A Scholarship backed by one of workplace and facilities management’s highest profile practitioners, who has been diagnosed with a terminal cancer, has been established.

The Deborah Rowland Scholarship, created in collaboration with Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM), intends to bring on the next generation of workplace and facilities management (WFM) professionals through financial and mentoring support. It aims to demolish barriers to progress and to foster future leaders from diverse backgrounds.

Rowland, Director of Public Affairs at Sodexo UK and Ireland since 2017, is living with advanced cancer and wants to give capable individuals a ‘head start’. Awardees, whose own circumstances, or those of their employer, make them otherwise unable to fund their professional development, will be seeking to enter the profession, be at the start of their workplace and facilities management career, or employed in a junior capacity.

Rowland said: “The FM world has been the most fantastic environment to grow and learn in, I cannot recommend it enough to someone at the beginning of their journey. I have always striven to ensure that this is a profession to be proud of and attractive to future talent.

“By providing this Scholarship I hope to be able to give others the chance to improve their chances and compete at a higher level – onwards and upwards no matter what their starting point – they just have to demonstrate the desire and passion to achieve their goal.”

IWFM will manage the Scholarship’s process and joint fund through the revival of its Charitable Foundation. The Scholarship is open to additional funding through the Foundation from individuals or organisations seeking to create a positive social impact, enabling even more people to have a head start in a WFM career. Details of how to donate will soon be published.

IWFM CEO Linda Hausmanis said: “WFM is a diverse and dynamic profession where anyone can forge a rich career path, but not everyone has an equal opportunity to get ahead. The Foundation’s important work will ensure that the Scholarship provides maximum value now and in the long-term. I’m proud to work with a trailblazer like Deborah to help the next generation of WFM get in and get on and to support an enduring legacy for a true WFM role model.”

To find out how to apply, the closing date and more, click here.

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