Introducing the Summit Scholarship Class of 2024 — The AWE Summit Scholarship Foundation

This year, each and every applicant, supporter, and sponsor showed up for the AWE Summit Scholarship Foundation. In 2024, we saw nearly 700 applications from fifty-one different countries representing adventurers from ages 15 to 71 years old. So this March, when the AWE Summit Scholarship Foundation sat down to select only 13 scholarship recipients, we were faced once again with the equally exciting and gut-wrenching task of reviewing all of your strong and compelling words.

There is no doubt that everyone who applied is deserving of this scholarship and we want all of you to know how much we appreciate you applying and making your voice heard. Thank you, again, from the entire AWE Summit Scholarship Foundation.

Today is a big day. We are announcing and celebrating the 13 individuals who have been selected to be part of our 2024 Summit Scholarship cohort. These adventurers come from various corners of the world, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Pakistan, and the USA. They also come from all walks of life, with individuals who identify as non-binary, Muslim, and everything in between. 2024 is one of our most diverse cohorts to date, and we couldn’t have done it without all of your applications and the support of our community.

As in past years, the Summit Scholarship Program is made possible by the generous and steadfast contributions of our partners and contributors, most notably Nite Ize, The Cairn Project, Lucy Westlake, Jeannette McGill, LOWA, LEKI, The Venture Out Project, and AWExpeditions. In addition to saying a hearty THANK YOU to all the brands and individuals who are behind the Summit Scholarship, we also want to thank those who purchased the 2024 Women of Mountaineering Calendar. Proceeds from this calendar go directly to the Summit Scholarship, which helps put more mountaineering and backcountry scholarships into our lineup year after year. We created this annual calendar because we know representation and storytelling matter. It’s hard to be what you can’t see. When you buy a calendar, you not only help fund a Summit Scholarship dream, but you also help fuel your own big mountains dreams.

With no further ado, allow us to introduce you to our Summit Scholarships Class of 2024.

Alice Schana, 18

“For most of my life, I’ve felt strongly about who I am. Confidence has never been an issue for me, especially in my younger years. But there was one thing that made me feel small. I remember precisely the day I faced it.