Student Spotlight

Katherine Jane Melton Awarded $8,000 Counseling Fellowship From NBCC and Affiliates

Cologne, MN—The NBCC Foundation, an affiliate of the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), recently selected Katherine Jane Melton of Cologne, Minnesota, for the NBCC Minority Fellowship Program-Youth (MFP-Y). As an NBCC MFP-Y fellow, Melton will receive funding and training to support her education and facilitate her service to underserved minority populations, with a specific focus on transition-age youth (ages 16–25).

The NBCC MFP-Y is made possible by a grant awarded to NBCC by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in September 2014. The Foundation is contracted by NBCC to administer the NBCC MFP-Y, as well as training and collaboration activities, such as webinars, that are open to all National Certified Counselors (NCCs). The goal of the program is to reduce health disparities and improve behavioral health care outcomes for racially and ethnically diverse populations by increasing the number of available culturally competent behavioral health professionals.

The NBCC MFP will distribute $8,000 education awards to Melton and the 29 other master’s-level counseling students selected to receive the fellowship award. Melton is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis, and is currently pursuing a master’s in the mental health counseling and behavioral medicine program at Boston University School of Medicine, in Massachusetts. Upon graduation, Melton hopes to serve marginalized populations, particularly those affected by trauma, including refugees and survivors of torture. She has a special interest in bilingual counseling and multicultural counseling techniques. The fellowship will allow her to continue to develop her professional identity as a counselor in the interest of reducing disparities in behavioral health care.

The NBCC Foundation has also awarded 23 $20,000 doctoral fellowships through the Minority Fellowship Program and 31 master’s-level fellowships of up to $11,000 through the MFP-Addictions Counselors (MFP-AC).The Foundation plans to open the next NBCC MFP-Y application period in September 2017. Learn more about the NBCC MFP and its fellows.

ABOUT THE NBCC FOUNDATION
The NBCC Foundation is the nonprofit affiliate of the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), based in Greensboro, North Carolina. NBCC is the nation’s premier professional certification board devoted to credentialing counselors who meet standards for the general and specialty practices of professional counseling. Currently, there are more than 60,000 National Certified Counselors in the United States and more than 50 countries. The Foundation’s mission is to leverage the power of counseling by strategically focusing resources for positive change.