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Thank you for your interest in the CAMFT Scholarships and Grant Program. Our Scholarship Committee will begin reviewing nominations after the deadline date of November 27, 2026. Recipients will be notified April 1, 2027.
Before filling out your online application, we encourage you to review CAMFT’s Mission Statement, Strategic Plan and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement which speaks to the associations’ priority to diversity within the industry and the populations its members are serving.
The California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists Educational Foundation is offering five scholarships and one grant in 2026 to deserving candidates. Each scholarship awarded will be in the amount of $4,000. The grant award is discretionary and will be in the amount of up to $2,500.
Scholarships and Grant Award monies will be distributed in April 2027.
To apply, please select the ONE scholarship/grant that is most appropriate to your work or studies based on the minimal qualifying criteria listed in the application. If you apply to more than one, NONE of your submissions will be considered. Applicants for the CAMFT Educational Foundation scholarships and grant are subject to a lifetime limit of two (2) awards.
It is not mandatory that one be a member of CAMFT to receive one of these scholarships or the grant. However, preference may be given to applicants who have expressed their commitment to the profession through their membership in CAMFT.
DO NOT APPLY FOR THIS AWARD IF YOUR INTERNSHIP OR ADVANCED TRAINING PROGRAM WILL BE COMPLETED BEFORE APRIL 1, 2027
The CAMFT Educational Foundation Scholarship provides financial assistance to a person who exhibits the following:
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DO NOT APPLY FOR THIS AWARD IF YOU ARE COMPLETING YOUR DEGREE OR CERTIFICATION BEFORE APRIL 1, 2027
This scholarship honors the memory of Frank Galassi Who was Frank Galassi? and his life partner of 30 years, Scott Hamilton by providing financial assistance to a person who exhibits the following:
For more on Frank Galassi CLICK HERE
The Educational Foundation Scholarship commemorating Clinton E. PhillipsWho is Clinton E. Phillips? honors his memory by providing financial assistance to a person who has demonstrated the following:
. For more on Clinton E. Phillips CLICK HERE
For questions, please contact scholarships@camft.org.
This scholarship honors the memory of Ronald D. Lunceford Who was Ronald D. Lunceford? by providing financial assistance to a person who exhibits the following
For more on Ronald D. Lunceford CLICK HERE
DO NOT APPLY FOR THIS AWARD IF THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR THIS AWARD WILL BE COMPLETED BEFORE APRIL 1, 2027
To honor and support the work on MFTs who work with children, Gerry Grossman Who is Gerry Grossman? has set up a Fund for a qualified applicant who meets the following criteria to receive the scholarship:
For more on Gerry Grossman CLICK HERE.
DO NOT APPLY FOR THIS AWARD IF YOUR PROGRAM, PROJECT OR ACTIVITY IS BEFORE APRIL 1, 2027
The Educational Foundation Grant is designed for licensed or pre-licensed individuals in the field of marriage and family therapy who either individually or as a group need financial assistance to engage in a project or activity which will enhance the knowledge, skills and abilities of members of the profession, including but not limited to:
Applicants are encouraged (but not required) to collaborate with other entities and sources of funding, so that the CAMFT Educational Foundation funds are used to leverage other grants, if appropriate. This grant is intended to provide a benefit to the profession and is not intended for personal gain or benefit.
Areej is a first-generation American, mother of two, and San Francisco-based graduate student in the marriage and family therapy program at Northwestern University. In 2023, she made the bold decision to leave her executive career in tech and return to school to become a therapist. This transition was sparked by personal experience. After the birth of her first child, Areej struggled deeply with postpartum anxiety. The experience opened her eyes to how poorly our systems support women and families, especially in moments of transition. She decided she wanted to change that not just for herself, but also for the many women and families that silently carry similar burdens. Her lived experience as a mother, an immigrant daughter, and a professional woman navigating multiple identities gives her an embodied understanding of cultural nuance, societal pressure, and resilience in its many forms. Areej is especially passionate about working with underserved communities, including immigrant families, women of color, and those navigating the complexities of motherhood and identity. Her long-term goal is to open a culturally responsive, community-based therapy practice in California that specializes in maternal mental health, life transitions, and family systems support. While managing school, parenting, and part-time work, Areej has maintained a 4.0 GPA.
