The Against The Grain Groundbreaker Leadership Scholarship provides financial assistance and promotion of Asian American college seniors and graduate students who have exhibited exemplary leadership, vision, and passion that is blazing a trail for others to follow and changing lives in the Asian American community.

Awards: $1,500 to be applied toward school tuition and fees

General Eligibility Requirements:

• Must be of at least 25% Asian and/or Pacific Islander ethnicity
• Must be a citizen, national or legal permanent resident of the U.S.
• Must be either a high school senior or a college student currently enrolled full-time at an accredited U.S. vocational, junior college, or four-year college/university and must be a full- time, associate/bachelor/master degree seeking student by the upcoming academic calendar year
• Scholarship is open to students of all majors
• Have demonstrated visionary leadership abilities through innovative means
• Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale (unweighted)
• Family members of Board members are ineligible

Video Presentation: All scholarship candidates must submit a video presentation showcasing their work and qualifications:

• Videos will be judged on content, creativity and execution
• Videos are to be submitted via link from YouTube or Vimeo

Please note that the selected Finalists and Winners will be asked to sign a release from so that we may feature his or her video on our homepage.

Selection Criteria: Selection is based on a rating system judged in five major categories. The candidate with the highest combined cumulative points will receive the scholarship. These categories are:

• Video presentation
• Quality of content submission (essay)
• Academic performance
• Leadership/community service experience and contribution
• Letters of recommendation
• Phone/in-person committee interview

Disbursement: Funds will be disbursed directly to the educational institution in the student’s name.

Please note that Scholarship Winners will be required to submit a short 1 minute “thank you” video to be uploaded to our social media.