St. Catherine Donation Deadline

Over 50 OT Scholarships Available!

Over 50 scholarships are available this year from AOTF and its collaboration with state occupational therapy associations. The scholarships range in value from $150 to $5,000.

Eligibility requirements:

· Be currently enrolled as a full-time student at an AOTA accredited or developing professional level (master's or OTD) or occupational therapy assistant (OTA) program.

· Have completed at least one year of occupational therapy specific course work. If you are studying to become an occupational therapy assistant, you must be in your final year to be eligible.

It's easy! Applicants complete only one online form to apply for all qualifying scholarships. Deadline is Oct. 1, 2020.

Learn more

August 2020 Newsletter

Awardee Video | Submit Grants and Nominations | Message from the Board | OTJR

Update: AOTF Research Grant Application Timelines and Criteria

Due to potential delays in being able to apply for AOTF grants due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are pushing back the deadlines for our grant applications.

Updated AOTF Grant Application Timeline for 2020-2021:

August 31st - Online submission site for Letter of Intent opens.

September 30th - Letter of Intent deadline 11:59 p.m. PST.

October 15th - Invitations to submit an Application are extended to principal investigators who meet eligibility criteria and whose LOI is accepted by AOTF. Invitees can begin application.

December 15th - Application deadline 11:59 p.m. PST.

March 2021 - Summary statements and award notifications are sent to applicants.

For all of our Research Grant Programs:

We are actively soliciting grant applications that examine racial, social and health inequities and injustices, as well as promoting social justice. Grant applicants are now asked to address how they will involve participants from underrepresented populations. Plans for the inclusion of women and minorities must be included and scientifically justified within the application or proposal. Applications and proposals should describe the composition of the proposed study population in terms of sex/gender and racial/ethnic groups, and provide a rationale for selection of such subjects. Any exclusions based on sex/gender or race/ethnicity must include a rationale and justification based on a scientific or ethical basis. Investigators should also plan for appropriate outreach programs and activities to recruit and retain the proposed study population consistent with the purposes of the research project.

For the Intervention Research Grant Program:

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Foundation is particularly interested in proposals that address the impact of the pandemic on daily life. The proposed research must address questions of importance to and within the scope of occupational therapy, but during the current proposal period, will not be limited to intervention studies.

Any questions can be directed to research@aotf.org.

Message from the Board of Trustees: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

A message from the AOTF Board of Trustees:

We condemn the brutal and senseless killings of George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and all of the Black men and women who have violently lost their lives. We join in solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement to end racial injustice, racial trauma, systemic racism, structural violence, health inequities, oppression, and police brutality. We know members of our community are personally and deeply impacted by these events.

We recognize expressions of support are not enough and are taking actions to demonstrate our commitment and initiate changes in our practices and programs that will be impactful and enduring. While some of these actions build on existing initiatives within AOTF, others represent new steps that the Foundation will be enacting in direct response to recent events. Over three years ago AOTF committed to increasing our diversity on our Board of Trustees and our current membership reflects this commitment. Our Volunteer Development and Nominating Committee has recently reaffirmed this stance and is determined to continue to build on their efforts. The AOTF Board of Trustees has been both individually and collectively reflecting on our past and current actions, implementing changes, developing plans for future actions, and creating a sustainable process to ensure we exercise our talents and resources to promote transformative changes. We are reviewing and rewriting our research priorities so that our funding programs reflect the importance we place on social and racial justice. We are identifying educational and reflective programs for our research community to directly engage in addressing systemic racism, structural violence, and disparities. We are also asking all our strategic planning work groups to reappraise our objectives and tactics so that all our AOTF programs and resources are directed toward enacting needed change. We have provided descriptions below of selected changes enacted as well as future initiatives we are developing.

This is just the beginning. We will continue to build on these actions this summer and develop a definitive set of action plans and benchmarks to be considered for adoption at our September Board meeting. We recognize that changes will need to occur on multiple levels including individual, interpersonal, local community, institutional and organizational, and national and global levels. The Action List below summarizes current and planned activities.

See Full Statement with Action Plan