Review PFund Scholarships
“Being a scholarship reviewer was a meaningful way for me to give back to my community. Reading the students’ stories was eye-opening and I was glad to be able to help more queer people access education.”
—Seth, 2023 PFund Scholarship Reviewer
PFund Scholarships are by and for the LGBTQ+ community.
Every year, a group of volunteers reviews applications and award scholarships to LGBTQ+ students from across the upper Midwest. From G.E.D. to Ph.D., PFund supports queer learners at all stages of their educations. For our 2024 round of scholarships, we need reviewers from across the region and queer community to select this year’s cohort of PFund Scholars.
Applications for 2024 scholarship reviewers are now closed; thank you to everyone who applied. We anticipate opening up volunteer applications again in early 2025. In the meantime, PFund has a variety of ways you can volunteer to help us build equity.
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PFund typically awards one round of scholarships per calendar year and the scholarship review panel activities taking place during spring. PFund scholarship reviewers volunteer 8 to 24 hours of time per year. Panelists spend four hours in virtual training and scholar selection meetings, four to twelve hours reading and ranking applications in Submittable (time varies depending on how fast a reviewer reads and how many applications are submitted each year), and four hours attending the (optional) scholar celebration event in the fall.
A $100 stipend will be available for reviewers.
The application window to serve as a scholarship reviewer is typically open January - March. The 2024 application window is closed.
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All community review panelists receive required training in avoiding conflicts of interest and implicit biases, how PFund’s scholarship selection process takes places, and how to use Submittable to review and rank scholars applications.
All trainings take place remotely via Zoom.
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Once PFund selects scholarship reviewers and they have received their required training, panelists set up a Submittable account, read and rank all application materials, and meet virtually as a group to rank applicants and recommend to the PFund board who should receive funding. PFund staff assist reviewers at all stages of the process.
For the 2024 round of PFund Scholarships, scholarship reviewers will meet virtually on Friday, March 29 from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. CST. Anyone wishing to serve as a scholarship reviewer must be available to remotely meet during this time.
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The PFund Board of Directors awards scholarships based upon the recommendations of the community review panel and input from PFund staff. In 2023, PFund distributed roughly $132,000 to more than 50 queer students from across the Upper Midwest.
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PFund scholars, staff, donors, board members, and community reviewers meet and celebrate at an in-person event, typically held in the Twin Cities in the autumn. The celebration is optional for scholarship reviewers, but many enjoy being able to meet the scholars they selected in person.