About Us

 

 Our Mission

The Bobcat Pride Scholarship Fund (BPSF) provides monetary funds to support individuals who have minority sexual and gender identities (LGBTQIA+), residing in San Marcos or Hays County. Support is provided through emergency stabilization grants, academic scholarships, and paid internships.

Our Vision

BPSF recognizes people of all minority sexual and gender identities experience systemic oppression. Therefore, BPSF aspires to empower future societal contributions by helping these individuals address financial barriers, educational goals, and career aspirations.

Inclusion Policy

BPSF values all board members, volunteers and applicants as unique individuals and welcomes the variety of experiences they bring to our organization. As such, BPSF does not practice, condone, facilitate, or collaborate with any form of discrimination. It is our intention to be an accessible, affirming, emotionally safe and respectful environment for all members of the BPSF community. We believe everyone should be treated equally and strive to provide quality services that are sensitive to and inclusive of diversity of all kinds including race, ethnicity, national origin, language of choice, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion, immigration status, and mental or physical ability.

Any board member, volunteer or client who believes that they or any other affiliate of BPSF has been discriminated against is strongly encouraged to report this concern promptly to the Executive Director or another board member.

Donor Impact Reports

The Board of Directors publishes our annual report each April at the end of our fiscal year.  The fiscal integrity of BPSF has allowed us to support LGBTQIA+ emerging adults in the greater San Marcos area since 2010. 

 

Meet our Board of Directors

Heather Aidala (she/her), Psy.D. is a founding member and serves as the Executive Director of BPSF. She is currently a Senior Administrative Assistant at TXST in Academic Affairs after providing 20 years of mental health services to college students as a Psychologist, at three different institutions. She has also been a passionate and committed bisexual cisgender ally and advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. She served as the co-chair of Allies of Texas State when it was a grass-roots committee which inspired the creation of BPSF as a 501(c)3 in 2010. Supporting LGBTQIA+ emerging adults through BPSF has inspired and pushed her to continue to do better in her personal life and remain politically active. Outside of BPSF she spends time with her family, gardening, cooking, SUPing on the San Marcos River, saving creatures (usually small, often of the kitten type), and cuddling with her furbabies. I appreciate the opportunity to serve BPSF with this amazing volunteer Board of Directors!

Kennedy Stonehawk (name/they) is a queer seventh generation Texan, joining the board as the Operations Director. They left their home state at the turn of the century due to a political climate that actively discriminated against LGBTQIA+ individuals. They returned home six years ago and settled in San Marcos. Kennedy's commitment to the BPSF mission is driven by a desire to make Texas a welcoming home for all.
An education professional by day, Kennedy has 20+ years in preK-12, and is currently an administrator for a national public charter school.

Karen Gordon-Sosby (she/her), serves as the Financial Director of BPSF. She is the Associate Director of the Texas State Student Health Center. She lives in Wimberley, but after working in San Marcos almost 30 years, it is her second home. She is a 2008 graduate of Leadership San Marcos. She was part of the early group of Allies at Texas State and considers the Allies program one of the best things Texas State ever accomplished. Karen has been actively involved in both Wimberley and San Marcos community organizations but is especially proud to be a long-time donor and now the Financial Director for BPSF. The ability to serve those who may not have other resources is especially rewarding. The gratitude we receive from our awardees makes us want to work even harder for them. When she is not at work, Karen enjoys travel (especially to the Big Bend area) and hanging out at the Blanco River or by her backyard fire pit.

Rickie Fleck (she/her) is the Emergency Stabilization Fund Program Director for BPSF and a licensed clinical social worker. She has worked for several service agencies in the San Marcos/Austin area for the last decade. Rickie has worked with clients across the lifespan with a focus on inclusion and equity. She has earned her PhD in social work, and her research focused on perceptions of equity among college students. Rickie has a passion for helping people in meaningful ways individually while staying mindful of systemic issues that have caused inequality and exclusion. Rickie can often be found in the kitchen baking, trying out new recipes, drinking coffee, or crocheting. She lives with her wife, daughter and their two dogs in Kyle, TX.

Briana Hacksisombath (she/her) is the Internal Communications Director at BPSF, with experience in digital strategy and web development. Briana started with BPSF as a Social Media and Marketing Intern, working on website updates and design.

A recent Texas State University graduate, Briana loves using social media and data to boost the organization’s online presence. Briana’s goal is to help BPSF reach more people and make sure its digital tools are effective for connecting and sharing the mission.

Todd Papke (he/him) is thrilled to serve as Marketing Director for BPSF. He currently works as a Marketing Coordinator at TXST, and is proud to call himself an alumnus of TXST.

