More than just a Scholarship: Providing Leadership Skills, Development Programs and Events for LGBTQ Students

Point Foundation (Point), the nation’s largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students of merit, is committed to helping young people acquire leadership skills. Thanks to the generosity of corporate supporters and workplace giving, this year Point is able to bring its current 84 scholarship recipients and many of its 350 alumni together for leadership training events around the country, including a National Leadership Conference.

Conference attendees will benefit from three days of workshops, panel discussions and addresses by LGBTQ and allied elected officials, authors, business leaders, and artists. Topics for sessions include academic preparation, community service, strategic activism, and LGBTQ and civil rights history. The conference will take place in Washington, D.C. July 21- 24.

“We consistently hear from our scholars and alumni how much they benefit from opportunities to gather in-person during our leadership programs,” said Jorge Valencia, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Point Foundation. “Learning together in the company of your peers is a powerful experience. Everyone at Point is incredibly appreciative of the companies, employee resource groups, and individuals who make this possible for our LGBTQ scholars and alumni.”

Throughout the year Point also organizes Leadership Education and Affinities Development (LEAD) consortiums where current and past scholarship recipients join board members and mentors from related professional and academic fields for skills-building and professional development workshops. A recent LEAD in San Francisco focused on Health and Medicine, with sessions about LGBTQ health care, HIV prevention, and health care policy. A summer LEAD in Washington D.C. focuses on policy and law, with presentations of case studies, and sessions on advancing advocacy issues.

“We are honored to be able to provide Point Scholars the opportunity to connect in-person to learn and exchange ideas as they prepare to be the next generation of LGBTQ leaders who will bring their talents to making our communities a better place for all,” said Mario Acosta-Velez, Verizon’s Director of state government affairs and National President of GLOBE (Verizon’s LGBT employee resource group).

Along with Verizon, supporters of Point’s leadership events and programs include HSBC, TimeWarner Foundation, and Wells Fargo. By investing in education via Point Foundation these companies and their employees are helping to empower and enrich disenfranchised young people.

“Wells Fargo is proud to support the Point Foundation in making access to a college possible for talented students who may have experienced obstacles in their education as a result of their sexual identities,” said Georgette “GiGi” Dixon, Wells Fargo’s Director of Strategic Partnerships. “Together with the Point Foundation, we seek to promote diversity and inclusion while helping promising LGBTQ students obtain their higher education goals.”

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