Foundation Voices Blog

It started with a polymath and an idea — as it often does in Mensa. Then, over five decades, the Mensa Foundation grew a booming scholarship program, extended support for research into intelligence, provided gifted youth special programming, and much more to unleash intelligence for the benefit of humanity.

Even before the pandemic nudged the event online, this year’s satirical take on the traditional pageant was bound to break barriers. The results delivered the first Mr. and Ms. Mensa duo, Jay Patton and Jen Zbylski, and raised for the Mensa Education & Research Foundation a record $42,731 — more than double any previous year.

COVID-19's tendrils have wrapped themselves around nearly every aspect of our lives, but few institutions have felt the transformative effects of this pandemic like education. When they needed you most, facing uncertainty, unpredictability, and unease, your support soothed parents' anxiety over bringing homeroom into the living room.

This life adventure has reminded me of how contributions — time, talent, and treasure — can make a difference well beyond the initial gift. Whatever way you have provided help and support to the Mensa Foundation, you have made an impact that extends into the future.

Thanks to a few evenings of light debauchery and spirits sampling at the 2019 Annual Gathering in Phoenix, the GenY Special Interest Group raised more than $30,000 to endow a scholarship fund … a year earlier than they expected.

At the heart of this hilarious competitive pursuit for the crown, the mission of Mr. Mensa remains the same: to raise money for a worthy cause — and to have a good time doing it.

Mensa and the Mensa Foundation are like anything else in life: You get out of it exactly what you put into it. Participate, get involved. If you’re in a position to endow a scholarship, by all means do so. The Foundation will help you every step of the way.

The following was written by Mensan Jessica Street in support of Karyl Kubick Hanson’s nomination for the Mensa Foundation Distinguished Teacher Award, recognizing a teacher for positive influence on the education or life of a Mensa member. It is reprinted with permission upon the announcement of Hanson receiving the 2018 accolade.