Global Scholars

Regina Mundi lives the values to which it asks others to aspire. We sponsor an annual Global Scholar internship the goal of which is to bring young people into contact with a cultural community completely unknown to them and expose them to it through a series of person interactions over a period of weeks or months.

Our hope is that this exposure will develop into personal relationships between and among the participants, and eventually build lasting “bridges” between the different cultures. The Global Scholarship participants are encouraged to communicate, trade, and experience the global community as participants rather than spectators.

If you are interested in participating in the Global Scholars program, please use the application to start the conversation with us.

Who can be a Global Scholar?

Almost anyone. We prefer high school graduates who are taking a break before deciding on or beginning further studies. A successful applicant will demonstrate leadership, professional social skills, and a high degree of “executive function.” Global Scholars are selected based upon referrals and recommendations, with preference going to candidates referred by clients, colleagues, and affiliates of Regina Mundi. Each candidate provides an expression of interest to start the process, and potential scholars are selected for further application as described below.

Each Scholar’s Program, regardless of the experience type selected by the Scholar, will be one amenable to our self-improvement goals for the Global Scholar. Each Scholar is expected to adopt and practice a set of core values that Regina Mundi views as the essential values of a good person – the kind of person with whom we would do business. These values are honesty, generosity, empathy, and sympathy. Our intent is to demonstrate to the Global Scholars that if decisions are made consistent with these core values, these “virtues,” then the resultant actions will reflect the highest ethical and moral standards of humanity.

Scholars coming to Africa will be purposefully challenged to shed preconceived notions of “Africa,” and experience a piece of a continent larger than the United States, Canada, and Europe combined. Scholars coming to North America or Europe will be challenged by the mechanics of a foreign first-world existence, including the cultural differences, divergent social values, and freedoms (and risks) not found in other democratic countries. Each Scholar’s Program will remove the Scholar from his or her comfort zone and compel him or her to meet, work with, and bond with people distinctly different than himself or herself. Our goal is for the Scholar to come away from the Program appreciative of the humanity and the joy of life which imbues people of other cultures.

Successful candidates should review our web site and our mission statement, and observe that we focus a great deal on public service in our Community Involvement activities and it is a focus we like to support through our Global Scholars program. In order to be favorably considered for our Global Scholars program, we will want to see a connection between the experience that the Scholar is requesting and the development of tools or intangible skills from the experience that will directly improve the Scholar’s ability to serve his or her local and global community.

Where To Start?

Tell us who you are and how you came to seek our assistance. Send us your “Motivational Statement,” at info@reginamundi.org with the phrase “Global Scholars” in the subject line. Describe where you would like to intern, how much time you are willing to commit to the internship, and what you want to learn or experience (and why).

Your Motivational Statement presents you with an opportunity to determine for yourself by discussing it with us what you want to make of your life in the next 5, 10, or more years. The review teamis interested in whether your life is one which will be dedicated to the improvement of the global community’s human condition, to the improvement of your own human condition, or to portions of both noble goals. We value the development of the “humanity” in the description of the “human capital” which each successful Global Scholar applicant must already possess in some measure. As an applicant, you will need to articulate a vision of your future in which you expressly connect the Global Scholar experience with a specific personal future you imagine for yourself which is inclusive of public service. These details will aid Regina Mundi to determine if we can build an internship which likely to create the opportunities you wish to encounter, be safe and secure under the circumstances, and for which financial assistance can be matched to your own contributions.

Once your Motivational Statement is considered by the review team you will receive either a request for more information to clarify whether your Motivation identifies an activity consistent with the Global Scholarship, or an invitation to complete the application balance of the process, and be scheduled for one or more interviews.

You will also need to submit the following to Regina Mundi:

Personal information –

Include your name, age, postal address, email address, personal phone number, social media identifiers, familial status, citizenship, and proof of medical insurance, vaccination and immunization appropriate for the area of service (as recommended by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), a copy of a government issued photo identification, and emergency contacts with name and phone number.

Permission to Proceed –

If under the age of 18, then we will need written authorization from a parent or legal guardian permitting you to apply and providing consent for our review of your application, communications with you, and our possession of your personal information.

Letters of recommendation –

You need to submit references:

Two personal references from adults in positions of responsibility who can speak about your work ethic, your interpersonal skills in the terms of both strengths and weaknesses, and how you demonstrate in your daily living the humanistic qualities we seek.

