Aging Forward August 2026

34 Scholars Take the Next Step in Aging Services

On August 18, 2026 by Gina DiMaggio

Behind every scholarship is a person taking an important next step: earning a credential, completing a degree, preparing for a new role, or building a long-term career serving older adults. 

In 2026, the LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation board awarded 34 scholarships totaling $58,500, the largest dollar amount awarded in the scholarship program’s history. The Foundation also received more applications than ever before. That unprecedented response reflects both the need for financial support and the tremendous interest among aging services professionals in learning, advancing, and building their futures in the field. 

At a time when aging services organizations across Minnesota need skilled and committed professionals, that desire for growth is encouraging. It shows that people already serving older adults are eager to deepen their expertise, take on greater responsibility, and continue doing meaningful work in their communities. 

This year’s recipients are pursuing education across a remarkable range of disciplines, including social work, cybersecurity, nursing at every level from associate degrees through doctoral programs, human resource management, and healthcare administration. That breadth is an important reminder that serving an aging population takes more than any one profession. It requires compassionate people with different skills working together to provide excellent care and build strong, responsive organizations. 

Scholarship funding can help offset tuition, books, fees, training, and other educational expenses that might otherwise make advancement difficult or place it out of reach. For recipients, that support can open the door to a new credential, position, or leadership opportunity. For aging services organizations, it can help retain talented employees, develop leaders from within, and create clearer pathways toward meaningful, long-term careers. For older adults and their families, it contributes to a stronger and more stable workforce. 

Each of this year’s recipients brings a different combination of experience, ambition, and commitment to aging services. The stories of Jennifer Schreifels, Sheillah Marwa, Gwen Nelson, and Thomas Gregg offer a glimpse of the people behind this year’s record scholarship investment and the many ways continued education can strengthen care for older adults. 

From “Nurse Jennifer” to Educating the Next Generation 

At 11 years old, Jennifer Schreifels sat in a hospital waiting room while her father underwent cancer treatment. She would pull a Scrabble game from the shelf, arrange the tiles to spell “Nurse Jennifer,” and pretend to care for patients. After her father died, the compassion his nurses showed her family revealed what nursing could truly mean: being present when people need you most. 

Jennifer went on to become an LPN, then an RN, and found her calling in long-term care. Today, she serves as a nurse educator at Guardian Angels, where she teaches nursing assistant classes, leads dementia training, and supports new employees. She helps students see residents not as tasks to complete, but as people with stories, dignity, and purpose. 

After 27 years in the field, Jennifer is pursuing her bachelor’s degree to deepen her skills and expand her work as an educator. She hopes eventually to earn a master’s degree and continue inspiring future caregivers to discover the meaning and joy of serving older adults. 

“I want this not just for myself, but for the future of the people we serve,” Jennifer says. “Our healthcare system urgently needs compassionate, dedicated nurses and nursing assistants, and it needs educators who can inspire them.” 

For Jennifer, continuing her education is not about beginning a new career. It is about building on nearly three decades of experience and becoming an even stronger mentor, educator, and advocate for the future of long-term care. 

Caring for Elders as a Privilege 

Growing up in Africa, Sheillah Marwa watched her father care for his aging mother at home. In her culture, elders are honored as keepers of wisdom, family history, and tradition. Preparing their meals, helping them walk, and listening to their stories were not simply responsibilities. They were expressions of gratitude and respect. 

Those values followed Sheillah to Minnesota and now shape her work as a nursing assistant with Ebenezer. Having served older adults in memory care, assisted living, and transitional care, she approaches each resident as she would a member of her own family. She understands that caregiving is not only about completing a task. It is also about helping someone feel safe, valued, and known. 

Sheillah has seen the power of that approach in residents who trusted her through recovery, found calm in a familiar song, or needed someone to hold their hand at the end of life. “Caring for older adults is not just a job,” she says. “It is a privilege.” 

Now pursuing her Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Sheillah hopes to provide a higher level of care, mentor other caregivers, and advocate for older adults. She wants to grow from a caregiver providing essential hands-on support into a nurse who can lead, teach, and help improve care throughout her organization. 

Her story illustrates how cultural traditions of honoring elders can enrich Minnesota’s aging services workforce, bringing a deep sense of respect, community, and purpose to the care of older adults. 

