# George & Bernice Cooke Scholarship Foundation for Women

George & Bernice Cooke Scholarship Foundation for Women is an Endowment / Foundation based in United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation
- **Headquarters:** United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** United States
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The George & Bernice Cooke Scholarship Foundation for Women is a private foundation that provides scholarships to non-traditional undergraduate and graduate students. Trustees Douglas and Joanne Heydon steer the foundation's giving, which prioritizes US citizens with a minimum 3.0 GPA who show a commitment to women's issues. The foundation also designates specific awards for military and veteran students. A landmark 2015 commitment saw the foundation endow Florida International University with $2.5 million to establish a named scholarship for women. The foundation concentrates its deployment almost entirely on direct scholarship grants rather than fund commitments or diversified investment programs. Its known partner institutions are limited to two universities: Florida International University and Barry University. At Barry University, lifetime giving from the Heydon-linked foundation earned recognition through membership in the Monsignor William Barry Society. Despite the foundation's small asset base, its donor-advised structure allows the trustees to maintain personal control over grantee selection and scholarship criteria. Beyond the scholarship program, the foundation's asset footprint includes a residential property in Prescott Valley, Arizona and a modest investment portfolio held within the United States. The foundation does not operate a separate website, maintain a staffed office, or report to a public board, which is consistent with its status as a very small, family-administered private foundation. The foundation's differentiator is its narrow, rule-based mandate. It does not seek co-investors, manage external capital, or structure program-related investments. Its philanthropic architecture is a single-generation vehicle controlled entirely by the original donors, with no publicly disclosed succession plan or next-generation trustees. The scholarship criteria function as the foundation's investment thesis: high-performing women with financial need, evaluated personally by the trustees rather than through an institutionalized selection committee.

## Sectors

- Education
- Aerospace

## People

- Douglas Heydon — Trustee
- Joanne Heydon — Trustee

## Questions

### How does the foundation source scholarship recipients?

The foundation works directly with partner universities—Florida International University and Barry University are the only known institutional recipients. Scholarship candidates are US citizens with a minimum 3.0 GPA who demonstrate financial need and an interest in women's issues. Some scholarships are specifically earmarked for military and veteran students, but the foundation does not appear to run an open public application process outside these university channels.

### Does the foundation participate in fund commitments or only direct grants?

The foundation's activity is almost entirely direct scholarship grants to universities. There is no public evidence of fund commitments, program-related investments, or participation in pooled philanthropic vehicles. Its $2.5 million endowment to Florida International University represents a direct, named gift rather than a contribution to a university-managed fund of funds.

### How is the foundation structured relative to the Heydon family's other assets?

The foundation operates as a distinct private foundation entity, but the Heydons maintain a residential property at 7189 N Lucky Shoe Way in Prescott Valley, Arizona and an investment portfolio in the United States. These personal and foundation assets appear separately held, with scholarship grants flowing from the foundation rather than from a donor-advised fund housed at a community foundation.

### What is the foundation's known posture on co-investments alongside other philanthropies?

The foundation does not co-invest or pool capital with other philanthropies. Its grants are direct, named gifts to individual universities. Both the FIU $2.5 million endowment and the Barry University giving appear as bilateral relationships between the foundation and each institution, with no other funders involved in the named scholarship vehicles.

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Last updated: 2026-08-10T18:06:05.510Z

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