“A Night for Bright Minds” celebrates Beedie Luminaries – Class of 2019!
VANCOUVER, MAY 30, 2019 – Ryan Beedie, through his Foundation, Beedie Luminaries, has awarded 80 promising recipients with scholarships of up to $40,000 per student, supporting their academic journey beyond high school, be it in university, college, or trade schools.
Beedie Luminaries, Ryan Beedie’s largest philanthropic endeavour to date, was launched in November 2018 with a pledge of $50-million to help remove barriers to higher education for resilient students who face financial adversity, and to support their long-term success.
The First Cohort
The inaugural cohort of Beedie Luminaries is an inspiring group of 80 recipients from 43 high schools across Metro Vancouver. Each individual demonstrated not only academic readiness, but shared compelling personal stories of adversity and resilience. The program plans to expand in the future to support 100 students throughout British Columbia each year.
“We received an overwhelming number of great applications from deserving students,” says Ryan Beedie. “Narrowing it down to only 50 was hard, so we decided to increase the scholarships by 30 more students.” “We are proud to award this scholarship to each recipient and excited to see the successes they will achieve.”
“To celebrate the initial cohort of Beedie Luminaries, the Foundation hosted a special event at TELUS World of Science called ‘A Night for Bright Minds.” “The selection process considered values like resilience, determination, purpose, empathy, and giving back, reflecting Beedie’s company motto, ‘Built for Good.'”
“My family left our home in Syria for Jordan, and arrived in Canada in January 2016. I entered the school system in BC with no knowledge of English. Despite the challenges, I have worked very hard and never given up on my dream of becoming a surgeon” says Grade 12 student, Nour Suliman. “The Beedie Luminaries Scholarship will help me achieve this dream.”
We’re not your typical scholarship program
“We are proud to welcome and support this truly incredible group of recipients,” says Executive Director, Martina Meckova. “It is encouraging to see firsthand that the next generation presents so much promise and hope.” In addition to financial support, Beedie Luminaries offers students access to a network of mentors and counselors, as well as paid internship opportunities. The key objective is to set students up for success by supporting their journeys from high school through post-secondary studies and beyond
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