By Aaron Allen, The Portland Medium
The Urban League of Portland recently announced the recipients of their Dickson Scott Scholarship. The scholarships, which totaled $30,000 in scholarship and tech bundles, were awarded to Brianna Hill, a Portland Community College student, Eugene Medical student Nelly Nouboussi and Happy Valley undergraduate Christine Bynum.
The Dickson Scott Scholarship is named after Ms. Nella Mae Dickson, who volunteered with Urban League for 40 years. She bequeathed a generous donation to the league upon her passing. Using her donation as a seed, The Urban League of Portland partnered with the other Urban League affiliates in the region to implement additional funding from Columbia Bank.
According to Nkenge Harmon Johnson, President/CEO of the Urban League of Portland, the scholarships will go a long way towards helping young people from Oregon pursue their dreams of education.
“Since the demand for financial assistance for our region’s Black students is so clear, we are extremely pleased to have the resources to provide some relief to our award recipients. Each has demonstrated a commitment to her future and our community,” said Harmon Johnson. “It’s a dream come true to help pay for the rising costs of higher education, as others once helped me.”
According to Cinna’Mon Williams, Director of Education and Workforce Development for the Urban League, the scholarship committee reviewed dozens of applications from promising students and awarded scholarships ranging from $5,000 to $10,000.
“The Dickson Scott Scholarship is one of the many ways that the Urban League of Portland works to empower and support youth and young adults,” says Williams. “Every aspect of the scholarship process was intentionally focused on the needs of the community and based on the knowledge we’ve gained from our 77 years of service. The scholarship application process was simplified to encourage participation. The scholarship amounts were specifically designed to make a difference in the lives of the recipients, and the scholarship name was carefully selected.”
“This work and the scholarship are personally important to me because I grew up, raised my family, and my granddaughter is being raised in the local community,” added Williams. “I am an Urban League of Portland youth and spent my days at the Urban League back in the ’80s working on my resume, getting interview coaching, and feeling supported by the youth and workforce program staff. I take immense pride in providing this same support to my community, and in knowing that we played a role in furthering the academic dreams of the recipients.” In attendance at the ceremony, which was held in the center of Portland’s Pioneer Square, were State Representative Janelle Bynum, Portland City Councilor JoAnn Hardesty, Coalition of Communities of Color Executive Director Marcus Mundy and representatives from Columbia Bank as well as a host of supporters, family and friends
