Frances M. Franklin Scholarship Program

Dr. Ken J. A. Griffin is the president and CEO of Care Alliance Health Center and a nationally respected health care executive whose leadership is defined by purpose, compassion and an unyielding commitment to community. His life's work is rooted in a simple but powerful belief: everyone deserves access to care, dignity in service and the opportunity to thrive.

Raised in poverty, Griffin understands firsthand the consequences when systems fail the people they are meant to serve. That lived experience did not harden him. It called him forward. It shaped a leader who refuses to accept inequity as inevitable and who has dedicated more than two decades to building health care and social service organizations that meet people where they are and walk with them toward better outcomes.

Griffin brings over 20 years of executive leadership experience across health care and human services, including serving as the chief operating officer for mission-driven organizations undergoing transformation. Throughout his career, he has led complex operational turnarounds, strengthened organizational cultures, expanded access to care, and forged partnerships that extend well beyond clinic walls. His leadership is marked by clarity, accountability and a deep respect for the communities he serves.

As president and CEO of Care Alliance Health Center, Griffin is leading a bold transformation anchored in the vision of being "Your Ally in Care." Under his leadership, the organization is expanding services, deepening community partnerships, and reimagining what trust-centered, community-based health care can and should look like in Cleveland. He leads with the conviction that health care institutions must not simply exist in communities but actively invest in their strength, resilience and future.

Griffin holds a Doctor of Healthcare Administration from Virginia University of Lynchburg, a Master of Arts in Business with an emphasis in Management and Leadership from Webster University and a Bachelor of Arts in Human Services from Columbia College. His leadership and advocacy have earned him national and regional recognition, including being named Crain’s Chicago Business Notable Executive, a Black Professionals Association Charitable Foundation 40 Under 40 honoree and a featured leader in Who's Who in Black Cleveland.

Beyond titles and accolades, Griffin is a servant leader, a mentor and a trusted voice who believes that leadership carries a moral responsibility. He challenges institutions to do more, give more and be more for the people they serve. His work is driven by legacy, faith in community and the unwavering belief that when we invest in people with intention and care, entire neighborhoods rise.

Frances Mason Franklin, a professor of English at Tri-C from 1969 to 1983, was born in Cincinnati. She received a bachelor's degree in English in 1942 from Spelman College. Her master's degree, also in English, was granted in 1946 from Atlanta University. Franklin was recognized for her extensive knowledge of African-American literature. She began research on the subject during the 1940s, collecting archival material on Black authors and discussing their works with many of them.  

Franklin attended the University of Chicago for three years for further graduate work in English and, from 1974 to 1976, was enrolled in the doctoral program of Urban Education Administration at the University of Akron. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Franklin taught English at Spelman College, Tuskegee Institute and Fisk University. She received an Outstanding Faculty Award at Spelman College. She came to Cleveland in 1953.  

The next year, she joined the Cleveland Public School System and taught English at Charles W. Elliot Junior High School. She was the chair of the English department from 1959 to 1969, when she joined the Tri-C faculty. She became the coordinator of Developmental Education and the director and academic unit leader of the Learning Center. In 1974, she received an award for Outstanding Service to the College.  

Franklin was a member of the National Council of Teachers of English, the International Reading Association and the Spelman Alumnae Association. She was also a member of the College Entrance Examination Board and the Junior College Test Committee and a consultant to the Ohio Board of Education in Humanities.  

The scholarship honors Franklin for her tireless efforts on behalf of the many Tri-C faculty members for whom she served as a mentor. She passed away in 1983. Her only child is Carol S. Franklin, Ph.D., who recently retired from her position as the associate dean of Social Sciences at the Western Campus. 

You must:

• Be a currently enrolled Tri-C student in the FMFAA mentoring program prior to Feb. 1 of the academic calendar year 
• Be actively a part of FMFAA for one semester  
• Have a current and locked Academic Plan  
• Have 24 or more institutional credits 
• Have a GPA of 3.0 or higher