Women's Leadership Scholarships

Channel Foundation

WLS is a program of the Channel Foundation, a small, private foundation based in Seattle, Washington, USA that promotes leadership in women's human rights around the globe.

Scholarship recipients enroll in programs of study that cover a range of human rights and development issues at the non-doctoral graduate level including gender, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, child exploitation, human trafficking, conflict resolution, environmental justice, global fair trade, and sustainable development. WLS is a secular program and does not support programs of study that promote specific religious beliefs.

Eligible candidates include women leaders from the Global South and/or from indigenous groups who also meet all the following criteria:

1. They are committed to grassroots organizing and the needs of their communities.
2. They have proof of a bachelor's or a higher degree.
3. They have at least three years of work experience dealing with critical human rights concerns, and other social, educational, environmental, health or economic conditions that negatively affect their communities.
4. They have been accepted into a non-doctoral graduate program at an accredited university for full-time study/research related to their work experience in human rights, sustainable development, and/or public health.
5. They can show evidence of financial need for educational support.
6. They intend to return to their home countries to work, utilizing training and research acquired in the study program.

Candidates may use WLS funding for non-doctoral graduate study at accredited institutions worldwide.