The Stanley Ann Dunham Scholarship Fund is proud to present Hollis Wong-Wear as this year’s guest speaker at its ninth annual Scholarship Award Ceremony, to be held from 3-5 p.m. on April 22 at the Northwest African American Museum in Seattle.

Wong-Wear is an independent artist, speaker and poet. She was a Grammy nominee for Album of the Year for her vocal performance of “White Walls” on the album “The Heist” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. A creative generator and graduate of Seattle University, she performs internationally with her electronic R&B trio The Flavr Blu.

Wong-Wear’s songwriting and spoken word poetry offer powerful messages about social justice and women’s equality, especially in the workplace.

“I am passionate about how creativity and the arts fuel and shape civic discourse and am dedicated to lending my voice and capacities towards vibrant social equity,” she stated.

An inspiring speaker, Wong-Wear has presented alongside such activist luminaries as Gloria Steinem and Kimberle Crenshaw, and gave a TEDX talk, “A Family Tradition,” about the values she learned growing up in the kitchen of her mother’s Chinese restaurant and how they inform her life and creative work.

The Stanley Ann Dunham Scholarship Fund was created in 2010 to honor the life and legacy of President Barack Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, who graduated from Mercer Island High School in 1960. In addition to raising two children, Dr. Dunham became a pioneering anthropologist in the micro finance field working to improve the lives of marginalized communities around the world, especially women.

Regarding her upcoming speech about Dunham, Wong-Wear said, “I am inspired by the audacity of Stanley Ann Dunham — her scholarship, principles, and daring to build bridges between cultures and embrace a global world view. In a time that can feel claustrophobic, overwhelming, and short-sighted, the work and values of Dunham inspire us to expand our sense of what is possible and the impact that each of us can have on the future.”

Each year, the Scholarship Fund awards $5,000 college scholarships to graduating senior women at Mercer Island High School and Rainier Beach High School who demonstrate that they share Dunham’s values of education, global activism and service through their strong academic records and impactful service in the community.

“We believe that recognizing and supporting these talented young women will encourage them to continue on their path to college and to create meaningful change as leaders and active global citizens,” said Clare Meeker, board chair of the Dunham Scholarship Fund.

To learn more about the scholarship, visit stanleyanndunhamfund.org.