Scholarships

Scholarship Application Information for 2024: 

The New York Financial Writers’ Association offers a number of scholarships to enrolled undergraduate or graduate journalism students in the tri-state New York area who are seriously interested in pursuing a career in business and financial journalism. *To qualify for a scholarship you must already be attending school, or have graduated at the end of the most recent calendar year (i.e. -students who graduate in Dec. 2023 are eligible to apply in the Spring of 2024).

Applications should be sent to scholarships@nyfwa.org no later than April 15, 2024 and should contain the following (*Applications received after this date will not be reviewed, regardless of circumstances):

1. School, division, major and expected graduation date; present address and permanent home address (if different), telephone number; any other relevant personal information.
2. An essay explaining why you are pursuing a career in business and financial journalism.
3. A current resume, including other scholarships received.
4. Samples of your financial writing (3 to 5 pieces), including links to online work and print clippings in PDF format.

Scholarships will be presented at the Financial Follies on November 21, 2024. Recipients will be notified in early November. 

*Winners who do not submit the requested acceptance materials within three months of being notified they have won a scholarship will forefeit their scholarship. 

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2023 NYFWA Scholarships:

Gina Heeb, CUNY, winner of the George Auerbach Scholarship

Lucy Papachristou, CUNY, winner of the Clare Reckert Scholarship

Dayun (Yun) Park, NYU, winner of the Irene Weissman Scholarship

William Bennett, NYU, winner of the Claudia Deutsch Scholarship

What Recent Scholarship Recipients Have To Say: 

“Before I was a financial journalist, I wrote about government corruption and migration in Eastern Europe. I never thought I would deal with numbers or earnings statements. When I got to the CUNY Journalism School, I began to appreciate that there were so many different ways of telling stories and of interpreting the world around us. I took this Moscow breaking news internship at Reuters and flew halfway across the world to Poland because I felt in my gut that this was the best story out there. Cut off from the traditional financial world, there is a massive information gap about what’s happening in the Russian business world, and really interesting questions to try and answer about how the economy is staying afloat despite sanctions—and where the cracks may appear in the future. I’m eager to take up this reporting challenge and thank the NYFWA for supporting me.” Lucy Papachristou, winner of the 2023 Clare Reckert Scholarship 

“It wasn’t until the deadly Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico that I truly realized that every story has a financial angle. The still visible ravages of the hurricane added to the deep economic crisis and municipal bankruptcy, require specialized business reporting. As a Latina journalist, I aspire to cover the island and other Latino communities, which have been hit particularly hard by the Covid-19 health crisis and the recession. Journalism is my way of paying back to my community.” Angelica Serrano-Roman, winner of the 2021 Robert E. Dallos Scholarship 

“I’d just committed to a business concentration at CUNY’s J-School when the pandemic brought the economy to a standstill. That spring, I focused my reporting on my former colleagues in the restaurant industry, many of whom had lost their jobs in the shutdown and found themselves ineligible for sufficient unemployment because of tip-claiming norms. Breaking down the lived impact of those gaps in the social safety net, I recognized the value I could create as a financial journalist. I’ve concentrated my reporting on policy explainers since. Currently, I’m covering the legislation driving rent relief, eviction moratoria and programs to end homelessness as a reporter at The Real Deal. I hope to build on my understanding of city politics and how it affects the financial health of New Yorkers over the next few years.” Suzannah Cavanaugh, winner of the Irene Weissman Scholarship.

