Our History

Dr. Joe Samuel Ratliff, Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Brentwood Community Foundation, is a visionary. Dr. Ratliff’s vision was to craft a conduit to provide supplemental financial support for Houston area students seeking higher educational experiences. Realizing that “it takes the whole village to raise a child”, rather than a statistic, Dr. Ratliff assembled a group of educational advocates who shared the same conviction to make this philanthropic mission a reality.


In 1982, under the leadership of Ester Brown, the Brentwood Scholarship Committee emerged. With 500 guests in attendance, the inaugural fundraising luncheon and fashion show was held at Houston’s Élan’s. Net profits from this event were shared with more than 30 high school graduates in the amount of $300 each for the purchase of books, travel, and other related college expenses. Over the years attendance at the annual fundraising luncheon and fashion show has propelled to more than 1,500 patrons. Proudly, since the inception of the Program, in excess of 3,750 qualified applicants have been awarded merit based scholarships and grants valued in excess of $1,850,000.

The BCF Scholarship Program salutes Macy’s, its corporate partner, who, for more than 21 years has helped to sustain the organization’s goal. Macy’s commitment to the various communities it operates it stores in is evident in their long standing participation with the Program. Together, Macy’s and the Brentwood Community Foundation Scholarship Program, look forward to a long and beneficial partnership of “investing our future”.