Ally Dilworth

High School Graduation Year: 2018
Year First Awarded the Carson Scholarship: 2017
Sponsored by: The Kahlert Foundation

Allyson Dilworth, a 2017 Carson Scholar, went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in public relations from Messiah University in 2021. During her senior year of college, she began an internship with the Carson Scholars Fund. After she graduated, she was offered a position with the CSF and worked on the team for three years.

Being part of the CSF community means so much to Ally. She looks back on her time as a scholar, intern, and staff member with gratitude. As someone who always knew she wanted to work closely with people and find the best way to help organizations, her time at the CSF helped her work towards that mission. The things that she learned as a staff member have helped her in her career and she gained skills that she will use for the rest of her life.

Ally now serves as the Connections Director for her church, responsible for increasing involvement in the church and facilitating community service. A major part of her role is outreach to local charities and nonprofits; they are currently working with 14 local organizations. Ally oversees communications with the local groups and organizes people and events with the church to help them. They support non-profit organizations that help with food insecurity, homelessness, youth organizations, and young and pregnant moms. Ally reaches out to the groups to see what they need, then sends them funds and she encourages the members of her church to go and volunteer with them as well. “As Carson Scholars know, serving is so important and it’s a big part of what makes us productive, good citizens. So, we want to make sure the people going to our church do that.”

One of the first projects Ally oversaw at her current job was a community outreach event, filling backpacks for students before the start of the school year. Around 1,000 people showed up to the event and they put together over 500 backpacks for students in need. The backpacks also included resources for those who needed food or help learning English. Lunch and games were available for students who attended the event.

Reflecting on her Carson Scholarship, Ally shared that becoming a scholar showed her she had something to offer, and that people saw something in her. The Carson Scholarship was the first scholarship that Ally ever received. It gave her motivation and confidence to keep applying for scholarships, ultimately allowing her to graduate from college debt-free. Ally had looked up to Dr. Carson ever since he visited her middle school, and she continues to be inspired by his journey and loves his organization.

Ally’s one piece of advice to our current scholars is, “Do not close any doors for yourself and to try as much as you can and get as many experiences as you can. I never thought that reaching out to Carson Scholars Fund when I was in college would lead to a job and really set me up to learn so much in those first three years of my career. It was all just because I gave it a shot and reached out and I think that sometimes it can be scary, and it takes a lot of courage but it is really important to just go for those experiences to try them and you never know what you will learn and what connections you will make, who you will meet. I think it is very important to try as many things as you can, do internships. I always encourage every young person in my life to do internships, paid or not paid just to get the experience. I think that getting a job now is so much more about the connections you have as opposed to just applying online. You never know what those internships or experiences will lead too.”