Kiarra Womack, 26

Scholarships represent more than a job title for Kiarra Womack, who is the senior scholarships manager for Sarasota's William G. and Marie Selby Foundation — they are about connections.

Womack, who went to Washington University in St. Louis on a full ride through various scholarships, says that motivated her to give back and connect other people with resources.

Photo by Mark Wemple

“The scholarships I received … helped me never take for granted opportunities that I had gotten and always inspired me to help someone else,” Womack says.

Growing up in Sarasota, Womack says she was a “low-income student” who came from “very humble beginnings.” Her mother was a Title I public school teacher.

“I learned very early on…we did not have a lot of funding,” Womack says. “So what I ended up doing was really dedicating my early life to service.” From age 6 through her senior year of high school, Womack was a Girl Scout. She also tutored students and created an organization promoting diversity. 

Entering high school, she began working for her mentor, Dr. Lisa Merritt, who founded the nonprofit Multicultural Health Institute in Sarasota, which seeks to address health inequities. 

“She was constantly supporting youth and making sure that those students coming behind her were getting the resources they needed,” says Womack, who proceeded to mentor students and serve as a resident advisor in college.

At the Selby Foundation — where she helps the organization administer $1 million annually in college scholarships to 170 students — Womack says she wanted the program to facilitate more interpersonal connections. So she created ways for scholarship recipients to participate in events virtually and connect with mentors.

And in 2022 Womack launched the institution-level Regional Scholarship Provider Network, which unites 20 to 30 organizations quarterly from Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties, collaborating on everything from marketing to professional development.

In 2023, Womack founded the Black Professionals in Philanthropy cohort after a colleague in the nonprofit community approached her and said: “‘There’s no space with people that look like me’” at the foundation level. After reaching out to area foundations, the group began holding monthly meetings that has since also led to the development of an offshoot organization.

“If I see the need and have a passion for it,” says Womack, “I figure out all kinds of ideas and ways to make it happen.”