The mission of The Malee Scholarship is to provide financial assistance and mentorship to support and empower women of color as they pursue a career in type design.
Chantra Malee
The Malee Scholarship is named after the co-founder of Sharp Type, Chantra Malee Montoya-Pimolwatana.
Chantra is a first generation American. Her father is from Mahachai, Thailand, and her mother, American born, is of Spanish and Native American descent. Both instilled in her the value of her cultural background and womanhood from an early age.
Creating opportunities
With a more culturally, ethnically, and gender-diverse community in type, we will introduce new ideas and inject new meaning into the field, further enriching and growing the industry both commercially and artistically.
Pay it forward
We believe in paying it forward. Applicants will be judged on their design and leadership skills. We hope they will remember our support and our confidence in them, and we encourage them to pass it on to a community or cause they are passionate about when they are in the position to do so.
Our mission
We do not anticipate or expect all of our applicants to share the same circumstances. Some may already have a foothold in the field, but need the time to finally complete your typeface. Others may just be starting out and need a stepping stone to enter the industry.
Our intention is to provide financial assistance to those who demonstrate a strong and serious interest in a career in type design. The funds are expected to be used on anything that will support their progression and focus as type designers; from paying rent while they finish designing their typeface, to attending a type design program where they can hone their skills.
In addition to providing financial aid, we will plan a mentorship program for the annual recipient and provide them with professional and creative guidance. This mentorship is not an official type design course, so we recommend applicants have an in-progress typeface that they would like to work on with us. Additionally, since the Sharp Type team’s expertise is in Latin type design, as of this moment our mentorship can best support Latin typeface projects.
We recognize that proper mentorship and financial support can have a profound effect on an individual and their trajectory in life. We encourage all eligible candidates to apply.
Please note, due to the ongoing pandemic, the mentorship program will be remote until further notice.
Honor Code
The Malee Scholarship Honor Code is simple and exists to protect the intellectual property of others and to ensure fairness amongst all of our applicants. This code applies equally to all of our applicants, and in submitting an application, you hereby acknowledge and pledge the following: I pledge that the work submitted is my own and has not been plagiarized, copied, or otherwise misrepresented; and any work submitted from a group project has been properly credited.
The Malee Scholarship grants $6,000 USD annually to one woman of color over 16 years of age. It includes an optional four-week mentorship program with Sharp Type staff, who will provide professional guidance toward the production of the recipient's typeface. The mentorship program is available at the Sharp Type studio or via email and video chat.
Requirements
- Ages 16+
- US Domestic or International
- Ethnic Minority
- Woman of Color
- Design portfolio
- Resumé
- 1 autobiographical statement
- 1 statement about your interest and any experience in type design
- 1 statement about why you are an ideal candidate
- 1 statement of financial need and how you plan to use the funds towards type career
- 1 recommendation letter
- Have a work-in-progress typeface project
Contributors
Chantra Malee Montoya-Pimolwatana
Chantra grew up in an entrepreneurial family. Her parents were local business owners, and gave her a managerial role at a young age, which led her to pursue her own entrepreneurial path. After receiving a BBA in Design and Management from Parsons, New School of Design in NYC, Malee worked in the branding industry where she further sharpened her design and business acumen. She co-founded Sharp Type with Lucas Sharp in 2015, where she handles strategy, brand management, graphic design, sales, and communication.
Meghan Oemcke
Meghan Oemcke graduated in 2024 with a BA in Creative Arts from Siena College, where she focused on photography, costume design, and creative direction. That creative lens shaped her work with Libertad Co., where she assisted in producing web content and photography across brand campaigns.
She joined Sharp Type in 2025 as the studio’s Content Manager, overseeing social media and its brand strategy. That same year, she began writing copy for the Malee Scholarship to help share and support the voices of the women it recognizes.
Léna Le Pommelet
Léna is a type designer whose work is influenced by her love of calligraphy, stone carving, handmade letters and vernacular typefaces. She studied Type Design at École Estienne in Paris and before earning her MA inat Type and Media at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague, Netherlands in 2021. Léna collaborated with type foundries TyPetr and Coppers and Brasses prior to joining Sharp Type as a type designer in September 2023.
Léna joined the Malee Scholarship for its 2024 edition and became involved on every front: from strategy and promotion, to selection and mentorship.
My-Lan Thuong
My-Lan has been passionate about drawing funky letters since before she even knew it was a design discipline. She graduated from ÉSAD Amiens with a BFA in Graphic Design and later from the École Estienne in Paris with an MFA in Type Design. In 2019, after collaborating with Coppers and Brasses, she joined Sharp Type and is now the foundry’s Senior Type Designer. Her specialties lie in calligraphic and experimental styles.
My-Lan has been involved with the Malee Scholarship since it was founded in 2019. She designed the typefaces Malee Sans and Malee Serif, which are at the heart of the scholarship’s identity. Alongside Chantra, she has also always been part of the decision making board and selection committee.
Zyanya Rodriguez
Zyanya studied Tourism at the University of Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, although her professional career has been focused on Retail and Customer Service for the past 15 years. She began her career at Massimo Dutti, and her passion for fashion and design led her to work for international luxury brands such as Tods and Tumi, where she managed sales, client relationships, and product training. She joined Sharp Type in February 2023 as a Client Liaison.
Zyanya’s warm demeanor and strong organisational skills have made her the ideal manager and main contact of the Malee Scholarship since 2024.
If you have any questions about The Malee Scholarship, please let us know in the form below. We will respond to you shortly.