Lisa Ross Memorial Scholarship

Application period opens June 15, 2024

The Lisa Ross Memorial Scholarship, named in honor of Lisa Ross, an early pioneer in the development of birth centers, provides the registration fee for the AABC Birth Institute, the annual convention of the American Association of Birth Centers, as well as a $500 stipend for travel and lodging. In 2024, the Birth Institute will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Note: The Lisa Ross Memorial Scholarship award does not include registration to the How to Start a Birth Center Workshop.

Since 2004, the AABC Foundation has awarded the scholarship to midwives and administrators practicing in birth centers and full-time midwifery students with the desire to work in a birth center.  Over the years, the scholarship has helped promising clinicians, administrators, and students find their place and grow in the world of birth centers.

Scholarship Criteria

To be eligible for the scholarship an individual must:

• Fit into at least one of the following categories:

  • clinical or administrative staff member employed in a birth center

  • clinical or administrative staff of an AABC Developing Birth Center Member

  • full-time student midwife wanting to work in a birth center

• Demonstrate financial need

*Note: Special consideration will be given to applicants attending the Birth Institute for the first time.

Individuals wishing to apply for consideration may complete the online application form linked below. All applications are blinded and assigned a number to reduce the chance of unconscious bias.

Applications will be graded on a scale of 1-5 using the following criteria:

• Demonstrates experience in working at birth centers, visiting local birth centers, or an accurate understanding of the birth center (BC) model of care

• Demonstrates financial need. Provides appropriate detail, does not assume reviewer knows effects of a financial situation (i.e. student, one-income household, etc.)

• Demonstrates understanding of full cost of attending the conference (registration, travel, lodging) and has identified financial resources.

• Applicant compellingly describes how attending will benefit them, their practice, the BC where they work, their colleagues, and/or their plan to establish/work in a BC.

• Demonstrates evidence of having reviewed the program; relates to Birth Institute theme; and discusses other benefits.

Questions? Contact us at admin@aabcfoundation.org or call 215-234-8068

About Lisa Ross

Lisa Dahin Ross was the Director of Midwifery Services at the Lisa Ross Birth & Women's Center (formerly the Maternity Center of East Tennessee) from 1994-1998.

A native of Clarksville, TN, Lisa was a nurse-practitioner and a nurse-midwife who helped establish the first freestanding birth center in Tennessee.

She was a huge proponent for licensure and accreditation for birth centers and worked to ensure quality services were delivered to patients. Lisa caught more than 1,000 babies in her career.

In 1998, she received the AABC Professional Achievement Award in recognition of her exemplary practice as a birth center midwife and her continuing contributions to the field.

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