A Nurse Through and Through 

Early in her nursing career, Gwen Nelson cared for a resident whose carefully styled hair and red lipstick were central to her identity. No matter how busy the day became, Gwen found time to arrange her hair in a French roll and apply that familiar shade of red. It was a small act, but one that protected something important: the resident’s sense of self. 

That same conviction has guided Gwen throughout her career. Whether caring for someone with complex medical and behavioral needs or learning from a rural physician who once accepted chickens as payment, she has never forgotten that every person has a story and deserves to be treated with dignity. 

Gwen briefly explored careers in information technology and real estate, but the pandemic clarified what she had always known: she is a nurse through and through. Today, she provides direct care at Our Lady of Peace Hospice, accompanying patients through the final chapter of their lives with respect, love, and a commitment to seeing the person beyond the diagnosis. 

After 27 years as an LPN, Gwen is pursuing the RN and BSN education she first envisioned at the beginning of her career. She plans to enroll in St. Catherine University’s evening BSN program, the same university from which her eldest daughter graduated. Gwen hopes the degree will allow her to guide care decisions, strengthen staff training, and help shape a more holistic approach for every patient and family at Our Lady of Peace. 

“I never want anyone in any situation to feel they have been ‘warehoused,’” Gwen says. “Each person has inherent worth and absolutely deserves nothing but the best I can give at the end of their journey.” 

Always Seeing the Person 

For months, Thomas Gregg cared for a resident who had experienced a stroke. She could not speak or track movement with her eyes, but Thomas and a coworker continued including her in their conversations, sharing stories and updating her on their lives as they provided care. 

Then one day, Thomas glanced at his coworker in surprise and noticed the resident doing the same. When he spoke to her, she looked at him and followed him with her eyes around the bed. Over time, Thomas watched her regain the ability to walk and talk and eventually return home with her husband. “It was absolutely beautiful and a blessing to experience,” he says. 

That moment reflects the approach Thomas has brought to 19 years in long-term care: always recognizing the person, even when illness makes that person difficult to reach. He has learned that meaningful care can be found in dramatic recoveries and everyday joys, from arranging an annual birthday margarita for a resident who could move only her eyes and jaw to sharing a daily greeting with someone who enjoyed people-watching near the front door. 

Although Thomas initially chose long-term care for practical reasons after becoming an LPN, the relationships he formed quickly transformed a job into a calling. Now, he is pursuing a longtime dream of becoming an RN. The degree will build on nearly two decades of hands-on experience, allowing him to expand his clinical skills, assume greater responsibilities, and advocate even more effectively for residents. 

Thomas plans to remain at Mount Olivet and serve wherever he can make the greatest difference, whether providing direct care, mentoring colleagues, supporting families, or stepping into leadership. Whatever his role, his purpose will remain the same: to ensure that every older adult feels seen, heard, and valued. 

Making the Next Opportunity Possible 

Jennifer, Sheillah, Gwen, and Thomas represent only a portion of the talent, dedication, and potential found across this year’s scholarship class. 

Since 2014, the Foundation has awarded more than 285 scholarships totaling over $387,000. The impact of that investment continues well beyond the semester or program in which a scholarship is awarded. Recipients have used their education to deepen their skills, advance from frontline positions, become nurses and leaders, mentor colleagues, and continue serving older adults and their communities. 

The Foundation congratulates all 34 members of its 2026 scholarship class and thanks the donors, partners, golfers, sponsors, and volunteers who make these opportunities possible. Together, they are doing more than funding education. They are investing in people, strengthening Minnesota’s aging services workforce, and helping ensure that older adults and families can rely on exceptional care for years to come. 

 

2026 Scholarship Recipients 

Ahn Wilcox; Albert Sudue; Alexis Schmalz; Alyssa Skoog; Amber Dawn Johnston; Anne Ortquist; Ashley Robinson; Crystal A. Parker; Crystal Doucette; Danelle Blight; Gwen M. Nelson; Hailee Martin; Ivory King; Ivy Namba; Jennifer Lyn Schreifels; Jessica Bruxvoort; Juliette Ghong; Katie Schreck; Kayla Bober; Kaylyn Wacker; Kristina Davis; Lora Faber; Madison Slettedahl; Margaret Holm-Wachholz; Mohamed Besse Turay; Nafiso Hassan; Nicole Johnson; Priscilla Osei; Sara Beckendorf; Sheillah Marwa; Stephanie Bausworth; Taminko Hart; Taylor Tierney; and Thomas Gregg.