Attend/Present Scholarships
SCHOLARSHIPS FOR CONFERENCES AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
OVERVIEW
Professional development is not always part of an organization’s budget, but opportunities for professional development, networking, and learning are key to innovation and replication — sharing what works, and how it works. The Heatlh Fund’s Attend/Present Scholarship program welcomes organizations to apply for funding to participate in conferences, trainings, and workshops that can help individuals be more effective in their roles and achieve their organizational mission.
All Health Fund grant recipients are invited to apply, and applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. To be considered for funding, applicants must complete and submit a brief online application at least of four weeks before the event start date. The Health Fund will notify each applicant of their scholarship decision within approximately three weeks of online submission. We may also ask scholarship recipients to share their experiences via a written report within two weeks after the event.
If you are interested in presenting at a conference, training, or workshop, we offer resources like public speaking coaching and help with the development of presentation materials at no cost through our partnership with Catchafire.
For examples of Attend/Present Scholarships, check out our photo essay that shares the experience of several participants.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
- Conference, workshop, or training events must have a direct connection to health or the work of the Health Fund.
- Applicants must be current or past grantees or key partners on grants funded by the Health Fund.
- Conference, workshop, or training events may be at the state, regional, or national level, but opportunities located outside of the United States will not be considered.
- Scholarships of up to $2,500 per person will be available for a maximum of $5,000 per organization. Scholarship funding will be used to cover the costs of registration fees, travel, lodging, and incidentals for attendees while at the event. Indirect costs will not be considered.
- Applicants will be eligible for a one-time, nonrenewable award in this area. Funding from this award may not be used to cover event or other related travel expenses that are already being supported through another funding source.
- Applicants are not eligible for more than one scholarship per year and may not apply to attend the same event over consecutive years.
- Priority consideration will be given to applicants from organizations that have not received scholarship support during the previous year and for whom attendance is cost prohibitive.
These lists are not exhaustive. If you have any questions, contact Veronica Marchese at [email protected].
Conferences that may be considered:
- Age + Action Conference
- Aging in America Conference
- American Evaluation Association (AEA) Conference or AEA Summer Institute
- American Public Health Association Conference Annual Meeting and Expo
- Association for Community Health Conference
- CHOICES Conference
- Closing the Hunger Gap Conference
- Connecting with Kids Through School Health Conference (MiSHCA)
- The Grand Gathering Inform USA Conference
- Health Disparities Conference
- National Alliance on Mental Illness National Convention
- National Council for Behavioral Health National Conference (NatCon)
- National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference
- National Food Policy Conference
- Rural Child Hunger Summit
- Rural Health Conference
- Society of Public Health Education Annual Conference
- Tribal Public Health Conference
Conferences that will only be considered if presenting on a Health Fund grant:
- Council of Michigan Foundations
- Grantmakers in Aging
- Grantmakers in Health
- Other conferences for grantmakers
Events/conferences that will not be considered:
- SxSW
- TED Med
- TEDx
- Trainings or conferences unrelated to health