As a graduate student of mixed Chinese and Sikh heritage, Melissa holds a deep personal commitment to serving ethnic and racial minorities. Shifting perceptions of her race have taught her that identity is fluid and contextual, and that it can often be misunderstood. Yet these experiences have allowed her to approach clients with empathy, curiosity, and cultural humility. Beyond her lived identity, Melissa brings linguistic and cultural competence that she hopes to use in serving diverse and underserved communities, especially the AAPI population. She is fluent in English and proficient in Mandarin, allowing her to connect with clients who face language barriers and cultural stigma around mental health. Many in the older generation view emotional vulnerability as weakness and therapy as shameful. Melissa recognizes these same dynamics in many families from collectivist cultures here in the United States, where shame, fear of judgment, and intergenerational conflict often prevent help-seeking. She sees herself as part of an “in-between” generation that is able to empathize with both the older generation’s resistance and the younger generation’s openness to change. Since entering USC’s marriage and family therapy program, Melissa has continued to serve marginalized groups through the USC Prison Education Project’s Readers’ Circle, where she helps digitize and edit manuscripts written by individuals in custody. Working with incarcerated writers has reinforced her belief in the power of voice, dignity, and storytelling as forms of healing. She is also an intern therapist at Covenant House California in Hollywood, where she provides trauma-informed care and mental health support to unhoused youths from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Melissa is committed to providing care that bridges cultural divides, honors each client’s lived experience, and empowers historically marginalized communities.
Elena is a refugee and immigrant who has lived most of her life moving across borders, cultures, and languages. Each displacement deepened her understanding of identity, belonging, loss, and resilience. These experiences shaped not only her personal journey, but also the heart of her professional mission. She is currently completing her master’s in counseling psychology at Golden Gate University, where she maintains a 4.0 GPA while engaged in rigorous clinical training in San Diego County. Elena serves at Loving Care ADHC in San Diego, a unique adult day health center and cultural hub serving one of the region’s most diverse populations of immigrants, refugees, and older adults. The center supports Russian-, Ukrainian-, Spanish-, and English-speaking communities and serves individuals living with serious and persistent mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, anxiety, and trauma-related conditions. In this interdisciplinary, multicultural setting, Elena integrates dance, movement, and creative expression into her therapeutic work, helping clients experience moments of joy, connection, and embodied healing. Elena’s personal philosophy is rooted in the belief that trauma can also be resourceful. She is deeply inspired by the idea “take your broken heart and turn it into art.” For Elena, healing is not merely about reducing pain, it’s also about helping people access the wisdom, creativity, and strength that can emerge through suffering. Shadow work has been especially transformational in her life, and it continues to shape her understanding of growth, meaning-making, and psychological healing. She is especially passionate about helping clients reconnect with their creative potential and discover ways to transform trauma through movement, expression, and deeper self-awareness.
Two pivotal experiences shaped Elena’s path: her six years of service as a laboratory science specialist in the U.S. Air Force and her role as her mother’s primary caregiver during a period of severe depression after a craniotomy. Both experiences strengthened her commitment to service, discipline, and compassionate care. Outside the therapy room, Elena is an avid hot yoga practitioner and a passionate social dancer. Tango, salsa, bachata, and swing are not only sources of joy in her life, but also part of her broader belief that movement can restore vitality, connection, and personal agency.
Her long-term vision is to create a culturally sensitive, trauma-informed center for immigrants and refugees that offers far more than therapy alone. She hopes to build a healing community where newcomers can access counseling, art, and movement-based healing, as well as restorative practices, mentorship, and referrals to nonprofits and other supportive resources that foster stability, belonging, and growth. This vision is rooted in her understanding that the hybrid identity of immigrants and refugees is often pressured from both sides of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: survival, safety, and material stability on one side, and belonging, dignity, identity, and self-actualization on the other. Questions of hybrid identity, displacement, and the tension between private and public selfhood have been central to Elena’s research, informed in part by Hannah Arendt’s writings on active thinking. She hopes to continue exploring these themes at the PhD level and to translate that scholarship into restorative, culturally responsive models of care for immigrant communities.