About Previous Winners:

“As a financial journalist, I value the fact that my career allows me to convey critical information during a time of widespread uncertainty. Currently, I work as a breaking news fellow at CNBC.com and write articles on important updates related to the coronavirus, major moves in the stock market and significant business developments. Also, I craft enterprise stories that touch upon the complex relationship between the economy, health and politics. I thrive on the fast pace of my work and know that I have made the right choice in pursuing business journalism as a fulfilling, challenging and thrilling profession. I hope to continue to grow personally and professionally at CNBC, while gaining new skills that can serve me in a lifelong career.” –Hannah Miller, winner of the 2020 Stan Strachan Scholarship 

“Before joining the Business and Economic Reporting program at NYU, I worked on a major investigation on a dividend tax scheme. For my last project I coordinated newsrooms in 30 countries in uncovering the biggest ongoing tax fraud in Europe and its ties to financial institutions and organized crime. These stories affected hundreds of millions of people in Europe and involved investors worldwide. One of the personal takeaways from this work was to invest time and learn about business and finance from and with those who work in this field. The NYFWA scholarship helps me finish the Masters’ program, which gave me the opportunity to visit courses at the Stern School of Business. As a reporter, I will continue focusing on financial markets, taxation and fintech with a clear goal to ambitious, globally relevant stories. In my reporting I see value not only in revealing stories new to the public, but also in questioning and digging into structural issues, where nothing ever seems to change.” –Marta Orosz, winner of the 2020 Dorothea Brooks Scholarship

“I recently graduated from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY and am currently a full-time reporter at Bloomberg News. Going forward, I plan on building my experience in covering markets, which so far includes equities, credit and oil. My goal is to ultimately have the experience and ability to cover all financial markets as a cross-asset reporter. ” –Olivia Raimonde, winner of the 2020 Herbert & Charles Koshetz Scholarship 

Orla McCaffrey, winner of the 2020 Clare Reckert Scholarship: is a consumer finance and banking reporter at The Wall Street Journal. She graduated from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY in 2019 and from Binghamton University in 2018. Orla previously interned at The Dallas Morning News and The Omaha World-Herald through the Dow Jones News Fund. She got her start covering men’s soccer for her college newspaper. 

Ayse Kelce, winner of the 2020 George Auerbach Scholarship: is the Business Editor of Baruch College’s student-run newspaper The Ticker. She covers student and professor start-ups and hopes to specialize on reporting on foreign currencies and international financial markets. After her undergraduate degree in journalism, she is planning to pursue a graduate degree in business and financial journalism.  

General Scholarship Info.:

The New York Financial Writers’ Association offers a number of scholarships to enrolled undergraduate or graduate journalism students in the tri-state New York area who are seriously interested in pursuing a career in business and financial journalism. *To qualify for a scholarship you must already be attending school, or have graduated at the end of the most recent calendar year (i.e. -students who graduated in Dec. 2019 are eligible to apply in the Spring of 2020).

Applications should be sent to scholarships@nyfwa.org no later than April 15, 2021 and should contain the following (*Applications received after this date will not be reviewed, regardless of circumstances):

1. School, division, major and expected graduation date; present address and permanent home address (if different), telephone number; any other relevant personal information.
2. An essay explaining why you are pursuing a career in business and financial journalism.
3. A current resume, including other scholarships received.
4. Samples of your financial writing (3 to 5 pieces), including links to online work and print clippings in PDF format.

Awardees will be notified by early May

Twitter Feeds for Recent Scholarship Winners:

The Twitter feeds of recent NYFWA scholarship winners can be found here

Feedback From Past Winners: 

“The NYFWA scholarship is a hugely valuable initiative, giving financial and networking support to young journalists in a very competitive industry. It was my first step after graduate school towards a job at Forbes and later Reuters and Bloomberg, and it’s great to still be in touch with fellow recipients.”  – Lionel Laurent, Bloomberg Opinion

“As a past winner of NYFWA scholarship, I’ve received amazing mentorship from members who are experienced professionals in the financial journalism industry. I am currently an intern at Bloomberg News, and their advice and encouragement has helped me become a more dogged reporter.” – Yueqi Yang, Bloomberg @Yueqi_Yang  

“I changed careers into journalism with just a desire to report; I had no experience, no background–and no idea how I would pay for school. The NYFWA scholarship helped keep me going financially until I landed my first job: production assistant on CNBC Squawk Box.” – Mike Juang, CNBC @mikejuangnews 

