kateedgertrust

About Testimonials

Thank you to our generous Sponsors, Donors and Partners

At the Kate Edger Foundation, we are deeply grateful for the unwavering generosity of our sponsors, donors, and partners. Your support enables us to remove financial barriers to education, empowering women to pursue their academic dreams and create lasting change in their communities. Because of your commitment, thousands of women have had the opportunity to learn, grow, and lead—transforming not only their own futures but also the lives of those around them. 

If you are interested in contributing or funding an award, click here for more information.

Past recipients of the Awards and Scholarships
share what it has meant to them and their families to receive assistance from the Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust.

“As a woman who has grown up in a low income environment I have always struggled to succeed and equal my peers. I work consistently to ensure that I am completing everything to the best of my ability, but unfortunately without access to the appropriate resources I am often unable to complete many tasks that are needed of me. The additional stress of having to worry about whether or not I will be able to make it through another year has impacted me more than I would like to admit and had made any hope of a future in academia seem unattainable, but your contribution and support has provided me with the confidence that it is attainable and I am forever grateful for this.”

Chelsea

Bachelor with Honours Award

“With the Pandemic affecting employment, study and other aspects of my life, this award took a huge load off what was a stressful year studying from home/remotely by providing financial relief during this time. I was able to continue studying where a lot of my peers had to go and look for odd jobs due to loss of income in their household”.

Masters Degree Awardee

“The confidence that I have gained from receiving an award like this is invaluable. In the challenging and high-pressure environment of University, I have found that my confidence in myself and my abilities has diminished greatly. This award has motivated me to continue trying to better myself and for this I really do thank you”.

Samantha

Bachelor with Honours Award

“This award allows me and my whanau to have some ‘financial freedom’, as my parents financially support me throughout my studies. However, being awarded this scholarship allows them to stress less about my finances and focus on themselves and pay off their debt, which they deserve as they are such hard workers.
Overall, this scholarship gives me the resources to pursue my studies with less financial stress and focuses on my goal to get into Medicine and work with my Maori Whanau/ community.”

Makayla

Foundation Award

“I am a final year PhD student at the Centre for Brain Research at the University of Auckland, conducting a research study in the field of neurodegeneration and dementia. During the final months of my doctoral study, I have been struggling financially due to stresses created by the COVID-19 outbreak and limited funding support.
The award truly alleviates all of my financial burden and allows me to completely focus on (my studies). It has also motivated me to strive for excellence in my final stage”.

SooHyun

Dame Dorothy Winstone Doctoral Completion Award

“These past few weeks, I’ve been having a hard time, primarily because of my daughters teething destroying my sleep cycle, but I started to lose faith in myself to a degree. My grades were great, but in terms of self-efficacy, I just felt down. But receiving that email last week telling me I won this scholarship has been a much-needed reminder of my achievements.
Just knowing that someone out there thinks that the effort I’ve been putting into my schoolwork is worth investing so much money into, brought me to tears and has given me an intense boost in morale just in time for exams. The first thing I plan to buy is a new pair of glasses with the correct prescription”.

Shani

Foundation Award

“The Kate Edgar Foundation funding has been life-changing for me. Living and studying in New Zealand without my family’s support was a significant financial challenge, especially when I was not eligible for a student allowance, and part-time work alone was not enough to cover my expenses. This scholarship helped me to be free from tremendous burdens and allowed me to focus on my studies without constant financial worries and stress. As a result, I flourished academically, achieving a GPA of 8.43. Words cannot describe how grateful I am for this opportunity, as it has brought me closer to my dream of becoming a teacher and making the world a better place.”.

Yura

Dame Dorothy Winstone and Rae Hammer New Start Award

“After completing my PhD, I felt unsure about whether I’d be able to find new opportunities that allowed me to continue researching what I’m passionate about: sexist attitudes in the context of relationships and families, with a particular focus on how gendered dynamics in these domains can make it challenging for women to balance careers and personal goals. Receiving this Kate Edger Post-Doctoral Fellowship gave me the security needed to complete my ongoing research goals at the University of Auckland (e.g., finishing a longitudinal study of couples), and allowed me time to explore future opportunities. I have now moved to Canterbury, United Kingdom to take up a new post-doctoral research position at the University of Kent, which will allow me to keep working on the research that is important to me, whilst also undertaking new projects. This would not have been possible without the funding provided by the Kate Edger Foundation, which gave me stability in the often-unsteady period post-PhD.”.

Lalita Nina

Dane Joan Metge Post-Doctoral Research Award