An opportunity for the LGBTQ community to provide outstanding young queer women of color with access to a college education, while enhancing their chances for a successful future as business leaders.

Application is Open.
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Visit the Tagg Scholarship Fund website for more information.

A New Possibility

Since Tagg’s inception, it has been our dream to establish a scholarship fund for young queer women who are pursuing a college education.

Given the lack of diversity in leadership roles in companies across the country, Tagg recognizes the importance of identifying future business leaders in our community.

According to a study by the Williams Institute, fewer LGBTQ people of color have completed college than their non-LGBTQ peers — 17 percent compared with 25 percent, respectively. That report also states: “Without access to the same educational opportunities as their heterosexual black counterparts, LGBTQ African Americans aren’t given an equal shot at thriving — professionally, physically, mentally, or emotionally.”

Furthermore, Tagg recognizes that lesbians of color are less likely to be hired than their white counterparts, especially women who identify as masculine of center. Even within our own LGBTQ community, people of color — women, in particular — are underrepresented in leadership roles. For this reason, our scholarship fund will focus specifically on young queer women of color.

Every year, at least one college-bound queer woman of color who demonstrates community involvement, academic achievement, and financial need and expresses an interest in leadership will receive a Tagg Scholarship.

This is an opportunity for Tagg and the LGBTQ community to provide outstanding queer women of color with access to a college education, while enhancing their chances for a successful future as business leaders and entrepreneurs.

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MEET OUR 2019 AWARD RECIPIENT

Aireyona Mercer

My name is Aireyona Mercer. I was born and raised in Washington, D.C. Some of my friends would describe me as kind, goofy, and chill. I am a graduate of McKinley Technology High School and will be attending the illustrious Florida A&M University in the fall of 2019 majoring in electrical engineering.

While I attended McKinley Tech I was very involved with various extracurricular activities and programs. I was a member of the Varsity Girls Basketball team and our Flag Football team. I participated as a leader in Global Kids, an educational organization that works in public high schools facilitating leadership development and human rights education. I even attended the Global Kids Conference in New York and Washington, D.C.

My passion for math started young because I was good at it and ever since it has always been my favorite subject. Now, I want to use my leadership and calculus skills to become a future Project Manager for an engineering company.

Note: We want to thank the Holiday Wish Gala for supporting us in proudly naming the 2019 scholarship in Chef Tyonne John‘s name.

MEET OUR 2018 AWARD RECIPIENT

Arianna Humphrey

My name is Arianna Humphrey, and I’m a psychology major and African-American studies minor at Howard University.

In high school I became involved with speech and debate and I instantly fell in love. I participated in policy debate, a very challenging and research-heavy activity that taught me the importance of hard work and sparked my interest in political theory. My work required me to constantly read the news and keep myself informed, and that allowed me to have a deeper understanding of the world around me. I was also involved in choir, track, volleyball, and other clubs.

As a first-year college student, I interned at the Howard radio station and started working at Odd Provisions, a woman-owned gourmet food store in Columbia Heights. I’ve loved my time at Howard, and I learn something new every day. My ultimate goal is to earn a PhD in clinical psychology and become a published author. Too often Black people ignore their mental health for a multitude of reasons, and it leads to problems that may not manifest themselves until much later in life. I want to help people, especially Black people, understand that their mental health is just as important as their physical health.

Being a Tagg scholarship recipient means so much to me, not only because of the financial assistance it provides for my education, but also because of what it represents on a larger scale.

It’s exciting to be associated with an organization like Tagg not only because they uplift queer women, but more specifically because they uplift queer women of color. It’s easy to feel out of place in this world, but organizations like Tagg can make the journey to self-discovery much easier. I’m beyond honored and blessed to be Tagg’s 2018 scholarship recipient.

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