Amazon Billionaire Gives $6.5 Million To Milwaukee Schools
MacKenzie Scott funds Hmong American Peace Academy and Carmen Schools.
Hmong American Peace Academy high school. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Two Milwaukee charter school organizations were among the latest nonprofits to benefit from grants from billionaire MacKenzie Scott.
Hmong American Peace Academy (HAPA) received $3 million and Carmen Schools of Science and Technology received $3.5 million.
As of September, Scott had a reported net worth of $33.4 billion. She has already given away more than $8 billion. According to a November post by Scott, an additional $2 billion was given away in the past seven months.
The two educational institutions were the only Milwaukee-area organizations to benefit from Scott’s latest round of giving, which included a number of charter schools among its 343 grantees.
The gifts are unrestricted, with the schools free to choose how the funding is used. Both are the largest gifts either institution has ever received. Carmen, which serves a primarily Hispanic student body, has more than 2,100 students at five schools. HAPA, with a primarily Hmong student body, has more than 1,800 students across three schools.
“We are beyond thankful for Ms. Scott’s generosity and support for our work at Carmen. This gift recognizes the impact all our teachers and staff have had on the lives of thousands of students and families over the past 15 years,” said Carmen CEO Jennifer López in a statement. “We know this gift will have a profound impact on the future of our schools and on the educational opportunities we create for our students.”
“My heart is filled with tremendous gratitude for our abundant blessings including this most generous gift,” said HAPA CEO and founder Chris Her-Xiong in a statement. “What drives us forward is the relentless focus we share in building a community of peace builders and lifelong learners who are transforming lives and leading the way out of poverty into a prosperous life of service. This gift continues the momentum that we have built to grow our reach and impact in the community.”
HAPA operates elementary, middle and high schools on the city’s far Northwest Side.
The two charter operators have deep connections to Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), but are not directly part of the school district.
With the exception of Stellar, all of Carmen’s schools are chartered by MPS and many are in MPS buildings. Its South high school is ranked by U.S. News and World Reports as the best high school in Milwaukee, 10th best in Wisconsin and 476th best in the country. The school is co-located at 1712 S. 32nd St. with MPS’ ALBA School.
HAPA is chartered and publicly supported by MPS. The school was founded in 2004 by Her-Xiong, a former MPS teacher.
It opened a new high school in late 2021. The new building is attached to MPS’ former Morse Middle School, 4601 N. 84th St., which HAPA previously acquired and now uses for its middle school. It leases MPS’ Happy Hill Elementary School, 7171 W. Brown Deer Rd., for use as its elementary school, but plans to eventually develop a new building on its N. 84th St. campus.
The two donations aren’t the first Milwaukee donation by Scott, who is a novelist in addition to a philanthropist.
Earlier this year, Scott gave Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin $17 million, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee $17 million and Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity $5.75 million as part of much larger gifts to the nonprofits’ national organizations.
UPDATE: The headline of this article originally cited an incorrect total for Scott’s donations. The underlying information was listed correctly.
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