Edna Lewis Foundation Scholarships follow a grant model, in which the recipient is given wide latitude in the use of scholarship funds to achieve a goal to advance their career in their chosen food-related career. Qualified expenses include general living expenses including housing and childcare during stages, apprenticeships, or internships; tuition for school, fees for workshops, or symposia; and travel expenses related to these pursuits. Scholarships may not be used as seed money or operating capital for business or entrepreneurial ventures.

The Edna Lewis Foundation encourages scholarship applicants to dream and define the opportunity and Edna Lewis Foundation Scholarship can help make a reality. The written essay part of the application is the applicant’s opportunity to explain to the Foundation’s Awards Committee how an Edna Lewis Foundation scholarship will help elevate their career to a new, higher level, the financial barriers the scholarship will help overcome, and how the applicant would use scholarship funds to achieve their career goals.

Each scholarship recipient will work closely with a mentor, either identified by the scholar themself or selected from a slate of accomplished professionals in the recipient’s chosen career path. For the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic, mentorships may not be hands on, and may be subject to social distancing guidelines for the safety of both the scholarship recipient and mentor.

Applicants must identify as Black and be at least 21 years of age at the time scholarship is to be awarded. The date of the scholarship award is determined in part by the scholarship applicant’s timeline for their grant, and the Board of Trustees’ determination of when funds will be disbursed. The earliest possible date of scholarship disbursement will be August 15, 2020, and the latest possible date for disbursement will be January 15, 2021.