25 years of grantmaking in education Learn more at www.ninapulliamtrust.org. This year the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust is celebrating 25 years of community grantmaking in Arizona and Indiana. To honor Mrs. Pulliam’s legacy, the Trust established the Nina Mason Pulliam Legacy Scholars Program to provide educational opportunities for individuals who may not otherwise have the chance to go to college. Mrs. Pulliam felt that education is the great equalizer and she firmly believed education is essential to reaching one’s full potential. Nina Scholars are the epitome of resilience, dedication, and success, oftentimes outperforming their peer groups in GPA and graduation rates. Joevauny, 2022 Maricopa Community Colleges graduate ninapulliamtrust.org 372 Nina Scholars graduated $30.5 million awarded in student scholarships 94% First-year retention rate 77% Graduation overall rate 3.05 Average GPA

7 8 they find that talent, it can break a potentially negative cycle and steer them toward a better lifestyle and amazing opportunities. Some teens don’t know they’re a guitar player until they pick up a guitar. I share with them that when I was 15 years old, I didn’t know what to do with myself. My friends and I started the band. I learned to sing, write songs and perform onstage by trial and error. Thirty gold albums later, well … you know. What does it feel like to share your love of music in a safe, nurturing space? Music is THE international language. I can talk to a 70-year-old classic rock guy or a 17-year-old about music. Everyone has different tastes, and I love turning young guitar players on to Jeff Beck, Mike Bloomfield and Frank Zappa and having them listen to some of the greatest solos ever played. If you could have dinner with one musician, dead or alive, who would it be? Paul Butterfield. He was the greatest blues harp player ever. I learned how to play harmonica by listening to his first two albums. 9 10 What would you like your own legacy to be? The man who married hard rock to stage theatrics and made it work for six decades. I would be the Ziegfield of rock ‘n’ roll. Is there anything you’d like our readers to know about you or the Solid Rock Teen Centers? The Lord Jesus Christ changed my life in such a positive way. He gave me the talent I have and turned me from a drunken wreck to a new life so that Solid Rock could be a reality and become a positive force in the lives of teenagers. I’m still the greatest villain in rock ‘n’ roll, but for all the right reasons. To learn more, visit alicecoopersolidrock.com . A renewed sense of self-worth and purpose is the goal of this local sanctuary, along with an exciting creative journey for teens. 10 QUESTIONS Alice and Sheryl Cooper started Solid Rock to create a solid foundation for teenagers. FRONTDOORS MAGAZINE | 13