The African Association of Madison (AAM), Inc. is currently accepting application for scholarships for graduating high school seniors in the greater Madison area pursuing a college education.
Ama S. Ptak, the executive director of the African Center for Community Development Inc., serves as the chair of the Education & Scholarships Committee for the African Association of Madison and notes that there is still time to apply for the 2025 Ladidi Garba Scholarship Foundation Award Program and the 2025 AAM Scholarship Awards Program.
“Both of these scholarships are for high school students who are pursuing higher education,” Ptak tells Madison365. “There are usually five students awarded scholarships at $500 each.”
Applicants for the Ladidi Garba Scholarship must be a Wisconsin resident graduating this year from a Wisconsin high school with a minimum 3.0 GPA who has been accepted into a 2-year or 4-year college or university program. The applicant must show evidence of financial need and must be involved in the community.
“The Ladidi Garba Scholarship is from a family in our community whose daughter unfortunately passed away and the scholarship is meant to honor their daughter, Ladidi Garba,” Ptak says. “And when she passed, the family set up a foundation to offer scholarships, especially to high school students who are going to study arts at a college or university.”
The scholarships are just one of the many community initiatives and events hosted by the African Association of Madison, founded in 1993, whose mission is to “serve as a forum to bring together and unite in purpose people of African descent and friends of Africa in the greater Madison area and share the diverse heritages and traditions inherent in the rich cultures of Africa with the Madison and Wisconsin communities.”
“The African Association of Madison has been around for three decades now,” Ptak says. “It was started by African international students who had come to school at UW-Madison to study and then decided to get together to create a community. That’s how the association emerged. So the association has been creating programs like educational scholarships, as well as organizing events like Africa Fest, which is the annual festival that happens at McPike Park in August.”
Africa Fest celebrates and shares African traditions and cultural heritages with the community. This year will mark the 25th anniversary of the festival and will be celebrated on Saturday, Aug. 16, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. at McPike Park on Madison’s East Side.
This is Ptak’s sixth year being involved in the African Association of Madison, and her first year as the chair of the AAM Education and Scholarships Committee.
“What I love the most about being a part of the African Association of Madison is the connections that we make in the community,” Ptak says. “It really is a place where people come together to support one another, too, and I really like that.”
The Madison area’s African community represents over 30 African countries, Ptak estimates, and has had a presence in the Madison area since at least the mid-1960s.
“The scholarships are an important thing that we do at the African Association of Madison. We really like to support our area high school students who have potential and who plan to continue their education. I love that these scholarships reward the students for being involved in their communities and for volunteering,” Ptak says.
“When the candidates are selected, they are invited to the graduation ceremony and dinner with their parents and families, and we do that event in collaboration with Madison College,” Ptak adds. “That’s going to be on May 2 of this year. So we will present some certificates, the students are given customized [graduation] stoles, and they are recognized for their achievements.”
The deadline to apply for the scholarships is Friday, March 7 and successful candidates will be notified by Friday, March 28. For more information, click here.
