Today we’d like to introduce you to Florence “Flo” Herring.
Hi Florence “Flo”, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My story began in a small country off the coast of West Africa named Liberia. A country of much hope and ambition but limited resources. The American dream for many people in my country is to come to America, get an education, a “good” job, and take care of your family. Sounds simple right? For many people including myself and my family, we quickly realize there’s more hurdles to jump and red tape to cross before getting to that dream. One of the biggest hurdles is affording higher education.
I understood firsthand that struggle. I have a unique perspective being raised in between two cultures, two social views. I understand the promise of greater that higher education brings but umm how am I supposed to pay for this? It was an interesting place. Like many other POC and people from low economic backgrounds, I took the loans, applied for the grants, the scholarships and somehow it still wasn’t enough so I did what a lot of us do, I worked. That created its own set of challenges in the form of balancing and being a good steward of the opportunities I had. By the grace of God, I made it through and got to a place where I was able to give back to others going through the same struggle.
I knew there was more to be done and resources that could be given, so I decided to do something about it!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Definitely not smooth! They say anything worth having is worth fighting for and this has come with its share of obstacles. When I first had this desire to build a scholarship and give back it was in 2018. I had a fear of not succeeding on my own so I originally thought to embed my scholarship under other orgs/institutions and received many many no’s. Any kind of no you can think of – the direct no, the nice but definitely not, the ehh many try again later no, all of them. So my nature is to just figure it out on my own, so I did.
The challenges that came from that were essentially building a grassroots org from the ground up. Everything from marketing, the fundraising, branding, networking, administrative tasks it was a one-man army! I really had to learn the importance of creating a community around me. So many people helped me along the way by sharing their knowledge, encouragement, and finances. I wanted this to be something for a community similar to mine and it was grown and nurtured by a community that looked like the people around me.
It wasn’t until three years later in 2021 that it came into fruition. Even now it’s still growing, evolving and I’m doing a whole lot of hands-on learning!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am the founder of a scholarship org for first and/or second-generation immigrants. This scholarship is named R.K.Woheel. It is named after my late grandfather Roland Kollie Woheel, a Liberian native that taught his legacy after him the importance of education and reaching for success. It is birthed out of necessity but nurtured out of love. We award a scholarship grant to cover any academic need a student has. We encourage college students who are change-makers in their communities with a story to tell to apply. I’m most proud that we are changing lives and making it a little easier for students to succeed. Ultimately helping everyone they touch as well!
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Hopefully up lol I’m hoping there will be a look into education and a reallocation of funds to low-income, low-represented committees. I am hopeful that we will be able to assist communities that often have greater struggles than their counterparts…
Contact Info:
- Website: msha.ke/rkwoheelscholarship
- Instagram: rkwscholarship
- Other: https://form.jotform.com/RKWoheelSchoolarship/2023
Image Credits
Lashawn Pascall
