News

Taco Bell puts $3M in pot for this year's Live Mas scholarships

January 18, 2018

Taco Bell is rolling out its third year of Live Mas Scholarships, an annual award program for students and employees designed to help the QSR not only attract but retain top talent in the fast food sector, according to a news release. 

In 2018, the Yum Brand will award $3 million to help 16- to 24-year-old individuals with everything from post-high school education funding to other paths toward attaining their dreams that don't fit into the typical "academic" or "athletic" scholarship categories. Taco Bell's websites states that $1 million will go to help 100 new students, while 50 new employees will be awarded a total of $500,000 in scholarships, and $1.5 million will help 150 previous scholarship recipients to continue their journies.

The scholarships range from $5,000 to $25,000 and are not awarded based on students' grades or how well they play sports, but rather the content of a 2-minute video each candidate creates about what they want to do with their lives. 

The company's foundation chooses winners, who are "the next generation of innovators, creators and dreamers."

The Live Mas Scholarship Renewal program, which awards money to previous scholarship recipients, is a new addition this year to the initiative that helps individuals continue on their paths toward their passions. 

"Everything we do strives to be current, creative and with a cause and, as we continue to grow, I can't think of a worthier cause than investing in the future success of our employees and the young people in our communities,"
Taco Bell CEO and Foundation Chairman Brian Niccol said, in an email to QSRweb. 

QSRweb previously reported on some of the gain Taco Bell is realizing from this program, which is part of a company-wide initiative known as "Start with us, Stay with us." In total, the company said last year that it has used the initiatives of the overall program to halve their employee turnover, grow engagement and performance, improve customer service. By last spring the brand said it was filling 80 percent of its leadership needs in-house.