Our Sponsors & Partners Make the Summit Scholarship Possible
Financial Sponsors
There’s only way for us to create scholarships for women and gender-diverse folks to participate in big expeditions: hard, cold cash. That’s why we are so grateful for the sustaining support from our financial sponsors who run the gamut from premier outdoor brands (we’re looking at you, LOWA, Fjällräven, Title Nine and Nite Ize!) to charitable foundations who share our values and views around gender equity (The Cairn Project and All The Sky Foundation) to passionate individuals like Jeannette McGill and Lucy Westlake, and others who prefer to remain anonymous.
If you would like to support the Summit Scholarship program at any level, please reach out to us at info@summitscholarship.org if you’d like to discuss at-scale sponsorship opportunities. You can also make a donation here.
Summit Scholarship Premium Sponsor
LOWA is more than our apex sponsor - they're the reason the Summit Scholarship program exists at the scale it does.
LOWA’s multi-year commitment funds the infrastructure that makes everything else possible: the application process, the selection, the recipient support, and the expeditions themselves. They also happen to make the top-notch mountaineering boots that our recipients wear on their summits, and the performance trail shoes that accompany our Summit Scholarship recipients during their many hours and long miles of training.
Other Summit & Financial Supporters
Financial contributions create scholarship opportunities, but gear is so important! Gear contributions make it possible for our Summit Scholarship recipients to participate in their expeditions without breaking the bank while acquiring required gear. We here at the Summit Scholarship Foundation are proud to call industry-leading brands our partners, and thank the following brands for their support:
Summit Scholarship Gear Sponsors
Our Operating Partners
Our financial and gear sponsors make scholarships possible — but our operating partners are the ones who actually run the expeditions our recipients get to go on. They're the guides, the instructors, the logistics teams, and the on-the-ground experts who turn a scholarship award into a transformative experience in the mountains.
Our current operating partners are:
AWExpeditions — domestic & international mountaineering expeditions
She Moves Mountains — rock climbing instruction and retreats
Upwards Transitions Institute — US-based mountaineering courses
Ma'Wa Collective — outdoor experiences for Muslim women
Becoming an Operating Partner
We work with a small, intentional roster of operating partners and add new ones selectively. To be considered, an organization must:
Center women, girls, and gender-diverse participants in its programming
Operate with appropriate permits, insurance, and a demonstrated safety record
Share our values around gender equity, diversity, and inclusion in the outdoors
Have the operational capacity to host scholarship recipients alongside paying participants without compromising experience quality
What operating partners provide: the expedition itself - guiding, logistics, instruction, accommodations, group gear, and the local expertise that makes each program distinct; marketing reach & storytelling about each scholarship recipient’s experience
What we provide in turn: funded scholarship recipients (full expedition fees paid), sponsored gear packages for participants, marketing reach through our channels and our sponsors', recipient vetting through our application process, and ongoing alumnae community support.
Becoming an operating partner is a multi-step process that begins with a detailed questionnaire about your programs, safety standards, and operational fit. If you're interested, email info@summitscholarship.org to request the questionnaire and we'll be in touch.