Please note that there is an award named the "Lee Frances Heller Memorial Award" for Christian Students.
Lee Frances Heller Memorial Award
Sponsored by Julie Ann Johnson. Eligibility is limited to a Christian student, who is or will be attending a college, university or other institutions for religious studies. Please indicate how your transgender identity and your involvement in the Christian church have related to one another. Also, please identify your home congregation and any leadership experience you have had in the Christian church and/or transgender organizations.
The Transgender Scholarship and Education Legacy Fund
New Transgender Scholarship Fund Announced for Transgender Identified Students in the Helping and Caring Professions Including: Social Services, Health Care, Religious Instruction, Teaching and the Law.
The International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE) would like to announce that it will be awarding numerous scholarships to transgender identified students in the helping and caring professions through it’s collaborative Transgender Scholarship and Education Legacy Fund (TSELF) in the United States and Canada. Each scholarship will provide supplemental funding for post-secondary students who have a demonstrated ability in and commitment to affecting change in the transgender communities through their commitment to working and being educated in the helping and caring professions. These include, but are not limited to, Social Services, Health Care, Religious Instruction (all denominations), Teaching and the Law. We seek to reflect a broad range of interests, including social services, HIV/AIDS education, law, teaching & education, religious instruction (all denominations), medical and health care as well as the sciences.
Today a whole generation of out and proud transpeople have the power to create dramatic change in the world. We want to honor that power with the support that education focused scholarships can provide. It's important to acknowledge the achievements of our communities. Some of the most powerful forces for the transgender communities are transgender-identified individuals being nurtured and supported by this community. By providing grants to transgender students, TSELF recognizes these students' past achievements and provides much needed support for their future pursuits. Through these awards, we forge links between professionals and emerging leaders. In doing so, TSELF helps to facilitate the growth and advancement of not only these individuals -- but of our communities as well. TSELF is committed to the concept that trans-people should be encouraged to help other trans-people. In the simplest terms, Transpeople helping ourSELVES – TSELF!
Visibility
A special component of TSELF is the aspect of visibility. All awardees must be “Out and Proud,” both as members of the trans-communities, but also within the educational systems and professions that they are seeking scholarship assistance for. The Transgender Scholarship and Education Legacy Fund is seeking trans-individuals, living full-time in a gender or sex role that differs from the one assigned to them at birth, who wish to serve as role models for other transgender identified people. As out trans-people in the helping and caring professions, these special individuals will be perceptibly challenging many of the societal prejudices that trans-folk encounter within educational and professional institutions.
Deadline
Awards will processed and announced twice yearly. Applications for the Spring Awards must be postmarked by February 1st. Scholarship awards will be made at the next IFGE convention (3/21 – 3/25/01). Applications for the Fall Awards must be postmarked by August 1st. Scholarship awards will be made at the next Southern Comfort Conference (date varies). Supporting materials should arrive within one week of each deadline. Applicants will be notified of their award status during the month, directly following the application deadline. Applications are available online at: http://www.tself.org
Background
The Transgender Scholarship and Education Legacy Fund (TSELF) is dedicated to enhancing the visibility, strength and vitality of the transgender communities. TSELF invests in our future by awarding scholarships to students with leadership potential, and the desire help build to our community's health, education and culture. TSELF is building an endowment to ensure permanent financial support for transgender students. TSELF promotes philanthropy among transgender identified people and demonstrates the growing power of transgender giving.
The International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE), founded in
1987, is a leading advocate and educational organization for promoting
the self-definition and free expression of individual gender identity.
IFGE is not a support group, it is an information provider and
clearinghouse for referrals about all things which are transgressive of
established social gender norms. IFGE maintains the most complete
bookstore on the subject of transgenderism available anywhere. It also
publishes the leading magazine providing reasoned discussion of issues
of gender expression and identity, including crossdressing,
transsexualism, FTM and MTF issues spanning health, family, medical,
legal, workplace issues and more. IFGE values:
- individual uniqueness and dignity;
- personal wholeness;
- respect for human diversity;
- freedom from society's arbitrarily assigned gender definitions;
- respect, acceptance, enforcement, and protection of gender-related
Human & Civil Rights for all.
Scholarship applications are available online at:
http://www.tself.org
TSELF can be reached at:
International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE)
TSELF Awards Committee
P.O. Box 540229
Waltham, Ma 02454-0229
Telephone: (781) 899-2212
Website: http://www.tself.org
TSELF e-mail: carrie@tself.org
