Our History
Scholarship Plus (SPlus) was founded in 2010 by Soma Golden Behr, former New York Times College Scholarship director, reporter and masthead editor at The New York Times, and Melanie Rosen Brooks, former New York Times business executive, after cuts were made to the Times’ college scholarship program.
SPlus was created to provide financial assistance and a broad range of undergraduate support for bright, low-income New York City high school graduates. The program started out small with a class of 6 students and was supported by a committed group of volunteers. Over the last 13 years the program has strategically grown and as of spring 2022 Scholarship Plus 70 students in college and 63 alumni. The program has grown its supports providing critical individualized support, mentoring, mental health support and career development.
Scholarship Plus is supported by a full time staff of four, Advisory and Associate boards, and an incredible group of mentors and volunteers. Program partners include New York Public Radio, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Sony Music, the Fund for the City of New York, and a wide-ranging network of former graduates of the NYTimes Scholarship and Seinfeld Scholars programs, both predecessors of Scholarship Plus.
Our Founders
Soma Golden Behr
Co-founder and Senior Advisor
Soma was a trailblazer. Passionate, vocal, driven as an advocate by her fierce intellect and empathy, Soma changed lives. She did it at a world class newspaper as a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and editor, she did it through running two impactful scholarship and college success programs, and she did it around her dining room table with old friends and new acquaintances.
One of the greatest gifts Soma gave us was a model of critical thinking. We hear her voice when we read or see something unjust, and we hear it when we respond to it.
Soma co-founded Scholarship Plus 15 years ago. The college scholarship program she ran at The New York Times made cuts during a recession; Soma responded with Scholarship Plus. She led the organization as executive director for its first seven years, and remained a close advisor and advocate every day after. Soma helped send nearly 400 students through college, changing the trajectory of their lives and their families.
The world already feels a little less bright, a little less interesting. One of Soma's legacies is a foundation for supporting young people’s individual voices and helping them turn up the volume.
Melanie Rosen Brooks
Co-founder and Student Stipend Advisor
Melanie, a former New York Times business executive for over two decades, has worked in and around education for years. Beginning in 2005, she was a career counselor for the 80 students in the New York Times College Scholarship Program, helping them find summer jobs and counseling them about their careers. Earlier, Melanie was Production Operations Director and Director of Education and Business Development for The New York Times's News Services Group. She created and managed revenue-generating ventures with education partners including Pearson Education, the Tribune Co., and Scholastic. As General Manager, she led the revitalization of NYT Upfront, a news magazine aimed at high school readers, adding a web version and managing the business for two years after its start-up. Melanie received her MBA from Columbia University Business School.