UPDATE 5/8/2020: The WordCamp US organizing team has recently made the difficult decision to move WCUS 2020 online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship is intended to provide travel assistance to a woman-identifying contributor with financial need who has never attended WordCamp US before, we will not be issuing the scholarship this year. When it is safe to meet in person, we will resume the scholarship once again for future, in person, WordCamp US events.
We are pleased to announce that applications for the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship are being accepted as of today.
Kim Parsell was an active member of the WordPress community until her untimely passing in 2015. She was given the nickname “WPMom” because of the care she took in making sure any member of the community that she encountered felt welcomed and valued.
Kim actively participated in WordPress Meetups in her native Ohio, often driving over 90 minutes each way to do so. She also attended multiple WordCamps from Ohio to San Francisco and everywhere in-between. As a contributor, she contributed to every release of WordPress from 3.7 to 4.2.
Online, Kim could often be found on Twitter encouraging community members in whatever they were doing. She’d also post comments on countless WordPress sites to give members a shout out, boost of confidence, or help if they needed it.
For the reasons above, and so many more, a scholarship for a woman-identifying person who has never attended WordCamp US before is named after Kim Parsell. Full details and the application below.
About Kim Parsell
One word that comes up over and over again when talking about WordPress is the word “community.” Kim Parsell fully embraced everything that the WordPress community stands for.
Here’s how Kim’s contribution to the WordPress community was explained by one of her friends, Drew Jaynes,
“What Kim contributed to the docs team and WordPress is simply irreplaceable. She was the formidable voice and editor of the core contributor handbook, half of the inline docs team, a contributing developer for the core team, a successful plugin developer, a support volunteer, an evangelist, and the all-seeing-eye of the WordPress community. More than that, she was a shining light, a mother, a sister, an aunt, a cousin, and a friend. She will be celebrated and missed by many.”
In an post written on WP Tavern about her unexpected passing, Kim’s friend Amanda stated,
“The greatest thing about Kim is that whether you’re standing at the back of the line or the front she would have walked her way down that line to let everyone know they were equally as important and that the only reason there’s a line is because everyone can’t be in the same place at once.”
To remember Kim Parsell and to honor everything she stood for, The WordPress Foundation named a scholarship after her. This scholarship is for a woman contributor with financial need who has never attended WordCamp US.
Scholarship Details
The scholarship will cover:
- Travel to and from St. Louis from the recipient’s home city,
- hotel stay for the duration of the event,
- a ticket to WordCamp US 2020.
The scholarship will not cover:
- taxis
- meals outside the official event
- airport transportation
- any other travel expenses
The deadline to apply for the scholarship is Friday, May 29th at 11:59p.m. PDT (-7 GMT).
A decision will be made in June, and applicants will be notified.
Who Should Apply?
Kim’s experience at WordCamp San Francisco a few months before her death was important to her, and the travel assistance program made it possible. She was passionate about recruiting and recognizing women contributors, so this scholarship in her memory is limited only to applicants who fulfill these four requirements:
- a person who self-identifies as female
- is an active contributor to the WordPress open source project, either through one of the contributor teams or as a local meetup or WordCamp organizer
- has a financial need
- has never attended WordCamp US
Kim had strong feelings about older women getting involved and being welcomed into the community, so while there is no age limit on this scholarship, we would like to especially encourage older women to apply — you are welcome, and your experience is valued here!
Interested? Apply on the WordPress Foundation’s Website.
NOTE: This award will result in income to the recipient that might be taxable, depending on the recipient’s circumstances. In general, scholarships paid for the purpose of study are tax-free to the recipient, but travel stipends or travel-related components of scholarships are not.
Contributing Writer: Sarah Blackstock