By Clare Meeker
Special to the Reporter
The Stanley Ann Dunham Scholarship Fund will host its 8th Annual Scholarship Award Ceremony on May 20, at the African American Museum in Seattle.
This year, the fund will award two $5,000 college scholarships to a Mercer Island High School senior woman and, for the first time, to a senior woman at Rainier Beach High School in Seattle.
A member of the Mercer Island High School class of 1960, Stanley Ann Dunham earned a doctorate in anthropology and worked to empower marginalized communities around the world, especially women. She was also the mother of President Barack Obama and of Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng, a peace studies educator.
Since 2010, the Stanley Ann Dunham Scholarship Fund has awarded 13 scholarships to Mercer Island High School senior women whose strong academic records and outstanding public service have made a difference in the wider community.
With this year’s addition of a Rainier Beach High School scholarship, the Fund continues to honor Dr. Dunham’s values of diversity and community building by supporting talented young women on their paths to higher education to become future leaders and active world citizens.
This year’s award ceremony will feature three successful women in our local community who will talk about their journeys to leadership.
Nikkita Oliver is a teaching artist, lawyer, anti-racism organizer and Seattle Poetry Grand Slam Champion. She works for Writers in the Schools and for Creative Justice, an arts-based alternative to incarceration. Oliver is also running for Mayor of Seattle on the People’s Party.
Tahmina Watson is an author, lawyer, radio show host, and founder of Watson Immigration Law in Seattle. She was a practicing barrister in London before immigrating to the United States herself. Watson is a passionate advocate for family and employment-based immigration reform.
Lisa Stone is executive director of Legal Voice, a nonprofit legal and legislative organization that advocates for marginalized communities in our region, especially women and girls. Stone has led the charge against discrimination in employment, health care and LGBTQ issues.
The ceremony will be held from 2:30-4 p.m., followed by a reception.
For more, contact Clare H. Meeker at 206-679-0057, email boardchair@stanleyanndunhamfund.org or visit www.stanleyanndunhamfund.org.
