The Board of Registered Polysomnographic Technologists (BRPT) announced LaTanya Bolden, BA, RPSGT, as the winner of its inaugural Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Educational Grant.
Bolden, from Dearborn Heights, Mich, was selected out of more than 50 applications. The grant will cover the cost of one Certification in Clinical Sleep Health (CCSH) exam fee.
The DEI grant program recognizes a sleep technologist who is actively advocating or involved with diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within their community and/or health care institution, influencing continual impacts on patient care.
Bolden’s daughter, an avid ice hockey player who repeatedly ranked first or second in her position in the country, was continually overlooked for opportunities that would place her on track to one day play in the Olympics. Together with her daughter, Bolden started a mentorship initiative with Play It Again Sports. The purpose of the program is to expose children, especially girls of color, to the game of ice hockey.
“LaTanya’s incredible work championing an important DEI initiative in her community through the mentorship program she and her daughter established with Play It Again Sports is nothing short of inspiring,” says BRPT president Andrea Ramberg, MS, CCSH, RPSGT, in a release.
“My daughter didn’t have a role model to look to on or off the ice, and the reality she endured while trying to make her mark in a place where she was not accepted, challenged her self-esteem and identity,” says Bolden in a release. “This is why diversity, equity, and inclusion is important to me.”
The application window was open from July 20 through Aug 21. The BRPT’s Educational Task Force reviewed all applications through a carefully crafted rubric to determine the best-qualified applicants.
“Reviewing all of our scholarship applications is always a highlight for me,” says BRPT board member Michelle DiMaria, BS, RRT, RPSGT, who led the team reviewing the applications, in a release. “Everyone has an important story to tell, and it was humbling to learn about the many extraordinary initiatives our sleep colleagues are undertaking.”
The organization’s DEI Educational Grant Program provides financial assistance to current sleep technologists who are eligible to sit for the RPSGT exam via one of the five pathways, or a CCSH exam candidate who is eligible to sit for the exam via one of the three pathways available.
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