AWExpeditions
2022 Recipient of $4,000
About AWExpeditions
AWE is short for “Awe-Inspiring Women’s Expeditions” – and this expedition program, founded by endurance athlete Sunny Stroeer, is driven to decrease the barriers to equal participation by women in big mountain and remote backcountry landscapes. Led by women and for women, AWE gathers teams to learn and summit in landscapes ranging from the Cascades of the western US, to Kilimanjaro, to spots in between. AWE’s scholarship program, which operates with an annual application process, offers opportunities to participate in these expedition to female and non-binary individuals who cannot afford the cost of the program and whose participation has the potential to be transformative - for them personally and for their communities.
"Something happened up there, a change, a shift. An unshakeable confidence in my identity and capabilities was born. A weight was lifted. I let loose of my grasp on doubt, anxiety of what is to come, fear of breaking down and not being able to come through for myself. A stripping down and paring away is happening. There is less unnecessary noise. Peace is drowning out the words of doubt that I would have told myself before."
AWExpeditions scholarship recipient
Scholarships for Summits and Canyons
Funding from The Cairn Project in 2022 will support two scholarship opportunities for young women ages 18-25 on two expeditions: Mt. Shasta, with a Glacier I snow school component; and a backcountry exploration of the Paria Canyon in Southern Utah. This funding builds on previous support to AWE, including scholarship funding for expeditions to Mt. Baker, Mt. Shasta, and Kilimanjaro (deferred to 2022 due to COVID-19).
Want to learn more about the AWExpeditions scholarship program?