About the Future Leadership Scholarship
The Generations Future Leader Scholarship is designed to recognize students whose activities, be they academic, religious or civic, will better the community of San Antonio and surrounding areas. GFCU will award three (3) non-renewable scholarships in the amount of $4,000 each.
One scholarship recipient will receive distinct recognition by the Generations FCU Board of Directors as the Robert “Bobby” Guerra Memorial Scholar to highlight their commitment to community involvement, and an additional scholarship recipient will be recognized as the Leroy Harvey Honorary Scholar to emphasize their dedication to education.
Application Details
Scholarship Essay Prompt
(Maximum 500 words):
Effective leadership often involves collaboration and teamwork. Describe a situation where you successfully collaborated with others to achieve a common goal. What was your role in the team? How did you contribute to the success of the project? What did you learn about the importance of teamwork and effective communication?
Judges will be looking for applicants to demonstrate their thought-leadership by sharing their unique point of view on this essay topic.
Plan Ahead Before Applying
All elements of the scholarship application must be completed before it can be submitted.
- Applicant must register for a User ID with their email address to get started.
- Applicant must confirm two recommenders, and both recommenders will also have to register with their email addresses to submit their letters of recommendation.
- Applicant CANNOT submit a completed application until both recommenders submit their letters of recommendation.
- Applicant should have their essay response ready to copy and paste into the application before applying.
- Applicant should also have an electronic PDF of their official or unofficial transcript.
Judging Criteria
Our panel of judges includes GFCU executives, board members and community leaders who are all seeking to recognize and reward the next generation of leaders within our membership and the community.
- Future Leader Scholarship applicants can be graduating high school seniors, current undergraduate students, graduate students, doctoral, post-doctoral and/or continuing education, trade school and vocational school students.
- Applicant must provide proof of enrollment or acceptance to an accredited institute of higher learning (to include two-year and four-year colleges and universities, trade schools and/or vocational schools, and accredited online schools).
- Applicant must provide their most recent school transcript.
- Applicant must have a GPA of 3.0 or better (or an average grade of 85/B).
- Applicant must provide proof of community service and/or extra-curricular activities.
- Applicant must provide two letters of recommendation. APPLICANTS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO UPLOAD LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION THEMSELVES. In the application form, applicants will enter the email addresses of their recommenders. The recommenders will then receive an email with a link to submit their letter of recommendation directly to the applicant’s form.
- Acceptable sources for recommendation letters include, but are not limited to:
- Academic Advisors
- Deans
- Coaches
- Professors
- Teachers
- Department Heads
- Mentors
- Clergy
The purpose of the Generations Federal Credit Union (GFCU) Future Leader Scholarship is to support the academic endeavors of students who live, work, worship, volunteer, attend school, or own a business in Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Medina, or Wilson County, Texas.
The scholarships may be used for any educational or education-related expenses the student may incur, including but not limited to, tuition, books, fees, room and board.
Deadline to submit applications for the 2024-2025 Future Leader Scholarship is 5 p.m. on Monday, March 24, 2025.
All community members who live, work, worship, volunteer, attend school or own a business in Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Medina and/or Wilson County, Texas who will be attending an accredited higher learning institution during the 2025-2026 academic year are eligible to apply and receive the scholarship.
A selection of judges will ensure that each applicant meets the eligibility requirements necessary to receive a scholarship award. Judges take into account essay quality and other application factors when providing an overall score.
No, there is not a GFCU membership requirement to apply for the Future Leader Scholarship this year. We are opening up applications to the general community in 2025.
Yes, to be eligible you must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0+ (or average grade 85/B).
Three (3) scholarships will be awarded, each in the amount of $4,000.
The scholarship award can be used for any education-related expense. Education-related expenses are determined at the discretion of each school.
Navigate to MyGenFCU.org/Scholarships and complete the electronic application. Paper applications are not accepted.
No, Future Leader Scholarship awards are available to anyone who currently attends or plans to attend any two- or four-year college or university, as well as any continuing education, vocational or trade schools during the upcoming 2023-2024 school year.
Scholarship awards are only for coursework in a degree-seeking program. Scholarship awards cannot be used for leadership development or special training programs.
As long as you are enrolled to attend an accredited school in the fall of 2025, you are eligible to apply for a Future Leader Scholarship.
Yes, you are still eligible for a Future Leader Scholarship as long as you can provide your last available transcript.
No, Future Leader Scholarship awards are available for continuing and college-level educational pursuits only.
Yes, as long as the institution is accredited.
The program used for the Future Leader Scholarship application is not optimized for mobile devices. It is highly recommended that you complete the application from a desktop computer.
Within the application, you will be prompted to request a letter of recommendation (you will not be able to upload a document). You must provide the recommender’s full name and email address. An email will then be sent directly to the recommender so that they may write or upload a previously written letter of recommendation that will be included with your application.
Please ensure that you let your recommender know beforehand that they will be receiving an email request. They should look for an email from noreply@mail.smapply.io.
Recommenders will need to click the link provided in the email from noreply@mail.smapply.io. This will take you to a page where you can login top provide a letter of recommendation.
If you’ve provided a recommendation in the past, you may login using your original credentials. You also have the option to login using Facebook, Twitter, or Google. If you have not created an account before, you will need to make one. Fill out the requested identifying information and click “Create Account,” or “Register.”
Once logged in, you will have the option to write the letter of recommendation in the form provided, or else upload a previously written PDF form of the letter. Once complete, you may submit the letter of recommendation.
Yes, you may save your application at any point in the process and return to it at a later date to complete and submit. You will need to login using the same credentials.
You will receive an email after applying letting you know that your application was submitted successfully.
If you don’t receive an email from us after submitting your application, please call (210) 773-6704 to check on the status.
All applicants will be notified by email of the outcome of the Future Leader Scholarship by Monday, April 7, 2025. If you are selected as one of our Future Leader Scholarship recipients, you will also receive a call from us. Winners will also be formally announced at the Credit Union’s Annual Membership Meeting on Wednesday, April 9th and listed on our website at MyGenFCU.org.
If you have questions that aren’t listed here, please send an email to CorpComm@www.mygenfcu.org, and we’ll get back to you as quickly as we can.