Giving Tuesday, the global day of giving back, is November 28 this year. Please remember the ACES Education Fund as you consider your year-end donations. Support ACES as it supports emerging editors – nearly 150 since 1999 – who have received more than $100,000 in total.
Steven Vargas, an ACES Scholar in 2020-21, was studying arts journalism in a master’s program at the University of Southern California at the time of his award.
“This award was important to me because it helped fund grad school and provided me the support to focus on my studies,” Vargas said. “Receiving the scholarship and being recognized for the work I was passionate about validated my career goals and aspirations.”
That work, as a graduate student, included co-founding the Equity Board, a new initiative at Annenberg Media dedicated to diversifying sourcing and promoting inclusive coverage across the publication.
“I created the first edition of the guide to equitable reporting strategies and newsroom style,” Vargas said. While at USC, he also wrote the Annenberg Media Guide to Equitable Reporting and Newsroom Strategy that was funded by a Poynter College Media grant and is now part of all USC Annenberg syllabi.
Now working as a journalist and dancer, Vargas’s work can be found in USA Today, E! News, Los Angeles Times, and Dance Magazine, among others.
The ACES Education Fund Scholarships
By giving six awards to college and graduate students who plan to pursue editing as a career, the ACES Education Fund helps ensure the future of our profession.
Those six include the Aubespin Scholarship, a $2,500 award that honors Merv Aubespin, an early proponent of the formation of ACES. The Bill Walsh Scholarship, a $3,500 award, is named for the late, legendary Washington Post copy editor, author, and member of the ACES Education Fund board of directors. The Walsh Scholarship is awarded to a college student who aspires to edit the news.
The ACES Education Fund also awards up to six Richard S. Holden Diversity Fellowships annually, given in partnership with the Dow Jones News Fund. The Holden Award is dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion by advancing early- and mid-career professionals in their work as editors and aspiring industry leaders
Ways to donate
Please donate generously on November 28 and help us reach our goal of 131 donors and $13,131.
ACES' Network For Good Campaign
ACES and the ACES Education Fund
The ACES Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and its predecessor have awarded nearly 150 scholarships since 1999 to students who have a passion for editing. The ACES Education Fund is run entirely by volunteers and all awards come from individual donations.
ACES: The Society for Editing is the nation’s leading organization of editing professionals, educators, and students. Founded in 1997 by copy editors, ACES is dedicated to improving the quality of the written word and the working lives of editors. It sets standards of excellence and gives a voice to editors in journalism, government, business, publishing, and beyond through top-notch training, networking, and career opportunities. ACES hosts an annual in-person conference and, since 2022, an annual virtual conference, as well as monthly webinars and an introductory certificate in editing, which it co-hosts with the Poynter Institute, a global leader in journalism.
