Dua Lipa, Camila Cabello, Lily Gladstone and Billie Lourd presented $1 million in college scholarships to high school students from underserved communities across Los Angeles on Thursday.
The announcement was made at The Hollywood Reporter’s 2023 Women in Entertainment breakfast gala, presented by Lifetime, which was held at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The event is also held in conjunction with the publication of this year’s Women in Entertainment Power 100 list.
Lipa first took to the stage to kick off the presentation of the scholarships, which were handed out to participants in The Hollywood Reporter‘s Mentorship Program, a partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles. Lipa remarked that she was “so fortunate” to be a part of a film, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, that not only was a “global phenomenon” but empowered “women and girls across the globe.”
Following a heartfelt mentorship program video produced by A+E Studios, Lipa revealed that Lifetime is giving every girl graduating from the program a $10,000 scholarship of their choice, invoking loud cheers from the audience.
The Grammy-winning singer also announced that the Best Buy team and CEO Corie Barry have launched a partnership with the mentorship program that will give mentees access to their Los Angeles Community Impact Hub, a network of 12 Teen Tech Centers that provide access to technology and career exploration opportunities. In addition, she acknowledged SAG-AFTRA for its support of the mentorship program.
After welcoming the incoming class of 2024 mentees, Lipa surprised the girls that they would each be gifted an Apple MacBook Air, endowed by the Wasserman Foundation’s Edie Wasserman Women in Hollywood Fund.
The first scholarship of the morning was also presented by Lipa, which was for Loyola Marymount University and generously provided by The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation. Alejandra was the recipient.
Award-winning artist Cabello was next on the stage to present a scholarship for one deserving girl to attend Chapman University also provided by The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation. After sharing that she is “so inspired by all of” the girls in the program, she revealed that Linda was the recipient of the scholarship.
Killers of the Flower Moon star Gladstone, who presented a scholarship to Chapman University, provided by the National Association of Theatre Owners California Nevada, to Marilin, said she was honored “to stand alongside all of these incredible, beautiful, gorgeous, extraordinary mentees.”
While looking back at her time growing up on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, she shared that “even though I’m not from the same community as all of you, I really feel a connection to you” as a scholarship also got her through college, and she was the first Native girl to receive one.
“I know what it feels like not to be seen,” Gladstone added. “I know what it feels like also to be held, raised, loved, cherished and encouraged by my community. And that’s just advice for me to you, that is what will carry you through. When you get there, when you get to these universities and move into the next phase of whatever it is you choose to do, don’t compromise, don’t change who you are. Everything about who you are is needed, is necessary. We know who we are as human beings from the stories that we share. So don’t change your story for anybody.”
Lastly, Lourd took to the stage to present the Carrie Fisher scholarship to Chapman University. But she had some sweet words and memories first to share of her mom, Fisher, saying people probably know her as Princess Leia but that she knows her as a “bookworm,” with a “secret dream” to be a professor at Oxford.
She said the one thing that Fisher always wished she had more of was education, which is why they knew carrying on her legacy through education was at the top of their list. Lourd went on to announce the recipient of the scholarship is Samantha.
More than 250 girls and 250 mentors have taken part in the Women in Entertainment program, while the mentees have gone on to attend universities including Harvard, UC Berkeley and Northwestern, supported by more than $12 million that THR has raised in scholarships.
This year, there were 16 mentor-mentee pairings, including Universal president of international distribution Veronica Kwan Vandenberg, Paramount co-president of film Daria Cercek and AMPAS chief communications officer Jennifer Davidson.
THR‘s Women in Entertainment was presented by Lifetime, and the gala was sponsored by Cadillac, Google, SAG-AFTRA, Best Buy, Gersh and Upneeq and in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, Chapman University and Loyola Marymount University.
Source publication: The Hollywood Reporter