Huong is a Vietnamese immigrant and first-generation college graduate whose journey into the field of mental health has been shaped by both personal experience and professional dedication. Growing up, she witnessed firsthand the emotional challenges faced by families navigating unfamiliar systems without sufficient mental health support. These early experiences planted the seeds of her desire to build a career where she could bridge that gap for others, particularly young children and their families. Her background as an immigrant has given her a profound understanding of the importance of culturally sensitive care, which she intends to integrate into her clinical practice by providing early intervention and culturally competent care to young children and their families across California. Huong has consistently chosen psychology as her area of focus: She’s earned an associate degree in psychology and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of California, Riverside. She is now pursuing a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy at National University. This steady dedication across each academic milestone demonstrates that Huong’s commitment to this field is neither new nor passing; it’s a long-term calling that reflects where her heart and future lie.
Sarah was a founding member of her high school’s Gay/Straight Alliance in the late 1990s, and she has continued to advocate for equality, visibility, and protections for the LGBTQIA+ community. Her prior career working in veterinary medicine was heavily populated by highly empathetic LGBTQIA+ individuals who frequently suffered from societal marginalization and trauma. Witnessing the stress, compassion fatigue, and burnout experienced by friends and colleagues led her to pursue a degree in counseling. Between her academic excellence and her practicum training with a specific population that parallels those to whom she intends to dedicate her practice, Sarah is uniquely positioned to launch a very successful therapy career with the potential to touch and save many lives. She anticipates expanding her services to ensure that LGBTQIA+ students in graduate environments normalize mental health care for themselves as they enter the professional field. Protecting, supporting, and serving the needs of the victimized and marginalized has been her lifelong passion. There is a clear need for more out-and-proud therapists to serve the LGBTQIA+ community, and Sarah is honored to envision a future where her own contribution will help improve the lives of both marginalized communities and those who dedicate their career to caring for the voiceless.
Stephanie is a first-generation Chicana who is deeply passionate about mental well-being. She aspires to be a changemaker in mental health for the Latinx population and other marginalized communities. Growing up navigating two cultures, she experienced both the richness and the tension that comes with a bicultural identity. Having faced her own mental health challenges as a result of witnessing domestic violence and enduring emotional abuse, Stephanie learned early on how cultural silence around trauma can deepen suffering. She joined Felton Institute’s Full Circle Family Program, which provides therapy and psychiatric services to low-income families in San Francisco. Over three years, she advanced from intern to intake coordinator, translating resources, interpreting sessions, and helping families to navigate complex systems in their preferred language. This experience revealed how language barriers and cultural differences can silence families in clinical spaces, reinforcing that bilingual, culturally competent professionals are essential. Stephanie currently works as a residential counselor at Serenity House, a crisis residential treatment center, where she supports individuals experiencing acute mental health crises and uses her bilingual skills to provide compassionate, culturally responsive care.
As a queer, nonbinary, first-generation Peruvian American who values shared experience, Avery is inspired to help transform therapy for the LGBTQ+ community. After years of navigating their own mental health journey and feeling as if something was missing, they finally experienced the healing power of culturally affirming mental health care. LGBTQ+ and racial identity considerations serve as isolated pieces of information, but understanding the intersections of our identities and our socioeconomics reveals a mosaic that’s shaping the self. Upon graduating in May 2026, Avery aims to tailor their practice to serving the LGBTQ+ community in California, with a particular focus on the well-being of romantic/intimate relationships, people of color, and transgender people.
Before beginning his master’s degree at Azusa Pacific University, Olawale earned a master of divinity (MDiv) from Fuller Seminary, which equipped him with the theological and pastoral training essential for counseling and leadership. His journey in pastoral leadership and counseling spans more than two decades. From 2006 to 2014, Olawale served as director of the Christian Missionary Foundation in the Malawi Region, where he conducted prison ministry by visiting inmates three times a week for spiritual support. He also facilitated behavioral discipleship programs for more than 100 inmates and conducted one-on-one counseling sessions with more than 50 individuals facing life and marital struggles. This work provided him with firsthand insight into the importance of mental health services for marginalized communities and reinforced his commitment to developing accessible therapy solutions for those in need. Olawale is deeply committed to mental health advocacy and nonprofit work.