Two additional personal references – one from a family member and one from youth peer. These referrals should explain what your relationship is to each other, and then what the person writing believes makes you “special” to them, such as how you stand apart and what distinguishes you from all those around you.

Transcripts –

High school transcripts for the prior year and the balance of this academic year to date if not completed at the time of application. We do not require standardized tests.

Activities –

Make a list of club memberships, awards earned, team sports experience, or leadership roles you have held.

Employment History –

Descriptions of work experiences with details of work performed.

If you are selected, then you will be given a Program description, a schedule, a Tip Sheet, and asked to provide listed essential information, and sign a commitment letter.

Some of Our Past Scholars

2024 Global Scholar Prize Lily Mae McCabe Bowker

Lily Bowker is a 7th-generation 1820 Settler born and raised on Thornkloof farm north of the Great Fish River on the historic route to Piggott’s Bridge and the Debruinspoort pass. As a graduate of Diocesan School for Girls (DSG) in Makhanda (Grahamstown), Eastern Cape, South Africa, Lily obtained five distinctions, including English and Mathematics, and has commenced undergraduate studies in BScEng in Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 1st Qtr 2025. Athletic in multiple disciplines, Lily was acknowledged as first in the Eastern Cape 2023 Prelim Dressage Ranking on Dressage SA, and elected Team Captain with Half Colours of the First Team (Horse Riding) for DSG. Seeking exposure to more opportunities and a larger pool of academic and real-world experience, Lily moved to Cape Town for advanced studies, and also presented to Regina Mundi a compelling personal statement reflecting many of the values we practice, and many of the aspirations for her future we support. The aspirations expressed, both for academic placement and for professional development inside the large marketplace of the United States, are ones Regina Mundi encourages Lily to pursue. Confident we are that as she evolves personally and as a member of the global community, she will find herself in the company of a multicultural, accomplished group of friends and colleagues. As a woman pursuing an academic career in STEM, the level of self-awareness Lily possesses is essential to her success. Lily combines, without artifice, a sense of quiet confidence which conveys a level of assurance that suggests to Regina Mundi that Lily will be stand out in whichever direction she points her life. Our hope for Lily is that she leads others she encounters along her pathway to the same heights that she will most certainly attain. That confidence in her qualities as a human being reflective of our values is the basis for the granting of the 2024 Global Scholar Prize to Lily Bowker.

2023- Global Scholar Prize Minaaz Abrahams

Minaaz Abrahams is a queer Muslim woman born and raised in the Cape Flats – whose hand woven textile art – won a place in the Zeita MOCAA June 2023 ‘PATHWAYS’ Matric Exhibition https://zeitzmocaa.museum/exhibition/family-children/pathways-matric-exhibition/ . The Zeitz MOCAA Centre for Art Education hosts an annual Matric Workshop for Grade 12 Visual Art learners in Cape Town. This project, a key part of Zeitz MOCAA’s mission to make art accessible and engage young people, involves a variety of workshops and exhibitions showcasing the work of participating students. This exhibition of artworks by Grade 12 learners from high school art departments in Cape Town is the culmination of an education project inspired by the Igshaan Adams Atelier residency titled ‘NOT WORKING (WORKING TITLE).’ Igshaan Adams produces large-scale tapestries and sculptures with a team of weavers and studio assistants. The Atelier revealed the collaborative way in which these works are produced. The young artists courageously and enthusiastically responded by making and writing about artworks of their own. The artworks were completed over the ensuing six weeks with the guidance from the facilitators in two all-day crit sessions and several Saturday working sessions.

Minaaz wrote “I am a queer Muslim female who has faced discrimination and disrespect by family members and outsiders. My piece identifies both individuality and diversity. Just because we are different and differ in ideology and beliefs, it doesn’t mean we need to be treated differently.” It requires great courage to be “out” in many or even most global communities. In Africa being “out” is frequently a death sentence even in the dozen relatively democratic nations of sub-Saharan Africa. In South Africa gay people are all too often found dead – Linten Jutzen (Cape Town), Qhawe Ndabeni (Eastern Cape), and the efforts of advocates such as Access Chapter 2 thus far have fallen short. Policing in the Cape Flats is the most challenging environment with gang violence, community distrust and under-resourcing. Being “out” in the Cape Flats is one of the most courageous acts a young adult female can engage in today.