Krystal Hu got the @NYFWA scholarship when she was a student in the Business and Economic reporting program at NYU. “The generous grant has helped finance her study in graduate school. She has graduated from NYU last December and now works as a reporter at Yahoo Finance.” – Krystal Hu, Yahoo Finance @readkrystalhu 

“The NYFWA scholarship came as a huge encouragement for me to pursue my dream as a financial journalist when I was struggling in grad school. Now I’m living my dream! I just started working at Debtwire as a leveraged loans reporter after I graduated from NYU the past December.” – Yifan Yu, Debtwire @YifanYuNews

“The NYFWA scholarship was instrumental to my financial journalism career. It paid for my graduate school and allowed me to focus on my studies. After receiving the scholarship, I was able to write for the markets teams of two prestigious news outlets, Thomson Reuters and Business Insider.” – Kimberly Chin, Business Insider @MsKimberlyChin

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2022 NYFWA Scholarships:

Jo Constantz, CUNY, winner of the George Auerbach Scholarship

Diana Li, NYU, winner of the Clare Reckert Scholarship

Anita Ramaswamy, NYU, winner of the Ben Weberman Scholarship

Allison Nicole Smith, CUNY, winner of the Irene Weissman Scholarship

Beth Treffeisen, NYU, winner of the Claudia Deutsch Scholarship

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2021 NYFWA Scholarships:

Dalvin Brown, CUNY, winner of the George Auerbach Scholarship

Mary Biekert, Columbia University, winner of the Clare Reckert Scholarship

Akash Pasricha, Columbia University, winner of the Ben Weberman Scholarship

Suzannah Cavanaugh, CUNY, winner of the Irene Weissman Scholarship

Angelica Serrano-Roman, NYU, winner of the Robert E. Dallos Scholarship

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2020 NYFWA Scholarships:

Ayse Kelce, CUNY Baruch College, winner of the George Auerbach Scholarship

Orla McCaffrey, Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, winner of the Clare Reckert Scholarship

Hannah Miller, Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, winner of the Stan Strachan Scholarship 

Marta Orosz, New York University, winner of the Dorothea Brooks Scholarship

Olivia Raimonde, Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, winner of the Herbert & Charles Koshetz Scholarship 

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2019 NYFWA Scholarships:

Ben Foldy, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

Yaling Jiang, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism  

Eliana Perez, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

Nic Querolo, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism  

Frances Yunfan Yue, New York University 

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2018 NYFWA Scholarships:

Olivia Jade Carville, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism  

Kellie Ell, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

Annie Nova, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

Muyao Shen, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism  

Congcong “Daphne” Zhang, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2017 NYFWA Scholarships:

Kimberly Chin, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

Krystal Xin Hu, New York University

Mike Juang, New York University

Britt Martin, New York University

Yueqi Yang, New York University

Yifan Yu, New York University

Winners of the 2016 NYFWA Scholarships

Back row, from left to right: Bernat Ivancsics, Akane Otani, Michelle Zhou, Veronica Ni, Mrinalini Krishna, Sunny Oh and Tyler Eyre. Front row: Jeff Kauflin, Jade Gardener and Stephen Foley.

Winners of the 2016 NYFWA Scholarships

Leonora Beck, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism  

Tyler Eyre, New York University

Jade Gardener, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

Bernat Ivancsics, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism  

Jeff Kauflin, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism  

Mrinalini Krishna, New York University

Veronica Ni, New York University

Sunny Oh, New York University

Akane Otani, New York University

Michelle Zhou, New York University 

Winners of the 2015 NYFWA Scholarships

From left to right, Wai Chi, Jessica Lynn, Anita Balakrishnan, Michaela Ross, Rebecca Ungarino and Rachel Butt.

