Erin Aaberg Givans Memorial Scholarship

The Children’s Specialty Care Coalition together with the Givans family established this scholarship fund in 2016 to honor its founding executive director, Erin Aaberg Givans, who committed her career to advocating for quality health care on behalf of children and youth in California. The scholarship is available to full-time or part-time female students pursuing a Master’s degree in public policy, public administration, public health or Health Administration at a California University, who plan to pursue a career in the field of children’s health policy/ health advocacy in California. Scholarship recipients will share Ms. Aaberg Givans’ unwavering dedication and passion for ensuring access to quality health care for children and youth.

In addition to the financial support, there will be future opportunities to be mentored by professional children’s health advocates. The Children’s Specialty Care Coalition held the first mentoring day for scholarship recipients in August of 2018. Recipients visited CSCC’s offices, participated in a roundtable lunch with professional children’s advocates, and enjoyed an afternoon of one-on-one job shadowing. They also toured the State Capitol and had the opportunity to meet Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, California’s first female Senate leader. More information about previous scholarship recipients can be found here.

Eligibility Requirements

• Be a female student attending a graduate institution/ program in California in the upcoming academic year.
• Be pursuing a Master’s degree in public policy, public administration, public health or health administration with a career goal of working in the field of children’s health policy or children’s health advocacy
• Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.8 in college
• Full-time or part-time enrollment (6) units or more is required

Application Requirements

• Submit the General Application to apply for the Erin Givans Memorial Scholarship opportunity.
• Essay: Please provide an essay on the following topic: Why are you interested in working in the field of children’s health policy/advocacy? What are your educational and career goals and where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
• Reference letter: provide two (2) letters of reference from individuals who are not related to you. Reference letters must identify the name, title, or relationship to the applicant and a telephone number for the individual providing the letter of reference.

Scholarship Award

• Award range is $2,500 – $5,000 at least one (1) award will be given
• Award payment is sent to the college/university in one (1) payment and divided evenly between the academic term.
• The scholarship can be used for tuition and fees.
• Recipients will be given future opportunities to be mentored by professional children’s health advocates