In June, the ABA Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity named the three recipients of its SOGI Public Interest Scholarship. This year, the third year for the scholarship program, the scholarship committee received over thirty applications. Each applicant was deserving of recognition. It is wonderful to see so many individuals dedicated to academic excellence and with a strong commitment to making a difference in the community; our pipeline of young attorneys that have chosen to work in the LGBTQ+ space. In the prior two years of the scholarship program, SOGI was able to award scholarships to a total four individuals, one of whom now serves as a Commissioner for the SOGI Commission. The SOGI Commission was proud to be able to award an additional scholarship this year.
The scholarship provides financial supports to current law students and/or recent law school graduates who identify as LGBTQ or who will be doing public interest work for organizations that help to promote and protect the Rule of Law for, and/or the civil and human rights of, LGBTQ-identifying persons (which can include, a community-based organization, non-governmental organization, policy work in a governmental and/or non-governmental setting, and academic research or teaching). Recipients of the scholarship exhibit promise in and have demonstrated a commitment to the advancement of civil and human rights in LGBTQ communities and/or who have secured employment in public interest work benefit LGBTQ communities.
The scholarship awards can range from $1,000 to $5,000 per individual. If you would like to learn more about the ABA SOGI Public Interest Scholarship, please visit our website here.
[About this year's reciepients]
If you would like to further support our scholarship program, please consider making a donation via SOGI’s FJE donation page here. On this page, there is designation dropdown bar which allows you to direct your donation specifically to the scholarship fund.