Two Bowdoin staffers have earned scholarship awards from the Maine Development Foundation  to complete their degrees.

Lisa Bouffard, an administrative coordinator in Dining Service, is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in gender and woman’s studies at Bowdoin.

Sara Smith, an administrative coordinator in Communications and Public Affairs, is pursuing an associate’s degree in arts and liberal studies at the University of Maine-Augusta.

Both were honored along with other awardees during MDF’s annual Next Step Maine Scholarship Recognition Event June 8, 2017, in Augusta.

MDF is a private, non-partisan membership organization that drives sustainable, long-term economic growth for the state of Maine. Its Next Step Maine Scholarship program is a free statewide initiative that awards funds to Maine employees who are currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree, associate’s degree or certificate program.

This year’s recipients were selected from 27 employer nominations from a variety of Maine companies and many educational institutions. MDF says it awarded $20,000 to 16 Maine employees receiving 2017 Next Step Maine Employee of Promise Scholarships.