Todd is hopeful that his work with BPSF will contribute to the support LGBTQIA+ community in the coming years. In his free time, he enjoys making art, spending time with his wife and their two dogs, playing guitar, and riding horses whenever he gets a chance!
Photo of Todd Papke
 

Jennifer Jaques (she/her), serves as the Academic Scholarship Director of BPSF. She has lived in San Marcos for over 30 years, starting as a graduate from Southwest Texas State University then as an entrepreneur, founding her lighting consulting business in 2000. She is currently the Membership Manager for the non-profit association IEEE Power & Energy Society, which is based in Piscataway, NJ. In this role she supports Women in Power, Young Professionals, and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion groups. The opportunity to strengthen her own allyship skills, and locally empower and support those in this community in need of resources is especially fulfilling and humbling. When not at work Jennifer/Jen/JJ likes to garden, learn Tai Chi (slowly), work with her hands, and spend time with her husband and two dogs

 

Jamie Saucedo (he/they, el/elle) is the Community Engagement Director for BPSF. They are a first-generation, brown, queer, non binary abolitionist educator and serves as a Student Program Coordinator at the University of Texas at Austin's University Leadership Network. Jamie holds his Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education with ESL Certification and Master of Education in Student Affairs in Higher Education. They have a vast amount of experiences working with historically marginalized, underrepresented populations and have a wealth of knowledge on supports for easing youth's sexuality and gender development.

Jamie is a third-generation San Marcian and has a passion for cultivating joy. He believes that joy is a form of liberation built on a foundation of collective action and is the greatest act of resistance to oppressive nature. Outside of BPSF, Jamie is enjoys hitting the lovely San Marcos river, building Legos, spending time with family, and gaming with their partner.

 

The Artist who designed our logo


Sheka Robinson (she/her) designed our BPSF logo! Sheka is a social justice advocate, creative, cancer warrior who attempts to integrate inclusion into all aspects of her art making process. While her professional career led her down a Higher Education path, she always looked for opportunities to express her creativity in different work projects and created a diversity and inclusion workshop for yoga teachers in training in her community. When she is not creating, you will find Sheka deep into true crime tv/podcasts and spending quality time with her pup Zora aka Zozo.

Our History

This private fund was founded in 2010 by Texas State alumni and friends as they recognized the progress Texas State had made towards the inclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community yet the lack of resources to support LGBTQIA+ Bobcats. This inspired the group to establish a scholarship fund with two goals: 1) to offer an academic achievement scholarship and 2) to offer a leadership development scholarship to LGBTQIA+ Texas State students. Bobcat Pride Scholarship Fund® was the first ever, private scholarship dedicated exclusively to supporting LGBTQIA+ Bobcats.


The Emergency Stabilization Fund (ESF) was established in 2013 to support LGBTQIA+ Bobcats facing an unexpected financial crisis that could have disrupted their ability to continue in school. Our dear friend Jeremy O. Torres, a faculty member in the Department of Theatre, was part of the fabric of BPSF.  When he passed in 2016 the leadership felt strongly that the ESF embodied the love and support Jeremy always offered others and in communication with his mother, Shirley Abernethy, it was agreed we would rename the fund in his honor. Read more about the Legacy of Jeremy.


In September 2018, BPSF's leadership donated all funds to ALLIANCE at Texas State for the first Texas State University scholarship for LGBTQIA+ Texas State Students. The decision to collaborate enabled the LGBTQIA+ Endowed Scholarship to reach the endowment level, guaranteeing scholarship opportunities for Bobcat students indefinitely!


In August of 2019, BPSF was transferred to new leadership in order to revitalize the Jeremy O. Torres Emergency Stabilization Fund. This Board of Directors expanded the mission to provide monetary support to emerging adults (between the ages of 18 to 25), who have minority sexual and gender identities (LGBTQIA+), residing in the greater San Marcos area. This allows the fund to support these individuals in a time of unforeseen crisis with one-time, limited financial support to secure their well-being and/or ability to stay enrolled in school.


In April of 2024, BPSF announced the launch of the Victor Saldivar Academic Scholarship at our 14th birthday party.  The first round of applications occurred in Fall 2024.  This resources provides a scholarship to two chosen awardees, each up to $1,000 each.  To qualify, applicants must be LGBTQIA+ residents of San Marcos or Hays County attending post-secondary, associate, or vocational education institutions in Hays County.  There are two cycles per year.

Previous Scholarship Opportunities:

  • The academic achievement scholarship was a way to celebrate the accomplishment of a LGBTQIA+ Bobcat, recognizing the hard work it takes to maintain a 3.0 or higher GPA. One to two scholarship were granted each semester with the final amount being a $3,000 award.  
  • The leadership development scholarship was a way to promote social justice learning to develop strong student leaders at Texas State. This scholarship covered the costs of one recipient per summer attending the LGBTQIA+ focused conference, Campus Pride Summer Leadership Camp.
  • The Rattler Pride/Bobcat Pride Scholarship provided a yearly $500 scholarship to one San Marcos High School senior who identifies as LGBTQIA+ and who was accepted to Texas State University.

Achievements Since Our Inception:

  • Were awarded $5K by the San Marcos Human Services Grant to fund San Marcos LGBTQIA+ residents
  • Awarded over 300 Jeremy O. Torres Emergency Stabilization Fund recipients
  • Provided over $100K in support to LGBTQIA+ emerging adults over 13+ years
  • Up until 2016, funded 55 scholarship and internship opportunities; comprised of over 25 Academic Achievement Scholarships, and 8 Leadership Development Scholarships.
  • Created hallmark annual fundraising events such as the donor Soireé and Drag Out Funny
  • Earned 501(c)(3) status as a federal non-profit organization in 2011