Kim Parsell at WordCamp San Francisco 2014. Photo by Drew Jaynes.
In January we announced a memorial scholarship to WordCamp US in honor of Kim Parsell, a valued and committed contributor to the WordPress project who had recently passed away. Now that the city and dates of WCUS have been determined, we are taking applications for the scholarship.
- It is a scholarship for a woman contributor with financial need who has never attended WordCamp San Francisco before.
- It will cover the ticket cost, flight, and lodging.
- It will not cover things like taxis, meals outside the official event, or airport transportation.
- One scholarship is awarded per year.
- It is funded by the WordPress Foundation.
- The application deadline is September 2, 2015.
- A decision will be made by September 16, 2015, and applicants contacted.
Those who knew Kim were very aware that her experience at WordCamp San Francisco a few months before her death was huge for her, and that the travel assistance program made it possible. Kim was also passionate about efforts to recruit and recognize more women contributors in the project.
This specific scholarship in her memory is therefore limited only to applicants who fulfill all four requirements: a woman (this includes trans women), an active contributor to the WordPress open source project (through one of the contributor teams or as a local meetup/WordCamp organizer), someone with financial need, and someone who has never attended WordCamp San Francisco (the precursor to WCUS). There is more information on why we chose these conditions in the original announcement post.
Kim also had strong feelings about *older* women getting involved and being welcomed, but we didn’t include an age limit on the scholarship in case some years there weren’t people who fit all the criteria. That said, since this is the Kim Parsell scholarship, I’d like to especially encourage older women to apply — you are welcome here, and your experience is valued more than you may realize!
And before we get to the link to apply, I’d like to ask everyone reading this to take a moment to remember Kim, and to remember that it’s up to all of us to make people with different backgrounds feel welcome and included at events like these. Let’s do her proud.
Apply for the Kim Parsell Memorial Travel Scholarship
