SHAMBHALA
SCHOLARSHIPS
Shambhala Scholarship recipients are set to help develop the LGBT
community by leading its change
T
he Shambhala Organisation is awarding ten R25,000
scholarships for the 2016 academic year to future
leaders in the LGBT community.
The Shambhala Organisation was established by Dale
Pudney, who had the vision to see LGBTI leaders continue to
take their rightful place in the business world.
The objective of the scholarship initiative is to improve the
image of the LGBTI community as a whole by outlining LGBTI
role models, developing LGBTI leaders and showcasing
mainstream gay life so that people can be proud to be part of
the LGBTI community. Not an easy task indeed!
The 10 scholarship recipients were competing against 40 applicants
in three rounds of applications. The aim was not to choose the
best 10 out of the applicants, but to select the candidates who
demonstrated that they are worthy of the scholarship.
The Shambhala Organisation launched a promotion and awareness
campaign to ensure that we received applications from many high
calibre individuals. The effort of this was positive.
We are looking for leaders, people who are doing something
for their communities, doing it for the good of others; because
they will be successful in whatever they put their mind to and
contribute to achieving the organisation’s objectives.
The selection process was a collaboration effort between five
leaders from a range of backgrounds, who have volunteered
their time and efforts to find candidates who can make the
biggest difference in the LGBT community, to showcase the
aspects of gay life that we can be proud of, through:
· Natural leadership qualities
· Evidence of activism (#DoSomething)
· Ability to achieve great things
· Likelihood of promoting The Shambhala Organisation
The recipients all have a good balance between activism and
leadership in order to effect change and improve their chosen
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spheres. A lot of applicants who are academically strong
in their fields, did not make the grade for the scholarship,
because the focus is on leadership and people who can
effect change. Therefore, while the selection process is very
subjective, the committee’s assessment of the individual
applicants were well aligned.
The recipients for 2016 are Jett Jones (Tjaard du Plessis),
Khayalethu Gwala, Kudakwashe Masamvu, Nigel Patel, Pieter du
Plessis, Seoketsi (Tshepho) Mooketsi, Steph Jansen van Vuuren
and Winston Sussens. The final two will be awarded shortly.
While enabling the students to study towards a career in
leadership positions in various types of organisations, the
recipients are required to give back by doing community
service. While this was left to the recipients own discretion in
2015; in 2016, each recipient has personalised action plans
built into their scholarship agreements. These action plans
include the development of a non-profit organisation for trans
activism, a business seeking to provide a safe environment
for LGBT youth to interact (as a counter to all the hook-up
apps), LGBT affinity groups to overcome discrimination in
university residences as well as marketing for The Shambhala
Organisation and its affiliate companies and initiatives.
The Shambhala Scholarship program will continue to grow
and adapt according to the changing needs of the community;
assisting to improve the environment so that even more can be
done more of the community can be proud to be gay.
Please go like the page on Facebook at TheShambhalaOrg, get
involved and #DoSomething.