Indspire announces record year for Indigenous bursaries and scholarship awards

OHSWEKEN, ON, Oct. 12, 2012 /CNW/ - Thousands of Indigenous students have returned to colleges and universities across Canada bolstered by bursaries and scholarship awards from Indspire. In 2011-2012, Indspire's Building Brighter Futures program provided a record $6,205,100 to 2,220 individual recipients.

To date, the Building Brighter Futures: Bursaries and Scholarship Awards — the largest supporter of Indigenous education outside the federal government — has awarded more than $49 million in bursaries and scholarship awards to 14,000 First Nation, Inuit and Métis recipients across Canada.

"Our recipients are from diverse backgrounds - from small reserves to large urban centres. These outstanding youth pursue their goals with a will to succeed." commented the President and Chief Executive Officer of Indspire, Roberta Jamieson. "They are the future leaders in their communities and the country."

Across Canada, 66% of the recipients are in a wide variety of post secondary programs, 29% study for health careers, 3% chose fine arts and 2% are part of the Oil and Gas Trades and Technology Bursary and Scholarship program. Indspire shared the 2011-2012 awards among 1,261 First Nation, 52 Inuit and 906 Métis youth. The demand for support from Indigenous students throughout the country is great and we are meeting roughly only 20% of the need.

The people behind the statistics:

"Many students choose their field of study in order to return home to make a difference in the lives of their people, and their communities and their own stories are compelling," said Ms. Jamieson, who shared excerpts of letters from grateful recipients.

"For the past four years your organization has supported me. With the financial assistance provided, I was able to support myself through medical school." M.J.D., First Nation Health Careers recipient.

"Thank you for all the wonderful things you have achieved for Indigenous students in Canada. I have just learned that I will receive funding for my last year of dental school." H.N., First Nation student 

"I want to thank the sponsors for all their support while I was in school. I took hospitality management because I want to learn how to run my parents hotel and create more jobs for Inuit. I want to go back and make a difference in the governance in Nunavut." N.A. Inuit student.

"I am so honoured and grateful to have been given the opportunity to study at one of the best Audiology programs in Canada, and to bring back cutting edge research based clinical practice to not only my province of Manitoba, but also to my community.  I have learned that with hard work, sacrifices, and dedication, it is possible to achieve your goals, despite any obstacles." S.O. Métis student.

More information regarding Indspire's programs and opportunities to donate can be found at indspire.ca

2011/2012 Snapshot of areas funded:
271 Registered Nurses	74 PhDs
167 Masters levels	102 Business & Commerce
152 Teachers	116 Social Workers
142  Doctors & Dentists	23 Engineers
41 Oil & Gas Trades	8 MBAs
92 Lawyers	6 Pharmacists

About Indspire

Indspire is the former National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation.  Its new name combines the key notions of Indigenous and inspiration to highlight its exciting mandate.  Indspire is best-known for its many programs that help Indigenous youth succeed.  In addition to bursaries and scholarships, they offer career conferences for youth, interactive classroom learning modules, the Indspire Institute and the Indspire Awards.  Indspire's focus is on supporting, innovating, and fundamentally transforming Indigenous education. 

 

SOURCE: National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation

Media inquiries:

John Ecker 
Vice-President, Communications and Media Relations 
Indspire 
Phone: [phone] 
[email protected]