Actions are more telling than words, and the Regina Mundi Global Advisors selection criteria for the Global Scholars looks closely at actions when making the award decision. Regina Mundi leadership is a happy few semi-retired professionals who go out and find young entrepreneurs and social justice warriors whose project might benefit from our technical and financial assistance – in order to be made ready to “go global” and change the world one person and one project at a time – Our leadership efforts reflect our core values. The Regina Mundi Global Scholars program is one such mechanism for identifying the best & brightest who are creating opportunities to power a “global impact.” Each participant has proven the rule and gone forward to be a force of “global go!” Each scholar reflects those core values through actions.

That confidence in Minaaz’s qualities as a human being reflective of our values is the basis for the granting of the 2023 Global Scholar Prize to Minaaz Abrahams.

2022- Global Scholar Prize Wyndham Raul Werner Rothblatt

Wyndham Raul Werner Rothblatt (Wyn) combines musical, athletic, and business talent into a single entrepreneurial package. As a Drexel University LeBow College of Business student Wyn manages his joint Masters Degree program obligations while simultaneously volunteering as the team manager for the Drexel Women’s Basketball team (“Drexel Dragons”) founded in 1921 and competing in the Colonial Athletic Association Women’s Basketball. Never missing a match while holding up his GPA is a laudable accomplishment. Yet, when speaking to Wyn he seldom mentions that he also performs music, runs the social society of his university fraternity, and is the constant companion for his octogenarian widowed grandmother. His daily schedule would make a Navy SEAL fatigued.

Music and mathematics are deeply intertwined, with both disciplines drawing on patterns, ratios, and proportions. Music utilizes mathematical concepts like time signatures, beats per minute, and musical scales, while mathematical principles can be applied to understand the physics of sound and the structure of musical harmony. What we see in Wyn is the “harmony” of his passions with an ethical foundation in generosity, empathy, equity and active work for entrepreneurial based social justice.

July 21, 2014 Wyn lost his young father to an inter-cranial brain hemorrhage. He was in the room alone with his pre-teen sister when it all happened. The loss came not long after his own bar-mitzvah. In the years that followed Wyn has held himself and his younger sister emotionally above water absent a father and father figure in both their lives. Time and again Wyn has demonstrated the “love of family” and that “love” is a verb requiring action. In our review of his life, his “actions” and his choices, we at Regina Mundi are impressed by the singular focus Wyn demonstrated to actions which reflect “love” and the broader values we wish to see reflected in our Global Scholars.

Actions are more telling than words, and the Regina Mundi Global Advisors selection criteria for the Global Scholars looks closely at “actions” when making the award decision. Regina Mundi leadership is a happy few semi-retired professionals who have considerable experience in “action” which informs our search when seeking young entrepreneurs and social justice warriors whose project might benefit from our technical and financial assistance – in order to be made ready to “go global” and change the world one person and one project at a time – our leadership efforts reflect our core values.

This Award reflects our confidence in the qualities as a human being reflective of our values and is the basis for the granting of the 2022 Global Scholar Prize to Wyndham Raul Werner Rothblatt.

2021- Global Scholar Prize Galia Rene Slayen

Galia Slayen’s ﬁrst taste of political campaigning came at age 16, as an intern with Steve Novick’s 2008 Democratic primary campaign for Senate in Oregon. Her first organizing was done in the Portland Public Schools where she founded and nurtured the year on year growth of the “Music in the Schools” independent fund raising project (private funding of music in public schools). Galia, a native of Portland, Oregon, is a first-generation American. She describes her parents – from South Africa and Zimbabwe – met in Israel while playing field hockey at the Maccabiah Games. They settled in Israel, served in the IDF – her father as a fitness trainer and her mother as a “badass” translator for the Air Force intelligence – and had Galia’s older brother. While her mother was pregnant with her, the family moved to Oregon. “We grew up with them speaking Hebrew to us,” Galia says. “And I had a weird Israeli name that no one in Portland, Oregon, could pronounce.” And while her family was never religiously observant, they were always heavily involved in the Jewish community and Jewish causes; she attended Jewish day school in Portland, went to B’nai Brith camp in the summers and took part in an American Jewish World Service program to Ghana during high school. Her first official campaign work was with Christie Vilsack’s unsuccessful 2012 run for Congress in Iowa. In 2013, Galia joined the team that helped elect Terry McAuliffe governor of Virginia. In 2014 she tried to re-elect Kay Hagan for Senate in North Carolina. In 2015, she campaigned for Andy Beshear for attorney general in Kentucky. After that she headed to Florida in 2016 to join Rep. Patrick Murphy’s failed bid to unseat Sen. Marco Rubio. In 2017, she was hired as the communications director for the Illinois gubernatorial campaign of J.B. Pritzker, who defeated incumbent Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2018. Galia undertook the underdog role of the traveling press secretary for Michael Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign. Galia works and worked on only the most challenging social justice causes – Eating Disorders in youth in a Today Show news segment gone globally viral as “Life-sized Barbie” – strategizing with Project Democracy – lecturing to Northwestern University for an NBC News political reporter alum – mentoring interns looking for a break into the social justice organizing realm like “Luca” from Kenya.

