To qualify and apply for The Mary Blackwell Barnes Memorial Scholarship, the applicant must, at a minimum identify as a female student enrolled in a Virginia or District of Columbia college or university in the fall of the year the scholarship is awarded with sophomore (2nd year) status or higher (including graduate students), exhibit leadership skills through extracurricular activities, volunteer positions, and/or work experiences, have an interest in pursuing a career in public finance whether in the sector of finance, government, nonprofits or public law.
The Mary Blackwell Barnes Memorial Scholarship is named in honor of Mary Blackwell Barnes, a dedicated servant of public finance. Mary passed away in 2009 at the age of 44, but her memory lives on through the contributions she made to public finance in Virginia. Throughout her 20+ year career in public finance, Mary was a great example of hard work and a positive, confident attitude.
Through the scholarship, our organization hopes to bring awareness about careers in public finance, whether through work in government, nonprofits, public law, or finance itself. The scholarship will provide the recipient with an opportunity to network with women established in the public finance arena, as well as recognize the recipient for her scholastic and leadership achievements. We are proud to honor Mary by recognizing similarly motivated female students.
In support of its mission, Virginia WPF plans to award up to five recipients with a scholarship in the amount of $1,000 to $5,000. The scholarship will be paid directly to the award recipient's educational institution to pay qualified educational expenses on behalf of the award recipient.