SACRAMENTO, CA – October 22, 2025 – The Heroic Girls Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for better representation of women and girls in popular media, is proud to announce the winners of its inaugural $500 Women In Media Scholarship. The two recipients, chosen from a strong field of applicants, are Monae Everett and Maybella Prurty.
The scholarship is designed to promote better representation of women and girls in popular media by helping offset the cost of higher education for women entering the field of media creation in California.
Why the Winning Essays Stood Out
Monae Everett, a Cinema and Television Screenwriting Major at California State University, Northridge, submitted an essay titled “Death Is Not The End.” Everett’s essay details how the character Shuri from the Black Panther films helped her process unbridled grief after losing her older brother. Everett specifically cited Shuri for teaching her that anger “is a mental poison” and inspiring her to be “unapologetic in my intelligence,” making her a beacon of hope and strength for someone who comes across her story.
Maybella Prurty, who is studying Costuming and History at American River College and plans to transfer to California State University, Long Beach, wrote about how the character Harley Quinn helped her embrace her true self in her essay, “How Harley Quinn helped me love myself.” Prurty’s essay highlights how Harley Quinn’s “loud, messy, wild, and unapologetically queer” nature gave her “permission to stop fighting who I was,” provided essential queer visibility, and inspired her to join a roller derby team, a space for women to “hit hard, skate fast, and shout.”
Both students exemplified the core mission of the Heroic Girls Foundation by articulating the significant, real-world impact that powerful and complex female characters in pop culture can have on young women.
Applications Open for the 2027 Academic Year
Following the success of its inaugural year, the Heroic Girls Foundation is pleased to announce that the Theme, prompt and application schedule for the 2027 Women In Media Scholarship has been posted.
The scholarship is open to women attending college in California and studying media creation (filmmaking, writing, art, journalism, or television).
Important Dates for the 2027 Academic Year:
- Application Opens: January 1, 2026
- Entries Must Be Received By (Deadline): March 15, 2026
- Winners Notified: May 30, 2026
For more information about the scholarship, including submission details, please visit the Women in Media Scholarship Application on the Heroic Girls website.