Anita Balakrishnan, New York University 

Emily Bary, New York University

Rachel Butt, New York University

Kerry Close, New York University

Jessica Lynn DiNapoli, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism

Wai Chi Lam, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism

Ayako Mie, New York University

Michaela Ross, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

Rebecca Ungarino, Baruch College

David Yin, Yale College

Winners of the 2014 Winners of the NYFWA Scholarships

  Caelainn Barr, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Brian Cheung, Syracuse University Patrick Gillespie, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism Nina Glinski, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Sharanya Haridas, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Micah Luxen, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Antonia Massa, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism Brianna McGurren, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism Carl O’Donnell, New York University Sterling Wong, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism

Winners of the 2013 NYFWA Scholarships

  Front Row, left to right: C. Vargas; K. Lobosco; L. Chen; M. Chung; NYFWA President Jan Alexander; Scholarship co-chair Sally Heinemann; Back Row: C. Giammona; T. Corrigan; P. Ward; Scholarship co-chair Stephen Foley The New York Financial Writers Association is proud to announce the winners of the 2013 NYFWA scholarships. The awards, which are given in the names of distinguished past members of the NYFWA, are each $3,000. The 2013 Committee on Judging was chaired by Stephen Foley and Sally Heinemann and consisted of Martin Cherrin, Conway Gittens, Jan Paschal and Roberta Yafie. Click here for photos of the scholarship reception. Kathryn Dill, New York University Megan Durisin, New York University Liyan Chen, New York University Minsi Chung, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Thomas Corrigan, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Craig Giammona, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism Katie Lobosco, New York University Alex Morrell, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Camilo Vargas, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Peter Ward, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism

2012 NYFWA Scholarship Winners

  From left to right, NYFWA president Rich Wilner, Manek, Keller, Hicken, O’Donnell, Eisenpress, Andrianova, and NYFWA scholarship chair Sally Heinemann. The New York Financial Writers Association is proud to announce the winners of the 2012 NYFWA scholarships. The awards, which are given in the names of distinguished past members of the NYFWA, are each $3,000. The 2012 Committee on Judging was chaired by Sally Heinemann and consisted of Martin Cherrin, Stephen Foley, Conway Gittens, Jan Paschal and Roberta Yafie. Click here for photos of the scholarship reception. Congratulations to: Anna Louie Sussman, New York University Melanie Hicken, New York University Anika Anand, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism Lilly O’Donnell, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Anna Andrianova, New York University Karl Baker, New York University Cara Eisenpress, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism Laura J. Keller, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Nizar Manek, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Theodoric Meyer, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism

2011 NYFWA Scholarship Winners

Left to right, Chaudhuri, Sjulin, Trivett, Scholarship Chair Sally Heinemann, Shrivastava, Samuelson, Benedicto, and Jakubek Anna Maria Jakubek, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Bhuma Shrivastava, New York University Christine Giardina, New York University Helene Franchineau, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Natalia Rachlin, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Saabira Chaudhuri, New York University Sara Sjulin, New York University Tanya Benedicto, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Tracey Samuelson, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism Vincent Paul Trivett, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

2010 NYFWA Scholarship Winners

  From left to right, Sara Hamdan, Tori Finkle, Leslie Picker, Kathy Evans, Jon Lentz, NYFWA Scholarship Chair Sally Heinemann, and Ashley Harris. Danielle Douglas, Columbia Kathleen M. Evans, NYU Victoria Finkle, Columbia Sara Hamdan, Columbia Ashley R. Harris, Columbia Laura Kusisto, Columbia Jon Lentz, Columbia Leslie Picker, Columbia Jeff Roberts, Columbia Ian Thomson, Columbia

Recipients of the 2009 Scholarships

  Left to right, Podkul, Jordan, Salib, Thibault, Akam Magee, Horwitz, Sutton, Xu, and NYFWA president Josh Friedlander. Missing from photo: Donath, Dwyer, and Guo. (photo by Steve Govoni) Congratulations to the twelve 2009 NYFWA Scholarship winners who were awarded $2,500 each at the NYFWA Annual Awards Dinner on June 18, 2009 Simon Akam, Columbia Eszter Mirjam Donath, Columbia Devin P. Dwyer, Columbia Jerry Guo, Yale Jeff Horwitz, Columbia Jaime Jordan, Columbia Joan R. Magee, NYU Cezary Podkul, Columbia Amir M. Bibawy Salib, Columbia Chavon Sutton, NYU Marie Thibault, NYU Jodi Xu, NYU

