Education Northwest launched a new scholarship program for Native educators. The Steven R. Nelson Native Educator Scholarship Program seeks to increase the number of Alaska Native, American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander students who pursue graduate degrees that will qualify them for careers in education policy, leadership, technical assistance, or research in the Northwest region.

Our Board feels that providing these scholarships is a concrete way that Education Northwest expresses its commitment to equityIt also is a way for us to increase the number of Native educators who can serve our region by providing high quality evaluation and technical assistance services.
—CEO Steve Fleischman.

The program will provide selected students with as many as three years of annually renewable scholarships. Awardees will receive a maximum of $5,000 each year to pursue a master’s degree in education policy, leadership, technical assistance, research, or a related field. As many as five scholarships per year will be awarded—one for a resident of each state in the organization’s primary service region (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington).

The scholarship is named in honor of a retired leader at Education Northwest whose 40-year career was dedicated to working with tribes, communities, schools, and districts to improve Native and rural students’ academic and life success.