Rockford, IL – Rockford Promise, a scholarship organization transforming the lives of students, their families and neighborhoods while serving as a powerful economic driver for our community, added three Rockford professionals to its board of directors.

* Scot Dobbs, president of Summit CPA Group. Scot is a Guilford graduate who earned his associate’s degree from Rock Valley College in 1993, his accounting degree from Southern Illinois University in 1995 and then a master’s degree in taxation from Northern Illinois University in 2014. Scott worked with Wipfli from 2005 to Sept. 2020 when he bought his own accounting firm.

* Michael Perry, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Rockford University. Michael has been with Rockford University for nearly 14 years in a variety of roles. Michael earned his bachelor’s degree in 1996 from Augustana University in South Dakota. He earned a master’s degree from the University of St. Thomas in 2002 and a doctorate of philosophy from Arizona State University in 2008.

* Justin King, vice president of planning and business development for Emerson Commercial & Residential Solutions, a segment of Emerson Electric Co. King joined Emerson in 2018 after working for Textron for nearly 14 years. Justin has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Brown University in 1996, a master’s degree from the University of Michigan in 1998 and a Master of Business Administration from the London Business School in 2004.

“Rockford Promise is grateful to have Scot, Michael, and Justin join the board,” Rockford Promise Executive Director Dr. Tasha Davis said. “They all contribute strong professional and educational experiences. It takes a village to help meet the needs of Rockford Promise Scholars. These three new board members bring real world expertise to the organization, and these characteristics will help our Promise Program became an economic driver in the region.”

Rockford Promise raises money and provides educational and emotional support for Rockford Public Schools graduates to go to Rock Valley College, Rockford University and Northern Illinois University. In 2021-2022, thanks to substantial commitments from the City of Rockford and the Northern Illinois Community Foundation, the number of scholars that Rockford Promise is supporting has grown from 65 active students to 186.

With the growing number of Rockford Promise applications for all three higher education partners (Rockford University, Northern Illinois University and Rock Valley College), Rockford Promise is in need of volunteer mentors to support Scholars. For more information about becoming a Rockford Promise mentor and supporting the 2022-23 cohort of Scholars, please visit www.rockfordpromise.org, email contact.us@RockfordPromise.org or call 815-627-0491. 

The application deadline for Rockford University scholarship applications was January 7. The Rockford Promise – Northern Illinois University scholarship application deadline was February 1 and the Rockford Promise –  Rock Valley College application deadline is March 1. The 2022-2023 scholarship recipients will be announced in May.