Recipients of the 2008 Scholarships

  From left to right, Sally Heinemann, scholarship chair; Salzman; Kowitt; Braverman, Tangel, Sun, Nolan, Greenberg; Macias; and Steve Gelsi, NYFWA president. Missing from photo: Trop and Twarowski. Congratulations to the 2008 NYFWA Scholarship winners who were awarded $3,000 each at the NYFWA Annual Awards Dinner on June 10, 2008. Beth Braverman, Columbia University Andy Greenberg, New York University Elizabeth Kowitt, Columbia University Carlos Macias, Baruch College Kelly Nolan, New York University Avi Salzman, Columbia University Yu Sun, New York University Andrew Tangel, Columbia University Jaclyn Trop, Columbia University Christopher Twarowski, Columbia University

Recipients of the 2007 Scholarships

  Left to right, Rachel Breitman, Philipe Wahba Annika Breidhardt, Lionel Laurent, NYFWA 2007 president Sheila Mullan, Melissa Korn, Cyrus Sanat, Samar Srivastava, Richard John McRoskey, and Ying Wu. Missing from photo: Wayne Ma. Congratulations to the 2007 NYFWA Scholarship winners who were awarded $3,000 each at the NYFWA Annual Awards Dinner on June 1, 2007. Scholarships go to students who intend to pursue careers in business and financial journalism: Annika Breidhardt, Columbia University Rachel Breitman, Columbia University Melissa Korn, Columbia University Lionel Laurent, Columbia University Wayne Ma, New York University Richard John McRoskey, Columbia University Cyrus Sanati, Columbia University Samar Srivastava, New York University Philippe Wahba, Columbia University Ying Wu, New York University

Recipients of the 2006 Scholarships

  Left to right, Nardiello, Adkins, Snyder, Constable, Macropoulos, and Leow. Congratulations to the ten 2006 winners who each received a $3,000 NYFWA scholarship: Jasmine Denise Adkins, New York University Simon Constable, New York University Ellen P. Gabler, Columbia University Jennifer Hodson, New York University Jason Sin Liang Leow, New York University Angela Macropoulos, Columbia University Carolyn Nardiello, CUNY Peter James O’Dowd, Columbia University William Pentland, Columbia University Tamar Snyder, CUNY

Recipients of the 2005 Scholarships

x  From left to right, Vonnie Quinn, Kathleen McGrory, Dawn Kissi, Andrey Lyutykh, Shefali Anand, Hannah Clark, Serena Ng, Ted Latiak, and NYFWA president Richard J. Koreto. Congratulations to the 2005 Winners: Maria Ahmed, Columbia University Shefali Anand, New York University Hannah Ester Clark, New York University Dawn Kissi, Columbia University Lynden Ted Latiak, Columbia University Andrey V. Lyutykh, Baruch/CUNY Kathleen M. McGrory, Hamilton College Serena Ng,New York University Vonnie Quinn, Columbia University Wanfeng Zhou, New York University

Recipients of the 2004 Scholarships

Winners received their $2,400 Awards at the 2004 Annual Awards Dinner on June 1, 2004, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square. Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General for the State of New York, was the Guest Speaker. Congratulations to the 2004 Winners: Richard D. Beales, New York University Daniel Binder, New York University Maxwell Garcia, Syracuse University Alexander Hall Haislip, Columbia University Matthew F. Quinn, New York University Antonio Manuel Nunes Ribeiro, Baruch Louise Story, Yale School of Management and Columbia University Gillian Wee, Columbia University Kasey R. Wehrum, New York University Amy Wu, Columbia University