The Haile L Alford (HLA) Foundation is a nonprofit whose mission is to provide learning and enrichment opportunities to underserved youth populations through US programming and international partnerships. We are dedicated to instilling a spirit of excellence, service to others, continual education and expanded world-views in our youth through our mentoring and enrichment programs.The Foundation honors the life and legacy of the Honorable Haile L.Alford. Inspired by the “effortless excellence” that Haile exhibited professionally and personally, her family created the HLA Foundation to ensure youth have access to positive examples, role models, and experiences that will both inspire and encourage excellence. Haile’s own inspiration to enter a career in law, a chance conversation with a female attorney that planted the seed “I could do that too”, led to history being made when Haile became the first African-American female Superior Court judge in Delaware in 1992. This shows the power of exposure, example and inspiration. We must ensure our children have access to these examples of excellence, and exposure to expanded experiences, in order to inspire them towards their own greatness.
We strive to provide positive experiences in academics, cultural exploration and community service. We see the benefits of our involvement in the lives of our students continually. Since participating in our programming, we have witnessed increased reading comprehension, improved grades on report cards, and a rise in overall confidence of the students. Additionally, the behavior of students we’ve worked with has been drastically improved vs. the general school population as a result of having a caring community’s guidance, encouragement, discipline and support.