National PELRA Foundation | Annual Scholarship

Anthony C. Russo Scholarship Application

Thank you for your interest in the NPELRA Foundation Scholarship Program. The Foundation offers two (2) types of scholarships, Graduate Student Scholarship, and National PELRA Event Scholarship.


Who may apply for a Foundation Graduate Student Scholarship? Any U.S. citizen who is a graduate student currently enrolled and seeking a graduate degree in human resources, labor and industrial relations, public administration or political science with a strong and documented interest in the public sector is encouraged to apply. Students currently working in government agencies will receive preference as well as National PELRA members. 

Anthony “Tony” Russo was a pioneer and giant in the field of public sector collective bargaining, and in the creation and growth of National PELRA.

Tony Russo served the City of New York in various labor relations capacities for 43 years, under 7 different mayors, retiring as the Director of Labor Relations for New York City in 1979.  Tony directly negotiated contracts for New York City -- he and his staff were responsible for regularly negotiating and administering some 99 separate collective bargaining agreements. 

In 1971, Tony Russo suggested that National PELRA be created, and for a decade thereafter was perhaps National PELRA’s greatest public spokesman and supporter.  Tony was a founding member of National PELRA, and served on its first four Boards of Directors. 

A staunch and vocal supporter of public sector management, Tony repeatedly urged negotiators representing public entities to stand united and stand strong in the face of repeated union personal and political attacks. 

For the first 10 years of National PELRA’s existence, Tony Russo was, indeed, the heart and soul of National PELRA and a larger than life champion of public negotiators everywhere.  We all are honored to follow in Tony Russo’s ground breaking footsteps.


What is the amount of a scholarship? $3,000

Selected recipients of the Russo Scholarship Award should be prepared to briefly share with the membership at the National PELRA Annual Training Conference how the scholarship impacted their educational and professional pursuits.


Who may apply for a NPELRA Foundation Event Scholarship? Any active, engaged National PELRA member who is interested in attending a National PELRA training event when the members jurisdiction does not have training dollars to pay for the event. The NPELRA Foundation Board will consider event scholarship applications for one (1) or more of the Certified Labor Relations Professional (CLRP®) Academy offerings during fiscal year 2023-2024, and one event scholarship registration for the 2024 National PELRA Annual Training Conference in Savannah, GA. Event scholarships are for registration only and do not include travel costs.


Please provide the following:

  • Complete all responses on the requested forms. Do not leave sections blank. If a section does not apply, please put N/A.
  • Include a resume with your application.
  • Obtain recommendations from at least two faculty members who know you. Applications with fewer than two recommendations will not be considered. (Applicants returning to school after a long absence may substitute professional letters of recommendation in lieu of faculty letters.)


Before you Get Started


Prior to proceeding to the application and uploading information, the following question(s) will be asked and needed to complete the form:

Graduate Student Scholarship Essay Questions

Please respond to the following questions and limit your response to 200-300 words. Will be required to upload in a single document.

  1. Describe your career plans in the public sector. Be specific about the type of government career you are considering and why you chose it.
  2. Where do you foresee yourself in public sector in five (5) years and how would this scholarship assist you in those efforts?

Personal Information

  • Education (High School, College, Post-Graduate, etc.)
  • Community/Leadership Involvement
  • Employment History


Fields marked with an * are required.

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Application Information

Are you currently an Active/Student member of National PELRA, which includes an affiliated state or a non-affiliated state.

Upload a single document that answers your  scholarship's associated questions:

Graduate Student (200 - 300 words):

  1. Describe your career plans in the public sector. Be specific about the type of government career you are considering and why you chose it.
  2. Where do you foresee yourself in public sector in five (5) years and how would this scholarship assist you in those efforts?


20MB max

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Personal Information

Enter the current college/university enrolled at:

Enter the number of credits enrolled this semester

Enter your current cumulative GPA

Enter the anticipated degree sought

Enter the anticipated date to achieve degree

Upload a single document that includes the following information:

  1. Education History [Name of institution(s) and year(s) attended, degree obtained. list all]
  2. Employment History [Name of employer(s), dates employed, average hours worked/week]
  3. Community/School Leadership [Name of organization(s), dates served, positions held]

20MB max

I certify that the statements contained in this application are true and correct. I understand that fraudulent information will result in disqualification.

Privacy Guarantee: The NPELRA Foundation and National PELRA do not collect information from site visitors and all applications and related information (e.g., transcripts, letters of reference) are shared only with Foundation Board for the sole purpose of determining which applicants will receive a scholarship. Student applicants will not be enrolled for any extraneous emails or solicitations. All applications are invalid after one year.

For U.S. students, scholarships must be reported by the Foundation to the IRS on Form 1099-MISC. It is the responsibility of all scholarship recipients to report the taxable scholarship received to the IRS on their personal income tax returns.