Director Joseph Faust, Dallas Mavericks General Manager Cynthia Marshall, and friends in the Fort Worth community. Former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price sponsored the first TCEF Art of Giving fundraiser, which brought lasting partnerships to TCEF.
Arlene and Shirley established the Tarrant County Education Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity, in May 2021, marking a new chapter in their journey to support scholarships for college education. Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker hosted the TCEF Art of Giving Luncheon, benefitting TCEF & UNCF Scholarships in Tarrant County in 2023 and 2024.
Dr. Arlene S. Barnett
Shirley Roberts Pace
Dr. Arlene S. Barnett
Anita Heiskell
Arveda Lewis
Shirley Roberts Pace
Airin Barnett, Arlene Barnett, Pat Crawford, Bridgette Davis, Anita Heiskell, Christie Howard, Alyce Jones, Corliss Littles, Arlener Poydras, Paulette Turner
Amanda Blake, Earl Griggs, Cynthia Odom, Ken Hampton, Barry King,
Leah King, Lorenzo Littles, Erika Salter, Andrew Walker
The tagline, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste but a wonderful thing to invest in,” continues to identify UNCF successfully as the premiere minority scholarship organization that has served with excellence for eight decades.
UNCF administers the UNCF/TCEF Endowment.
Awards range from $1500 - $5000.
An Air Force Officer/Pilot, real estate & construction entrepreneur who has dedicated the last 40 years to his art. He has over 18,000 gallery sculptures, 140 memorials & public works at museums, state buildings, and parks worldwide, including the African American History Monument at the Texas State Capital in Austin.
Each one of us has the power to dramatically impact a person,
a cause, a community, a nation.
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