Shannen’s Dream Scholarship

Applications for 2025 are now closed. 

The Shannen’s Dream Scholarship is named in honour of Shannen Koostachin, a courageous young leader from Attawapiskat First Nation who sparked a national movement for safe and comfy schools for First Nations students. Learn more about Shannen and her legacy.

The Shannen’s Dream Scholarship is an award to assist First Nations youth with post-secondary education costs (university, college, trades). As a “pay-it-forward” scholarship, winners must make a fair and measurable contribution to the Shannen’s Dream campaign or related First Nations initiative as a condition of receiving the award. Examples of this could include coaching youth sports, doing a presentation about Shannen Koostachin and Shannen’s Dream, starting a club at your school to learn more about equity, etc. Pay-it-forward does not mean a financial contribution back to the scholarship.

With the support of our funders, we are able to announce two $10,000 scholarships and two $5,500 scholarships for 2025!

The Shannen’s Dream Scholarship is made possible by generous donations from education technology company Top Hat and Caring Society donors. The scholarship was created with the help of the Collure family from Richmond Hill, Ontario.

The scholarship is open to First Nations youth who meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Open to First Nations youth 30 years old and under.
• Must be enrolled in a post-secondary program (university, college or trade school) at a Canadian institution and returning for the Fall 2025 semester. 
• Consideration criteria: 1) the recipient contributes to their First Nations community (urban or rural) and, 2) demonstrates academic or extra-curricular accomplishments at school, such as taking part in clubs or sports teams.
• "Pay-it-forward" requirement: The recipient agrees to make a fair and measurable contribution to Shannen’s Dream or a related First Nations initiative as a condition of the award. The recipient must agree to provide the scholarship committee with details of their contribution within one year of receiving the award.
• This is a one-time award not renewable to past recipients.
• Financial need will be considered.

Please don't hesitate to contact us with questions!

Below are a few helpful tips and tricks for submitting your scholarship application.  
 
Your Cover Letter 
 
The cover letter is a chance to introduce yourself to the scholarship committee and share with them what makes you stand out. Your cover letter should not be the same as you might draft for a job application, it should be tailored for this scholarship. An ideal length would be 1-2 pages.  

• Introduce yourself. This can include your name and where you are from, or can follow your cultural protocols, it is up to you! 
• Talk about your community engagement, for example, volunteering at community events, coaching sports, tutoring, shovelling snow, organizing a food drive, etc. 
• Talk about your schooling, any clubs you are involved in, research, what you hope to use your education for in the future, etc. 
• Include how you will pay-it-forward. Paying-it-forward is not about a financial contribution but how you will use your skills to help others in some way. Examples of paying-it-forward include tutoring, a presentation on Shannen’s Dream, coaching, starting a club at your school, starting or continuing to advocate for equity in some way, etc. A well thought out plan to pay-it-forward will strengthen your application. 

Letters of Recommendation

Your application requires two letters of recommendation, with one focusing on education and one focused on community involvement.

Education Letter of Recommendation

It is important to have someone who knows you well (like a TA) rather than someone with a specific academic title or position. This letter should show a personal connection and should be specific to the scholarship. Ideally 1 page in length, discussing how they know you, your academic involvement, achievements (ex: grades, dedication to your area of study, athletic contributions, involvement in school clubs and activities, etc.), and why they think you would be the right person for the scholarship.  

Community Letter of Recommendation

Similarly to the other letter of recommendation, it is important that it shows a personal connection and is specific to the scholarship. This could be written by someone you have volunteered or worked with/for, an Elder who knows you well, etc. It is best to avoid immediate family (i.e. mother, father, sister). The community letter of recommendation should be 1 page in length, discussing how they know you, your community involvement, and why they think you would be the right person for the scholarship.

Additional Information: Evaluation Form

To provide more information about the scholarship application process and help you know what to prioritize in your application, we have uploaded the scholarship evaluation form. We hope this gives you a better idea of what the scholarship committee is looking for in a strong application.