Program areas at NBCC Foundation
The Foundation administers the samhsa-funded NBCC minority fellowship program, through which 24 doctoral students in counseling or counselor education each received a 20,000 education award; 35 master's-level mental health counseling students each received an 10,000 education award; and 48 master's-level addictions counseling students received a 15,000 education award. The Foundation provides training, leadership development, mentors and networking opportunities to enable fellows to successfully complete their programs and take leadership roles in reducing the disparities in mental health care for minority populations.
Through funding received by the center for credentialing & education (cce) the NBCC Foundation provides scholarships and training awards to increase the number of global career development facilitator (gcdf) domestic and international, cce approved clinical supervisor (acs), cce board certified coach (bcc), and board certified-telemental health (bc-tmh) certified professional counselors.
Annually, the Foundation awards master's-level scholarships to individuals who are pursuing careers in professional counseling and who commit to serving rural and/or military communities for at least two years post- graduation. To date, the NBCC Foundation has provided scholarships to counseling students committed to serving rural and military communities in 42 states.
The Foundation supports efforts to build the capacity of communities through a capacity building grant program that expands services available to underserved communities. To date, the Foundation has funded two such grants: one for veterans in Colorado springs, Colorado, and one for underserved minorities in montgomery, Alabama. No capacity building awards were awarded in fy 2022-2023. The NBCC Foundation facilitates the bridging the gap symposium: eliminating mental health disparities, a national conference that provides continuing education for counselors, counselor educators, counselors-in-training and other behavioral health professionals. Each year, the Foundation awards 5,000 scholarships to u.s. and non-u.s. gcdf students towards the goal of increasing the number of available professional counselors providing quality career development services. In doing so, the gcdf scholarship plays an important role in the Foundation's mission to leverage the power of counseling by strategically focusing resources for positive change.