The Roanoke Chapter of The Girl Friends, Inc. is proud to announce that London Paige, the chapter’s nominee for the 2021 National Girl Friends Fund Scholarship, has been selected as one of 16 recipients of the national award.
The Girl Friends Fund provides awards of $1,500 annually for up to four academic years to qualified high school seniors who have been accepted to four-year colleges and universities.
London, an accomplished young woman, is a graduate of Roanoke’s William Fleming High School, where she has served as student body president in the 2020-21 school year and has been a member of the National Honor Society since 2019. She has been a member of the NAACP Youth Council since 2016, currently serving as 2020-21 president; a member of the Roanoke Valley Chapter of Jack and Jill of America; and is a member of STAR (Students Take Action in Roanoke) council, a group of high school students within Roanoke City Public Schools that works to help homeless students in the school system.
London will attend Washington and Lee University, where she plans to major in biological systems engineering, and later obtain a doctorate in a biological systems field. Her goal is to become a researcher and professor. She is the daughter of Daniel and Holly Paige.
Recipients of the Girl Friends Fund Scholarship are top high school seniors nominated by Girl Friends chapters across the country. London is the 11th Girl Friends Fund Scholarship recipient nominated by the Roanoke Chapter. Each year, the chapter seeks as applicants, qualified high school seniors from the Roanoke and New River valleys, and the Lynchburg area.
For 33 years, The Girl Friends Fund, Inc. has fulfilled a philanthropic role in the form of service and financial support to Black American students across the country. The Roanoke Chapter has been recognized consistently as one of the top contributing chapters to The Girl Friends Fund.
This year, the Roanoke Chapter awarded its Roanoke Chapter of Girl Friends Scholarship, in the amount of $1,000, to Maya Lewis, a 2021 graduate of Heritage High School in Lynchburg, VA. Maya, a member of the National Honor Society, marching band and NAACP youth group, plans to attend the University of Virginia in the fall and eventually enter medical school. Her future academic and career pursuits include completing a general surgical residency with the goal of becoming a cardiothoracic surgeon. Maya is the daughter of Donna Lewis and the late DeFraunce Lewis.
The Roanoke Chapter’s GF Memorial Scholarship, in the amount of $750, was awarded to Victoria Board, a graduate of William Fleming High School. Victoria — a two-sport varsity athlete who was named to the All-District Team in basketball and Most Valuable Player in volleyball — plans to attend North Carolina A&T State University in the fall and earn a degree in fashion design. Victoria is the daughter of Vincent and Carla Board.
