Announcing the winners!
We’re excited to announce the inaugural winners of the Team Rowan Future Leaders College Scholarship:
Juniper Lindberg, studying social psychology at Loyola University Chicago
Joe Volk, studying nuclear engineering at the University of Illinois
They each demonstrated selfless team spirit and allyship while contributing hundreds of hours of hard work to many of the Team Rowan community events and programs—often working together and collaborating as a super-volunteer team.
2026 Future Leaders College Scholarship
In addition, they showed up as their authentic selves for Team Rowan events, their school work, and respective extra curricular activities. Both Joe, at New Trier High School, and Jun, at Evanston Township High School, made significant achievements during their tenure across arts, science, sports, and volunteerism.
They did this while demonstrating the Team Rowan ethos through kindness toward friends and family, and overall dedication to finding and living their individual truth while providing support as an ally and leader.
In their own words…
Joe Volk
“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.”
Juniper Lindberg
“Being a part of Team Rowan is foundational to who I am because it gives me the opportunity to advocate for Rowan and I’s shared dream: for kids like us to know you don’t have to compromise between being who you are, and finding acceptance, belonging, and love. I want to make positive change in our community with that love, the way our love changed me, and the way the love from our families made each of us stronger.”
About the Team Rowan Future Leaders College Scholarship
In alignment with our values of Love, Truth, Peace, Family, Service and three pillars Playing, Learning, and Giving, we’ve established the Team Rowan Future Leaders college scholarship program. Every year, this merit scholarship will be awarded to two Team Members for demonstration and activation of these values in their lives and communities.
Focused on our "Giving" pillar that emphasizes volunteering and improving our local communities through dedication and service, the program looks at the "whole student" and awards excellence in leadership, extracurricular activities, and community service—both inside and outside of Team Rowan—showcasing potential for future success and ongoing allyship.
Why we created the scholarship
The scholarship program emerged naturally over the first two years of Team Rowan’s creation, inspired by our inaugural recipients and founding teammates: Joe and Jun. Together, their demonstrations of selfless team spirit, allyship, and hard work contributed to many of the Team Rowan community events and programs.
Joe and Juniper’s legacy sets the standard for teamwork through donations of volunteer hours, invaluable support, and essential service—bringing our organization’s mission to life by: acting with love in their hearts, serving the community by giving back, learning to transform together, while supporting one another as a team of compassionate allies.
A magical reconnection in the face of tragedy
Before Rowan Shimer passed away in 2022, he had been close friends with both Jun and Joe separately. Rowan met Joe in nursery school in 2011 and a wonderful friendship formed between the two kids and their families that continued for over a decade, even while attending separate elementary and middle schools.
Jun and Rowan connected in middle school while attending GSA Club, a student-led, safe, and supportive space for LGBTQ+ students and allies. This soon transformed into a tight-knit group of fun-loving friends. Meanwhile, Rowan and Jun blossomed into a loving couple bonded by their trans journeys, creativity, and quirky sense of humor.
It wasn’t until after Rowan’s passing that we all discovered Joe and Jun’s families actually knew each other, having lived in the same building when they were young families with new babies. And while a special “new Mother” connection developed between their Mom’s, Gwyn and Colleen, their respective moves outside of the big city created a disconnection, causing them to lose touch.
Through the fog of tragedy and loss, our families reconnected with one another, realizing we had been connected all along by the magical, invisible string of Rowan’s loving light. Once shared individually, now a love shared with one another, friend-to-friend, and family-to-family—we support each other while discovering in the moment of need an essential Team Rowan truth:
Whether it’s the family we’re given or the family we’ve made—family means no one gets left behind or forgotten. Together, we make a family.
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