Pride Foundation donors and volunteers in Oregon and throughout the Northwest are helping us transform our communities and culture. This month we’re celebrating the transformative and impactful work of our Scholarship Program — one of the largest LGBTQ and straight ally scholarship programs in the United States — with the announcement of our 2012 scholars.
Our Scholarship Program would be nothing without our team of passionate and dedicated volunteers. Our team of volunteers was made up of an amazingly diverse, smart, and talented group of individuals. Oregon’s scholarship selection committee is as diverse as the candidates themselves. One such volunteer is longtime community organizer, immigrant rights activist, and social justice champion Guadalupe Quinn.
Guadalupe is a long-time community activist who has been working for over 25 years in the areas of human rights, racial justice, economic justice, worker rights, and immigrant rights. She is the Immigrant Rights Advocacy Program Coordinator with Amigos Multicultural Services Center in Eugene. For the past 15 years, Guadalupe’s work has focused on immigrant rights at the local, state, and national level. A Mexican immigrant, she has lived in the United States for more than 60 years and in Oregon since 1978.
“One of the best things about working in the community, beside it being the best classroom, is the people and the organizations that you get to meet and work with,” says Guadalupe.
Guadalupe’s passion for youth and equitable access to education is evidenced in her relationship with the youth group Juventud FACETA which works with Latino immigrant teens in leadership development.
Luckily for Pride Foundation, Guadalupe graciously accepted our invitation to serve on the Scholarship Committee. With so many uniquely qualified applicants, Guadalupe had the difficult task of selecting our 2012 scholars. However, she still feels it was “a great opportunity to support students in their struggle to get through school” and “can’t wait to tell more people about the impact and significance of Pride Foundation’s Scholarship program.”
Pride Foundation’s Scholarship program began in 1993. Since then, it has awarded almost $3 million dollars to 1200 students. Scholarship awards support LGBTQ and straight ally students who have shown leadership to advance the LGBTQ community. The scholarships are intended to support various programs—2 year degrees, 4 year degrees, vocational programs and graduate studies, to students of all ages.
Congratulations again to all our 2012 Pride Foundation Scholars in Oregon and across the Northwest. Read more about our 2012 Scholars.
To learn more about our Scholarship Program and making an investment with Pride Foundation, email Oregon Regional Development Organizer Jett Johnson.