Stelos Alliance gift to benefit scholarships, student leadership training at Texas State

The nonprofit Stelos Alliance has made a $1 million gift commitment to Texas State University to support scholarships and programs ranging from student leadership training to the university mariachi ensemble and academic incentives for the baseball team.

The Stelos Alliance was founded in 2008 by Texas State alumni, Bill Poston and Melinda Keller to benefit exceptional student leaders at Texas State and around the country. The Stelos mission is to help stars shine brighter. Both Poston and Keller earned their bachelor’s degrees in business administration in 1988 and have worked together at Stelos and other ventures for the past 15 years. Poston is an entrepreneur who is the founder or principal owner of more than 20 companies including Kalypso, Muy’Ono Hospitality and The Launch Box. He started and has taught the Housley Principled Leadership Program at Texas State for the past 11 years. Keller served in leadership roles at Kalypso and is the vice president and executive director of Stelos.

This gift commitment elevates Poston to the status of Texas State Hero. Heroes are those individuals or organizations who have donated one million dollars or more to the university. It is the most prestigious honor bestowed on Texas State supporters.

A significant portion of the gift commitment will support the Stelos Scholars program at Texas State. The program, housed in the Honors College, convenes an exclusive cohort of extraordinary students. The program helps them develop deeper connections with each other and the university, arms them with valuable leadership skills, unlocks new opportunities and encourages the completion of a senior capstone project. During the two-year program, students collaborate with peers, expand their worldview, travel, meet alumni, study leadership and discover new ways of confronting problems so they are better prepared for life after college.

In addition to the Stelos Scholars program, the gift will also benefit the Bill Hogue Memorial Scholarship and the Stelos Leaders Scholarship Funds, while supporting the Mariachi Ensemble in the School of Music, supplementing the LBJ Outstanding Senior Award, providing academic incentives for the Bobcat baseball team and supporting other programs on campus. Stelos targets its assistance to exceptional student leaders that strive for excellence.

The Stelos Alliance maintains deep ties with Texas State and has a long history of supporting the university and its students. Poston serves on the TXST Development Foundation Emeritus Council and is a member of the TXST Friends of Fine Arts. He is a member of the Pillar Society and the Bobcat Club and is a Forever Bobcat in the Alumni Association. He is a former trustee of the Texas State Development Foundation and a former member of the board of directors of the Alumni Association. He also served as a member of the Academic Excellence Pillar for the "Pride in Action" capital campaign. Poston was a recipient of the Alumni Star Award in 2009.

This gift commitment from the Stelos Alliance is dedicated to the hundreds of graduates of the Housley Principled Leadership Program and is intended to serve as an inspiration and reminder for them to assume leadership roles in their communities. Learn more about Stelos Alliance at www.stelos.org or follow them on Instagram or Facebook.