Wake Forest Grad Student Lonetta J. Mason Awarded $11,000 Counseling Fellowship From NBCC and Affiliates

Baltimore, MD — The NBCC Foundation, an affiliate of the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), recently selected Lonetta J. Mason (’18), of Baltimore, Maryland, for the NBCC Minority Fellowship Program-Addictions Counselors (MFP-AC). As an NBCC MFP-AC fellow, Mason will receive funding and training to support her education and facilitate her addictions counseling service to underserved minority transition-age youth (ages 16–25).

The NBCC MFP-AC is made possible by a grant awarded to NBCC by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in September 2014. The Foundation is contracted by NBCC to administer the NBCC MFP-AC, as well as training and collaboration activities, such as webinars, that are open to all National Certified Counselors (NCCs). The goal of the program is to reduce health disparities and improve behavioral health care outcomes for racially and ethnically diverse populations by increasing the available number of culturally competent behavioral health professionals.

The NBCC MFP will distribute up to $11,000 to Mason and the 30 other master’s-level addictions counseling students selected to receive the fellowship award. Mason is a graduate of Notre Dame of Maryland University, in Baltimore, and is currently a master’s student in the clinical mental health counseling program at Wake Forest University. Upon graduation, Mason intends to work with underserved minority adolescents and transition-age youth and build bridges between mental health providers and providers of substance abuse services. After obtaining licensure, she would like to use her nonprofit management experience to open a grant-funded integrative and person-centered practice in an urban area serving those who do not have access to much needed services. This fellowship will allow Mason the opportunity to network with and learn from top professionals in the behavioral health and addictions fields to ensure her continued growth as a counselor.

The NBCC Foundation has also awarded 23 $20,000 doctoral fellowships through the Minority Fellowship Program and 30 $8,000 master’s-level fellowships through the MFP-Youth (MFP-Y). The Foundation plans to open the next NBCC Minority Fellowship Program application period in September 2017. To learn more about the NBCC MFP and its fellows, please visit www.nbccf.org/programs/scholarships.

ABOUT THE NBCC FOUNDATION
The NBCC Foundation is the nonprofit affiliate of the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), based in Greensboro, North Carolina. NBCC is the nation’s premier professional certification board devoted to credentialing counselors who meet standards for the general and specialty practices of professional counseling. Currently, there are more than 60,000 National Certified Counselors in the United States and more than 50 countries. The Foundation’s mission is to leverage the power of counseling by strategically focusing resources for positive change.

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