2020 APA-NC EDI Scholarship Winners

APA-NC is pleased to announce the winners of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee Scholarships. The three recipients are listed below.

Kinue Beugre, North Carolina Central University

Kinue Beugre is 21 years old and grew up in the small town of Rockingham, North Carolina. A fun fact about Kinue is that she received an associate's degree at only 17 years old! She completed a B.A. in History at North Carolina Central University and is now enrolled in the Masters of Public Administration program. Kinue is a graduate student researcher with a focus on public health matters, specifically in underrepresented communities. Kinue's strength in life is her passion for people. She strives to fill the world with genuine emotion and love that will help shape the next generation. Her different job avenues confirmed her interest in a Public Administration Masters Program. While working as a grassroots canvasser and Democratic/Non-profit caller, Kinue interacted with many different people. She stayed up-to-date on current governmental affairs and current events, which helped her pay closer attention to detail; and helped her articulate how those events were harming minority communities. That job taught her to be quick and precise with gathering information, learning information, and interacting with the public. In her current role as an NCCU graduate student researcher, Kinue is developing a self-directed project on housing insecurity and its relation to food access and security, and the changing role of shelters across North Carolina. She has identified the gaps in services in rural counties. She is working to understand how the agencies and organizations currently provide services and adapt to the new demands from the COVID crisis. Kinue believes that one of the building blocks of authentic leadership is knowing yourself and acting with intent. 

Carson Ellerby, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Carson Ellerby is a junior at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill majoring in Economics and with a minor in City and Regional Planning. His love for economics and urban planning began in middle school when he spent his free time sketching urban landscapes, playing Sim City and tuning into “Mad Money” with Jim Cramer and reading Cramer’s books on investment strategies. Carson spent his freshmen year at UNC Charlotte where he was a member of the Cross Country and Track and Field teams and a member of the National Association of Black Accountants. Upon transferring to UNC Chapel Hill he became a member of the Club Cross Country team and volunteered with Nourish, Ventures, and Hope Gardens all under the Campus YMCA organization. Other campus activities include membership in Black Student Movement, Model UN Chapel Hill, Carolina Economics club, UNC Spanish Club, and UNC Kenan Flagler’s Undergraduate Accounting Club and the Minority Student Business Alliance (MBSA). Off campus activities include volunteering at Heavenly Groceries, a community food pantry provided by Saint Joseph C.M.E. Church in Chapel Hill. An advocate for diversity, he has participated in activities sponsored by organizations such as Carolina Hispanic Association (CHISPA) and the Muslim Students Association. Though an accident in 2016 has temporarily prevented him from running, he is proud to have placed eighth in the 2016 Tar Heel Ten Miler.

Carson served as an intern with the NCDOT Powell Bill Unit during the summers of 2015 and 2016. There, he was assigned to coordinate, develop and manage complex projects such as ArcGIS and the ePBATS Project for 508 municipalities and towns in North Carolina and 3D Project Management. This included utilizing ArcGIS to digitize legislative allocation of funds for public transportation arterials in North Carolina. He is most interested in the field of planning because it provides a multi-faceted approach to solving urban issues such as environmental degradation, urban sprawl, traffic congestion, walkability and environmental health.

Born in Raleigh, NC, Carson attended Leesville High School where his records in the 800m and 1000m track events still remain. He is the son of Brian and Theresa Ellerby, graduates of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State, respectively. His older brother, Zachary Ellerby, is a 2016 North Carolina State graduate and his younger sister, Briana, currently attends New York University. Carson enjoys reading, wathcing the equity markets and working toward full recover from his accident. He is a member of Baptist Grove Church in Raleigh, NC.

Zuri Garcia, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Zuri Garcia hails from the lone star state, where she graduated from The University of Texas with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Learning and Development. After her undergraduate degree, Zuri became an organizer for low-wage workers and then became a second-grade Dual Language teacher in a Spanish immersion program. Though she will miss the opportunities being in a classroom afforded her, she is eager to embark on earning her Master's Degree in City and Regional Planning from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Zuri’s focus is on rural Emergency Management and livestock evacuation planning for disenfranchised communities. Her work seeks to elevate rural voices and increase their representation in the national conversation on empowering black and brown communities. She plans to couple Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) with computer science to improve how rural spaces manage and mitigate natural disasters.

As Zuri is new to North Carolina, she looks forward to becoming better acquainted with the state’s resilient agricultural community. When she is not studying, you will find Zuri gardening, dabbling with woodworking, completing a puzzle, or searching for Talavera pieces to add to her collection.