The Foundation ignites intellectual sparks for our futures

Gifted youth are those amazing young people you may encounter at your local group and its events, at a Colloquium or the Annual Gathering, or maybe they are a part of your workplace or family. The Mensa Education & Research Foundation works hard to provide programs that will impact the lives of gifted youth.

Youth members in American Mensa currently number about 3,500. They range in age from 3 to 17. Their schooling may be public, private, at home or some combination of those. They may be getting ready to attend preschool or a graduate degree program.

The Mensa Foundation, your Foundation as a Mensa member, provides educational programs and opportunities for gifted youth to interact with their peers. At the Annual Gathering two years ago, I had the humbling honor to see something that made me very proud of the individuals I met and proud of the Foundation and AML.

A young man recognized me, but it took me a moment to recognize him. I remembered him as a teenager, a member of the then-new Teen Special Interest Group and a member of AML’s National Membership Committee. He asked me to go with him to the AG Hospitality Suite because there was something he thought I would want to see. There were chairs two- and three-deep pulled up to a large table. Seated there were some of the very first Teen SIG members from a few years ago. Now young professionals, busy with careers, they took time to get together like they used to do when they met in Teen SIG. They talked and shared and networked. Where else can friendships like this be made? That first Teen SIG meeting room and programming was sponsored in part by your donations.

At the 2014 Boston AG, the Foundation’s Spark! programming for children ages 4 to 12 received these comments. From Patricia Bear, LPC, one of the program teachers: “The kids’ programming at the AG is invaluable to young Mensans. It is highly unlikely that they have any other opportunity to spend time with such a large group of their age-mates who are also intellectual peers. This allows them to have interactions and experiences that are unique and enriching while making social connections that can last throughout their lives.”

From the hotel convention staff: “We’ve had lots of groups come in and have things for kids to do while the parents attended a conference, but we have never seen anything like this. This is amazing! It’s a new standard.” It’s Mensa, and it is your Foundation at work.

Gifted youth members are the future of Mensa. The broader picture is that they may also be the future researchers or inventors who help to sustain our lives and our planet. Imagine youth at this year’s AG participating in Spark!, sitting in rapt attention as Boston’s Museum of Science presents a program especially for them. Imagine the spark that already exists in a child growing a little brighter because he or she just spent hours having fun learning new things with other children who can relate to his or her genius.

When that spark starts to burn, the Foundation is still there for them with scholarships, which the Mensa Member Scholarships also provides in larger denominations. Later, when the fire is burning brightly, there are programs that recognize achievements such as the Award for Excellence in Research, Intellectual Benefits to Society Award, Laura Joyner Award, Copper Black Award for Creative Achievement, Lifetime Achievement Award and more. These awards thank individuals for making our lives, and our planet, healthier, safer, better.

The Mensa Education & Research Foundation is your Foundation. Mensa members make it what it is today. Whether you volunteer time to read scholarship essays, make a donation, include the Foundation in your will or do all three, you make it what it will be tomorrow. You also impact the lives of so many today and of all our tomorrows.