Funding the Future

An investment in knowledge pays the best dividends. No group understands that better than Out For Education (OFE), one of the most successful LGBTQ scholarship-granting foundations that empowers Houston-area LGBTQ students throughout their educational journey. The group is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary, and fittingly it has undergone a growth spurt that should allow it to make an even bigger impact in the community.

This year, the organization elected an entirely new board, with 13 members in total. This has allowed it to expand its capabilities and areas of influence.

“It is a shift in paradigm, because Out For Education is a business, in essence,” says Roy Rivera, board member and treasurer. “It is a nonprofit, but there are so many components to it that everybody has to bring a different superpower. We have people who specialize in technology, we have people who specialize in marketing, and so on.”

As well as multiple skill sets, the new OFE board is also very diverse. “It’s a good mix,” mentions Rivera. “It is made up of educators, professionals, small-business owners, and the like. That’s what I think has brought us more success.”

Not only is OFE governed by the largest board ever for the organization, but this year’s scholarship awards are bigger than ever. OFE granted $161,000 to 42 local students, with the largest being a $20,000 4-year award. These students will be attending 16 Texas schools and four Ivy League colleges, with recipients ranging from undergraduates through doctoral candidates.

OFE has come a long way since its inception in 1998, when PFLAG-Houston and Hatch Youth united with a shared mission: to uplift LGBTQ youth in Houston. This powerful alliance led to the creation of the PFLAG/Hatch Youth Scholarship Foundation in 1999, marking the start of an incredible journey.

In 2013, it rebranded as Out for Education, a name that reflects “an unwavering dedication to education and the LGBTQ+ community,” says Rivera.

As the organization has grown, so has its pool of resources. While OFE has historically relied mostly on private individuals, the organization has been eyeing larger donor bases.

“We’re looking at corporation money, as opposed to private donor money, and that has been very successful in the months that we’ve been doing it,” he says. “Our hopes are to hit over $200,000 this year, and I think we’re on track to do that.”

It’s a win-win for the companies that support OFE and the scholarship recipients with their charitable dollars.

“What we’re hearing from these corporations is they’re trying to support these kids’ educations because they want them to get plugged back into their corporations,” Rivera says. “They are looking for future LGBTQ+ employees within their sectors. They want internships and participation that is just beyond giving a scholarship, so that has been new to us. But that is the economic impact that we are planting a seed for. That is a whole new territory for us, and I think that’s a big deal.”

To select their student recipients, OFE goes through a rigorous application process involving multiple criteria for consideration.

“It’s not just one thing that defines whether or not somebody gets a scholarship. The scoring matrix takes into consideration the application, GPA, financial need, and an interview,” he explains. “All of these items are a percentage of their overall score, and then we place them in rank.”

To keep the evaluations fair, the board members do not participate in the interview process.

“We are completely objective. We don’t want to be biased. That is the reason we call for people from the community to conduct these interviews so that we have no hand in how we score students. A lot of our board members are educators, so they do know some of these students. This is a way to keep us impartial.”

For qualified candidates, the 2024–25 scholarship application window is open through February 28, 2025. To be eligible for a scholarship, the candidate must identify as a member of the LGBTQ community or have parents who are members of the community; attend or have previously attended a Greater Houston-area high school, college, or trade school; and have a GPA of at least 2.75 out of 4.0 from the current or last school attended.

To qualify for the initial selection process, the candidate must submit a completed application, a current official transcript emailed directly to OFE or sent in a sealed envelope, an essay, and one letter of reference emailed directly to OFE.

Visit outforeducation.org for more details about the application process and specific requirements.