Your financial support helps the SfAA continue offering programs, publications, and awards that advance our vision of using applied anthropology and other social sciences to create a better world.
Donations to the SfAA can be made to the General Fund or designated to support a specific program, award, or other area that is meaningful to you.
Your generosity ensures the continued work of applied anthropology and supports SfAA’s members, students, and communities.
For legacy and smart giving information, click here.
Thank you for being part of the SfAA community and for investing in its future.
Funds and Projects
The General Fund provides reserve dollars to supplement the annual budget as needed to ensure the SfAA continues to operate efficiently and effectively. As a nonprofit organization, the SfAA depends on membership dues, the Annual Meeting, publications, and other sources of revenue. This fund helps cover unexpected needs and ensures the Society can continue with day-to-day operations.
Established in 2011, the Founders Endowment helps ensure that the Society for Applied Anthropology will have long-term financial stability to fully realize its core mission to be a leading force in promoting the goals of our founders and to withstand changing circumstances.
The I Heart SfAA Fund supports projects that help the SfAA grow and better serve its members. Donations have funded initiatives such as global mini-conferences and the Oral History Project.
Created in memory of Gretel H. Pelto, this fund celebrates her lifelong commitment to applied anthropology.
The Washington Association of Professional Anthropologists, in conjunction with the SfAA, is actively fundraising for a new prize to be given to a practicing anthropologist in the early stage of their career in government or industry for travel to the Annual Meeting.
The SfAA is actively fundraising to support a new prize to be given by the Risk and Disasters Topical Interest Group for a single author’s first book in the field of critical disaster studies.
Started in 2000, the Oral History Project is a collection of interviews with applied and practicing anthropologist discussing their careers, projects, methods, and theory. The interviews are archived with the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky.
Established to honor SfAA’s long-serving Executive Director, Tom May, this internship provides funding for a student to work in the SfAA office and at the Annual Meeting and learn the daily operations of a non-profit.
This fund supports applications for small gatherings such as workshops, roundtables, student-practitioner forums, or regional meetings that are held outside the United States in low- or middle-income countries (as defined by the Multidimensional Poverty Index). The award honors the legacy of Pertti “Bert” Pelto, whose work in ethnographic research helped shape medical and applied anthropology worldwide.
Distinguished Awards
Presented each year, the Bronislaw Malinowski Award honors a senior professional who has dedicated their career to solving human challenges through the social sciences.
The Margaret Mead Award celebrates early career scholars who have made a significant contribution to sharing anthropological perspectives with a wider audience through public media such as books, films, or monographs.
The Sol Tax Award recognizes and honors the long-time service and contributions of an SfAA member to the Society and the larger field of applied anthropology.
Memorial Lectures
A plenary at the SfAA Annual Meeting, the Tony Paredes Memorial Session examines issues in contemporary Native American life, which was established through a partnership between the SfAA and the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.
Held at the SfAA Annual Meeting, the Michael Kearney Memorial Lecture honors the memory and career of Michael Kearney, a scholar of transnational migration.
This prize honors SfAA members and their community partners who have demonstrated meaningful collaboration to meet community needs and create culturally appropriate solutions.
Student Travel Awards
This student award honors the legacy and contributions of Dr. Beatrice Medicine, an anthropologist and member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe whose work explored cultural understanding, particularly regarding Native peoples.
Honoring the legacy of Dr. Erve Chambers, this student paper award recognizes Chambers’ contribution to the anthropology of tourism and heritage and encourages new avenues of inquiry within the field.
This student award honors the legacy of Delmos J. Jones, an applied anthropologist who was a committed advocate for racial and social justice and challenged anthropologists to confront inequality in their research and within the profession.
Established in honor of Edward H. and Rosamond B. Spicer, this award recognizes their lifelong dedication to supporting the intellectual and practical development of students in the social sciences.
This student travel award supports a student pursuing research in human rights.
This award recognizes students whose research focuses on population displacement and resettlement, including in the context of development projects and processes such as gentrification and climate-related hazards and disasters.
Named in honor of John Bodley, this award recognizes his research on the effects of development on Indigenous peoples and the scale of wealth and power in the modern world.
This student travel award honors the legacy of Gilbert Kushner, who was renowned for his pioneering role in developing applied anthropology as a graduate field. As Chair of the University of South Florida’s Anthropology Department, his leadership helped establish USF as a leading center for applied anthropologists.
