April 20, 2026

Ellen Pham is the winner of the 6th annual BL Fund for Student Opportunity scholarship

Congratulations to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln junior whose passion for telling diverse stories made her this year’s clear winner.

Ellen Pham knows firsthand how much media shapes our culture. Even as a child, while many of her white, straight peers saw their stories represented on TV and in movies, she was drawn to the dialogue happening off camera. On social media, she saw analytical debates and endless discussions about casting characters of color or members of the LGBTQ+ community and was fascinated by the medium’s ability to influence culture. From the age of nine, she’s known she wants to tell other people’s stories, especially the ones that aren’t being told authentically—or at all.

Her connection to storytelling grew from a desire to understand her own identity and see experiences similar to her own reflected in entertainment and popular culture. Ellen grew up in La Vista, Nebraska, a first-generation Vietnamese-American and part of the LGBTQ+ community. She says, “Navigating a white-majority community meant I was cautious of what parts of myself might stick out to others.” Part self-taught, part protege of her high school’s media academy, Ellen embraced broadcasting, throwing herself into photography, videography, and journalism while learning how to produce and manage social content. She welcomed the chance to tell stories about others and forge meaningful connections through media.

As a junior majoring in broadcast, advertising, and PR through the School of Journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, she’s parlayed that skill and experience into her three-year media internship for HuskerVision where she films, produces, and edits footage for a variety of UNL sports teams. Since the start of the ’25/’26 school year, she’s worked as head videographer of the Husker women’s gymnastics team, traveling to the meets to capture the action and highlight the stories of female student athletes.

On top of her internship, she serves as secretary of the Vietnamese Student Association. Joining the VSA as a freshman was a move she calls, “one of the best choices of my college career.” She loves spreading awareness of Vietnamese culture, another space where her photography and social media skills come into play. She’s passionate about the world’s endless variety of traditions and cultures—enough so that she’s pursuing a minor in history. She points out that history is the story of the world, and it’s shaped by all sorts of people and places. As with her other activities and passions, it’s one more way of authentically connecting and sharing stories that need to be told.

We’re thrilled that Ellen is the 2026 winner of the Bailey Lauerman Fund for Student Opportunity, which recognizes her commitment to championing diversity at UNL. In addition to receiving a $5,000 scholarship, she will intern here at BL HQ in Omaha this summer, joining the Social Media practice. Congratulations, Ellen.