The Peter LaBerge Scholarship Fund was established in 2026 as a crucial step toward building an equitable future for The Adroit Journal’s Summer Mentorship Program.
About the fund
WHO
Adroit was founded as a home for young writers—a place to experiment, grow, and gain recognition alongside award-winning voices. We’re committed to bringing our community and stewardship to students in lower-income, tribal, and rural school districts nationwide. That’s why we started the Peter LaBerge Scholarship Fund, named after our founding editor.
A Peter LaBerge Scholarship covers a student’s tuition for Adroit’s Summer Mentorship Program, a prestigious opportunity that pairs established writers with teen poets and writerss interested in learning more about the creative writing process. Along with their writing sample and three short essays, Scholarship applicants will be asked to elaborate on their financial need via documentation and/or supporting statements from a trusted adult.
WHY
Graduates of Adroit’s Summer Mentorship Program have been recognized by the National YoungArts Foundation & United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts designation, the National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and National Student Poets Program, and the Foyle Young Poet of the Year Awards, among many others. Over 65% of Mentorship graduates have matriculated at Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, and Ivy League universities.
Most importantly, students leave the Summer Mentorship Program well-prepared for the next stages of their writing journeys: they build relationships, deepen their writing practice and sense of literary lineage, and develop their voice.
HOW
As a nonprofit, we rely on donations from you, our readers, to keep us going. The Peter LaBerge Scholarship Fund is no different. Whether you’re a Mentorship alum, a parent, a teacher, or a reader who cares about fostering opportunity, connection, and creativity for young writers, we’re grateful for your support.
Help us reach our goal!
We need to raise $7,500 by June 30, 2026, to double our scholarship capacity for the next cycle of the Summer Mentorship Program. When you donate $100 or more, you’ll get a limited-edition Adroit tote bag. When you donate $500 or more, you’ll be named as a founding member of the Peter LaBerge Scholarship Fund (and you’ll also get a tote, natch).
DONATE [donation link]
LEADERSHIP
Peter LaBerge
Heidi Seaborn
Kate Gaskin
Miklos Zoltan Mattyasovszky
Elaina Friedman
FOUNDING MEMBERS
YOU—when you donate $500 or more by June 30, 2026.
DONATE [donation link]