Kathy Underhill is a nationally recognized leader and policy expert in solving hunger and was the founding CEO of Hunger Free Colorado.
To honor her legacy, Hunger Free Colorado’s board of directors created the Kathy Underhill Scholarship Award to recognize an individual leading change in advocacy or health equity as it relates to hunger and healthy food access.
The inaugural award will be presented at Hunger Free Colorado’s Hungry for Change Summit on October 30th, 2019 to an exceptional leader in this field.
The spirit of this award is to recognize a community member who is changing hearts and minds in the hunger space with advocacy, policy, and/or community engagement through the lens of health equity. It comes with a $1000 scholarship to be used for professional development or personal capacity building related to the awardee’s career and work within the hunger space.
Examples for the intended use of these funds include but are not limited to receiving coaching, attending a conference, taking a class or training, or investing in materials or technology needed to further the awardee’s career.
Nominees from across the state of Colorado and at any stage of their professional career are eligible, though by design this scholarship award is intended to assist individuals who could benefit from the capacity or opportunity this type of scholarship could provide.
Nominee Criteria
- Demonstrating progress towards real solutions at the systems or community-serving level, within the hunger space, and in recent years
- Please note that while the work for which nominees are being recognized should be centered within hunger, their vocation need not be
- Making an impact in their community through a lens of social justice or health equity
- Making a contribution in alignment with Hunger Free Colorado’s core values (nutrition, innovation, partnership, community, equity) and core belief that hunger is solvable, unnecessary, and unjust
- Has lived in Colorado for at least one year
Nomination Process
- Nominations may be submitted online until September 13, 2019.
- Nominations may be made by individuals or organizations. Candidates may be nominated by more than one individual or organization. Organizations may provide more than one nomination, but only one per candidate. Individual nominators are allowed one nomination.
- A selection committee will choose the winning nomination in early October. The awardee will be contacted soon after in the hopes that they will be able to attend the Hungry for Change Summit and accept the award in person.
- Staff and board of Hunger Free Colorado & their relatives are not eligible for consideration.
- No self-nominations, posthumous nominations, or nominations for standing elected officials will be considered.
Hunger Free Colorado believes that hunger disproportionately impacts underserved communities, including people of color, people from working class backgrounds, women and LGBTQ people, and that leaders from these communities should be recognized. We strongly encourage nominations for candidates with these identities or who are members of other underserved communities.