Scholarship
Mary Blackwell Barnes Memorial Scholarship
2024
Application: The deadline for the Scholarship Application is May 31, 2024. Download the application below.
About the Program
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 state or local government, nonprofits, public finance law, public policy law, or public finance itself (includes underwriting, financial advisory, audit, accounting, and government banking). 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.
2021 Signature Event
The award recipient(s), along with a parent or guardian are invited to accept the scholarship at the annual Virginia Women in Public Finance Signature Event, (held in Sept./Oct.). Note: Attendance at the event is not required to receive the scholarship.
Scholarship recipients are selected by mid- August. Proof of enrollment in the fall semester of study must be provided to Virginia WPF before funds will be disbursed.
Please email [email protected] with any questions.
Prior Scholarship Recipients
2023: Elizabeth "Ellie" Cowan, University of Virginia
2023: Leslie Michelle Cruz, George Washington University
2023: Candy Parmentier, Liberty University
2022: Dorian Philpot, Virginia Commonwealth University
2022: Abigail "Abby" Berry, University of William & Mary
2022: Gillian Hedrick, University of Virginia
2021: Kristen Taylor, Virginia Tech/American University
2020: Alysha Gardner, George Washington University
2020: Emily Ma, University of Virginia
2019: Nadine Lin, Georgetown University
2018: Hannah Han, University of Virginia
2018: Carly Gordon, George Washington University
2017: Jamie Marshall, Hampton University
2017: Emily Shull, Virginia Tech
2016: Bethany Bostron, William & Mary
2016: Laura Ollievere, William & Mary
2016: Aarusha Das, Georgetown University
2016: Chanel DuPree, University of Virginia
2015: Jailynn Cotton, Hampton University
2015: JoAnne Frangias, American University
2015: Kiara Jordan, Virginia Commonwealth University
2015: Menuka Ban, William & Mary
2014: Cynthia Lam, Washington and Lee University
2014: Anna Vesely, University of Virginia
2014: Emily Wavering, William & Mary
2013: Jessica Rogers, George Mason University
2013: Megan Schwenzfeier, William & Mary