As Pride Foundation’s Scholarship Program gets ready to celebrate its 20th Anniversary, we are calling on all scholars to join our alumni group. More than 900 individual scholars have received a Pride Foundation scholarship since the program was founded twenty years ago. Thanks to our scholars, donors, and volunteers, Pride Foundation has become one of the largest LGBTQ and ally scholarship programs in the world.
As we plan celebrations across the Northwest to mark twenty years of championing education and LGBTQ leadership, we want to reconnect with all our scholars via our newly created Linked In Scholar Alumni Group to nurture relationships between past and present scholars and to keep scholars connected to Pride Foundation’s work. We also want to know “Where are they now?” and are asking all past and present scholars to complete a quick and easy survey. (Complete the Scholar survey and you could win a Pride Foundation T-shirt.)
A lot has changed since the first scholarships were awarded in 1993. That was the year that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was enacted and a million people marched in Washington, D.C. in support of LGBTQ equal rights and liberation. Today, gays and lesbians can serve openly in the military and hard fought victories are taking place, in what seems a weekly basis, in areas of marriage equality, employment and housing policy, health reform, and overall recognition of the lives of LGBTQ people.
We know that our scholars, LGBTQ and straight alike, have played a role in our community’s progress by living out loud and proud—often directly leading change in their local communities and sometimes simply being visible in a career field traditionally unwelcoming of LGBTQ people. We owe a deep debt of gratitude to our scholars.
As we celebrate the Scholarship Program’s 20th Anniversary, please join our Scholar Alumni Linked In Group and complete our short survey. There is still so much exciting work ahead for our community, and we’d like to save a seat for you on what will surely be a wonderful ride working together towards full LGBTQ equality.
Craig Williams is Pride Foundation’s Educational Programs Officer. Email Craig for more information about Pride Foundation’s Scholarship Program.