Creating Opportunities For Women in the Workforce

The Kirtland Foundation Announces Diversity and Equality in the Workplace Scholarship

The Kirtland Foundation has established the Diversity and Equality in the Workplace (DEW) Scholarship to support women pursuing careers in skilled trades and leadership. The DEW Scholarship has been established through Courtney Ryan, Maintenance Supervisor for Weyerhaeuser-Grayling. 

Courtney established the DEW Scholarship through her Volunteer-of-the-Year award recognition from Weyerhaeuser, using a $5,000 WAVES (Weyerhaeuser Active Volunteer Employees) grant to establish the scholarship for women pursuing a degree in the skilled trades and leadership. Courtney established the scholarship in honor of her grandmother, Diane Evangeline Weckler and her work ethic. 

As Courtney explained, she was a young girl when her grandmother taught her to solder so they could make lead-glass hummingbirds and angels together. 

“I feel like her work ethic, interests and skills were passed on to me,” Courtney said. “Soldering sparked my interest in skilled trades. D-E-W are also my grandmother’s initials, and I’m so thrilled by this way to honor her legacy while creating opportunities for the next generation of women in the workforce.”

In high school, Courtney was the only young woman in her building and trades class, where students built a house from the ground up. She liked the experience so much that she studied construction management and building construction technology management in college.

Today, Courtney is one of just a few women in her field—something she’s working to change. At the Weyerhaeuser OSB Mill in Grayling, she created a board to foster diversity, equity and inclusion across the site, and she’s actively involved in Weyerhaeuser’s company-wide Inclusion Council. Now she’s looking to expand her impact by creating a scholarship at Kirtland Community College, to open doors for more women interested in learning skilled trades like welding and maintenance.

“I realize I’m both a role model and advocate,” Courtney said. “I’d like to hire more women in maintenance and other nontraditional roles, but there just aren’t many candidates coming forward and applying.” 

The Kirtland Foundation will begin awarding DEW scholarships in the fall 2021 semester. The DEW Scholarship will initially award two $500 scholarships per year, for five years, with the intention of becoming invested to continue diversity and equality into the future.

Learn more about scholarships through the Kirtland Foundation at kirtland.edu/foundation and listen to Courtney Ryan’s interview on Northern Focus.