This Award reflects our confidence in the qualities as a human being reflective of our values and is the basis for the granting of the 2021 Global Scholar Prize to Galia R. Slaye

2020 Regina Mundi Global Scholarship
Mbekweni Youth Centre
Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa
Service in a time of Pandemic

The global pandemic involving COVID-19 caused a great deal of hardship throughout the community of nations. In the Western Cape of South Africa, Regina Mundi directed the Global Scholar funding to the Mbekweni Youth Centre in the Mbekweni Township. The leadership shown during the crisis involving keeping facilities available and programs adapted to the health regulations were innovations and dedication to humanity merited our support.

2019 Global Scholar
Emma Lees
Alfalfa, Oregon, USA

Emma Lees was the 2019 recipient of the Regina Mundi Global Scholarship award. Through the scholarship, Emma attended the “Softball Factory World Series – Futures” in Houston, Texas. Her dream of a career advanced by sport reflects the high level of self-discipline and self-confidence that separates future leaders from the rest. Emma demonstrates the quality of character that Regina Mundi seeks to support throughout her life – from her decision to attend high school using the Oregon Connections Academy (an online K-12 public school program suitable for remote rural learners), to her successful completion of 2017’s Under Armour Softball Factory National Tryout. That experience led to her participation in the next-level section camp and tournament hosted by the Softball Factory in Vero Beach, Florida. Emma is on the pathway to collegiate level training and development in the sport all conceived and implemented at her own pace and with her own decisions. However, she still finds the time for personal improvement and community involvement. Supported by her mother, grandmother, grandfather and younger brother, Emma has performed at the top of her class academically and on the sports field. Regina Mundi views Emma as a future leader of America.

2018 Global Scholars
Cape Leopard Trust Youth Group (Group award)
Cape Town, SA

In 2018, Regina Mundi used the Global Scholar award to help fund the Cape Leopard Trust’s Winter Holiday Program. 54 young people enjoyed a few days away from home having some outdoor fun. The holiday program consisted of outings to various destinations around the Cape Peninsula and Boland areas, and their ‘leopard bus’ covered 1700 km in ten days. Topics covered included biodiversity of the Western Cape and leopard habitat, CLT research, Marine and coastal research, plastic pollution in the oceans, fynbos diversity, fire ecology, predator-prey relationships and threats to biodiversity such as climate change, alien vegetation and human encroachment. For more information, visit https://capeleopard.org.za/news-media/news/story/winter-fun-out-and-about-in-the-cape.

2017 Global Scholar
Michael Marinkovich
Redlands, California, USA

Michael applied to come to South Africa after having a promising future as a soccer goalie cut short by a game related injury. He wants to share his world ranked amateur experience with young adults whose futures are improved by the hope and promise of the opportunities opened through sport. Matt’s Program will take him to townships and under-served areas as part of a leadership through sport effort by a non-profit organization. It is hoped that he will impart both his experience and the lessons of good scholarship creating good choices for the young adults.

2016 Global Scholar
Mathew Kubler
Winnetka, Illinois, USA

Matt came to South Africa having expressed interest in the law as a field of future study. His Program saturated Matt in the human rights crisis created by the transmigration of both political and economic refugees. He teamed with a leading human rights lawyer in Cape Town, volunteered with part of the Mandela Family in social action, and saw first hand the plight of exploited people subject to abuses. His six week Program gave new insights both to Matt and to the people whose lives he touched.

2015 Global Scholar
Hannah Gardner
West Orange, New Jersey, USA

Hannah came to South Africa having expressed interest in Social Media and social connectivity. During her six week Program she visited rural and urban areas of four Provinces. Hannah met with farmers, small entrepreneurs, and urban residents. She helped build web sites, make social media pages, and introduce groups of people to the benefits and pitfalls of the modern communications modalities.