The 2024 Women in Agile Scholarship Purpose
The Women in Agile organization introduced a scholarship program in support of its mission, available to eligible members. The Scholarship program’s primary mission is to enable qualified members to break through financial constraints and acquire training or attend a conference that supports their professional growth in the agile community.
The designated training or conference will be referred to as “the event” in this document.
The Women in Agile organization (WiA) is focused on building a network that promotes and supports the work of outstanding women in the agile community. The intent of this scholarship program is to expand the network by breaking down one of the barriers surrounding professional development – financial constraints. The program is intended to support exemplary women, whose drive and dedication in the agile space will help advance the organization’s mission.
Application and Selection Timeline for 2024 1st Cycle Scholarship
- Applications open for submittal – February 23, 2024, application form
- Applications close for submittal – March 13, 2024
- Selection committee shortlisting and provider validation – March 14-27, 2024
- Notifications sent to applicants – March 29, 2024
- Winners announced on the website – March 31, 2024
- Start of payment/disbursement period – April 2, 2024
- Event, Class or Conference, need to occur within calendar year 2024
*Note: Scholarship does not cover travel or lodging for training or conferences. All eligibility criteria and application process steps apply for both funds and training seat requests.
Eligibility Requirements
The following eligibility requirements must be met for an applicant to qualify for consideration for the scholarship award.
- Must be a member of the Women in Agile organization in good standing; join here
- Must identify as a female or non-binary.
- Must not be a scholarship recipient in 2023.
- Must demonstrate a case of funding necessity, examples include instances where employer declines to pay for training, self-employed, in career transition, furlough, or self-funding contract consultant. Demonstrating the necessity includes but not limited to an excerpt of company policy, a decline message from your employer, etc.
- Must demonstrate a clear case on how the requested event will enhance career growth and engagement in the agile community;
- Intended for professionals active or in transition, as opposed to full-time students;
- Must have an interest in furthering knowledge and/or a career in the agile community;
- Must agree to be part of communication materials including a follow-up award impact report
- Must select a training or conference provider that is verified and conducts such offerings on a regular basis.
- Must complete the full application in its entirety. Incomplete applications will be considered ineligible.
- Must submit the application during the designated 2024 open award period.
- Payment must be processed in 2024.
- Event must occur in a future date in 2024 (please refer to the Application and Selection Timeline).
Any exceptions to the Eligibility Requirements would be reviewed on a case by case basis, with final decision at the discretion of the selection committee.
Funding Guidelines
- WiA values development opportunities that are non-duplicative, and emphasize collaboration.
- The maximum allowable award will be USD 3,000 for attending a class/training and up to USD 1,500 per conference event. The amount disbursed will be based on actual event cost.
- Scholarship CAN be used for:
- Training fee for classes that are provided by established training providers;
- Registration costs associated with established conferences in the Agile industry.
- Scholarship funding CANNOT be used for:
- Travel and other expenses.
- Individuals selected for an award will be required to submit a final report and testimonial on the program outcomes. Women in Agile reserves the right to request interim information. It is the responsibility of scholarship recipients to adhere to and meet all timelines, deadlines and requests. No reminders will be sent. Scholarship recipients are further subject to the written policies in the Scholarship Agreement, including, without limitation, recoupment or “clawback” of payments made under this award for non-compliance.
Reporting Requirements
WiA and our members must work together to effectively measure and consistently communicate our shared value to the community.
Award recipients agree to having their story shared with WiA’s donors, sponsors, members. The recipient’s story, impact, and outcomes will be shared in an impact report, as well as being potentially highlighted in promotion efforts. Award recipients have the option to keep their name and identity private in Women in Agile communications.
Award Expectations
Applicants selected for an award will be required to report the following outputs:
- Total number of training/conference hours attended
- Certification/Credits Received/Photo of Registration – Attendance
- Testimonial with 3 tools/resources learned at the training/ conference
- A short description on how these have made an impact in career development.
Non-compliance to the reporting requirement may impact future opportunities in WiA programs.
Application and Review Process
Applications are only accepted within the open period in 2024, until allocated scholarship funds have been expended. There will be no appeals for the entire scholarship process.
The scholarship program is a competitive and transparent scholarship allocation process, wherein submissions are not judged solely on their merit, but against all applications. Awards are the result of a thorough review process that seeks to maximize community impact within available allocated funds.
Process Steps
- Apply: The applicant submits online through the designated application form.
- Review: WiA scholarship selection committee reviews the applications by the deadline. The scholarship selection committee consists of vetted Women in Agile members, without conflict of interest, and committed to a non-discriminatory selection process that meets the stated requirements and criteria.
- Short List: The scholarship selection committee will reject applications that do not meet all the stated “Eligibility Requirements”.
- Rank: The selection committee evaluates the remaining eligible applications using the “Selection Criteria”, to rank the applications and prioritize those that will receive the award within allocated funds.
- Finalize decision: The selection committee makes final selections, and initiates acceptance and rejection communications to the applicants.
- Register for the Event: applicants that receive acceptance have a 60-day period to register for the designated training or conference.
- Event Payment: Event payment must be arranged with WiA in 2024 within 60 days of the award decision communication.
- Attend: The applicant must attend the event, or notify WiA and arrange for refunds. If the applicant is not able to attend for circumstances including event cancellation or personal challenge, the applicant will be responsible to repay WiA the full awarded and disbursed funds. Once funds are refunded to Women in Agile, the applicant may reschedule with another provider, provided they meet the committee approval.
- Report: The awarded applicant must complete the Award output report within 30 days of completing the event.
Application Scoring
Eligible applications will be further evaluated using scoring criteria to prioritize the ones that will be awarded.
| Scoring Criteria | Scoring Points |
|---|---|
| Mission Aligned Event and event provider align with Women in Agile’ s mission | 1-5 |
| Engaged Applicant is engaged and makes an impact in the women in agile community | 1-5 |
| Necessity Applicant demonstrates a strong case for need | 1-5 |
| Collaborative Applicant demonstrates active partnership and collaboration | 1-5 |
| Clear Impact Attendance is likely to make a significant and sustainable impact, that is clearly outlined and demonstrates what the award amount will accomplish | 1-5 |
Kindly start by reviewing the Eligibility requirements and process on this page. For additional questions, feel free to reach out to us at Scholarship@womeninagile.org
Back to the scholarship program