Scholarship

Our annual scholarship is given to community members each year that show a dedication to the community and a desire and potential to create ripples throughout it. Applicants must self-identify their belonging to a historically marginalized community. There are three categories: newcomer, amateur, and pro. The application opens in May and closes in early June. Recipients are notified virtually and announced publicly at Wild Wild Westie in Dallas, TX.

Our annual scholarship has given $15,000 worth of resources to 12 people!

2023 Scholarship Winners

Newcomer Award

Trinity Madden (she/her)
Wichita, KS

Trinity is a sophomore studying Engineering Technology with a focus in Civil Engineering. Her ambition is to work as an Imagineer in Disney Theme Parks, designing rides. She has been dancing since she was a child and grew up around west coast swing with her mother. She has been hard-of-hearing her whole life and, at 12, lost the majority of her hearing in an accident, leaving her profoundly deaf. Aside from dance, she is the founder of The Purpose Project, a service project aimed at getting others active in their communities by giving opportunities for anyone of any age to give back all over the world.
As a Transition Mentor at her university, she also spends a lot of time with incoming freshmen, welcoming them to Shocker Nation and providing them the choice of having herself or other mentors help them navigate what can be a challenging transition into college life. She tries to remind herself of all of the difficulties and barriers she’s been able to overcome this year and the many more to come, using herself as an example that we should focus on all the amazing things we can do, not the few things we can’t.

Amateur Award (Novice / Intermediate)

Tre’von Chaney (he/him)
Houston, TX

Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Tre’von started his passion for dancing first with country dancing, but always had a passion and wide obsession for music! Last year in 2022, Wild Wild Westie was his first west coast swing event and the beginning of the love he has for dancing and connecting with people from all over the world.

His favorite thing about west coast swing is, no matter who you are and where you are from, this modern swing dance so many of us love to do around the world makes it possible for us all to connect as one, speak the same language, and create something amazing no matter our background!

Since then, Tre’von has competed occasionally with intentions to compete more and get more involved. He has discovered a way to make his two passions for dancing and music blend together by co-DJing socials. Additionally, he is starting to invest in teacher/trainer courses to help teach and build his dance community!

Pro (Advanced/All-Star) Award

Isabella Armour (they/them)
Saint Paul, MN

Isabella Armour is a life coach, business consultant, and former scientist currently living in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Isabella’s passion for dance started at the age of five in a local studio ballet class. They spent much of their early life dancing and figure skating and were not introduced to the world of partner dancing until college.

Their first foray into partner dancing was through the University of Minnesota Ballroom Dance Team. While part of this program, they won several national collegiate and amateur titles and they were also introduced to west coast swing.

Isabella’s first west coast swing event was Wild Wild Westie in 2018 and it felt like pure magic to them. They first fell in love with the freedom and expression that comes with the dance and then with the welcoming community. West coast feels like home to them and they hope that this home will become even more accessible and available to many others through the work of Swing Diversity.