Straighten Those Crowns

Congratulations! You’ve been selected as a Semi-Finalist in the Kristen D. Hofheimer Memorial Scholarship Competition. Please submit your video application by June 15, 2025.

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What’s next?

Semi-Finalists are asked to submit a video on the theme “Straighten Those Crowns” by June 15th. Please fill in the form below, noting that asterisks indicate required fields, and upload your video file. The maximum allowable size for your file is 50MB. (Files may take a few minutes to upload, especially if they are larger. Please be patient and do not click ‘submit’ multiple times.)

From that point, the scholarship committee will select the top candidates, who will be featured on our website and social media pages for members of the general public to vote for their favorite candidates. Online voting allows voters to cast their vote once per day – so be sure to vote daily and share with your network.

The two Finalists with the highest number of votes will both receive $1,000 scholarships.

If you have questions or need additional information regarding Hofheimer Family Law Firm, you may contact Katie Carter at kcarter@hoflaw.com.

What are we looking for?

Video submissions should be no longer than 90 seconds in length. Most candidates share with us their stories, intended career goals, and why the scholarship theme speaks to them on a personal level.

Full screen videos shot horizontally will look their best on our site and voting platform.

Videos must be received by June 15, 2025.

When will the Finalists be announced and voting begin?

We will announce the Finalists at StraightenThoseCrowns.com, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn on June 27th, and voting will be open from June 27th – July 15th.

When will winners be announced?

We will announce the winners on Facebook on July 24th!

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Video submission: Straighten Those Crowns "Be the woman who straightens another woman’s crown without telling the world it was crooked" Minimum length is 30 seconds Maximum length is 2 minutes
Max. file size: 50 MB.

If you do submit material, and unless we indicate otherwise, you grant Hofheimer Family Law Firm a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable and fully sublicensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute and display such content throughout the world in any media now known or hereafter invented. You grant Hofheimer Family Law Firm the right to use the name you submit in connection with such content, if they so choose. All personal information provided via this website will be handled in accordance with the site’s online Privacy Notice.

Depending on file size and upload speed it may take a long time for your video to upload. Please leave this window open until the upload is complete. Do not click submit more than once. Once the upload is complete, you will be directed to a thank you page. You will receive a confirmation email upon completion. (For example, a recent submission of a 50 MB file took an hour to upload.)

Kristen D. Hofheimer Memorial Scholarship Overview

“Be the woman who straightens another woman’s crown without telling the world it was crooked.” – Unknown

  • We have two $1,000 scholarships to award to deserving women who have exemplified our theme, “Straighten Those Crowns”.
  • We’re looking for Virginia women who are looking to go to (or go back to) school to get a degree, certificate, or other certification that will allow them to better their personal and financial situation.
  • We open the scholarship campaign to nominations on April 15th – Kristen’s birthday!  You’ll be able to enter – or nominate a deserving woman – until May 31st, when we’ll close the portal.
  • From among the entries we receive, we’ll select semifinalists, who’ll be eligible to submit a video essay of more than thirty seconds but no more than two minutes in length.  The top 3-5 submissions will be ‘finalists’, who will be featured on our website and social media pages for ‘American Idol’ style voting – the two who receive the most votes from the public will win the scholarships!
  • Chances of winning depend on the number of entries received.  The final selections will be made by July 31st.

What are you looking for when you say “Straighten Those Crowns”?

We’re a family law firm that represents women exclusively in divorce, custody, and support cases. We’ve built our careers on encouraging, supporting, and educating women – and Kristen really exemplified this mission. There are a million examples in popular culture of how we pit women against each other, tear each other down, and view each other as competition. In a world where there aren’t enough opportunities for women at the top, it’s tempting to feel like other women are to blame, or that another successful woman will impact our chances to get where we need to be. You see it all the time. It’s Kate versus Meghan (or, to take their proper titles, the Princess of Wales versus the Duchess of Sussex), its Bette or Joan, it’s Nancy Kerrigan versus Tanya Harding… maybe those are bad examples, because as often as it happens in pop culture, it happens even more in our daily lives.

We’re hoping to hear some stories that exemplify this – of women lifting each other up, supporting each other, and encouraging each other.  We want to hear about it!

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2020 Kristen D. Hofheimer Scholarship Winner

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2020 Kristen D. Hofheimer Scholarship Winner

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2021 Kristen D. Hofheimer Scholarship Winner

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2022 Kristen D. Hofheimer Scholarship Winner

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2022 Kristen D. Hofheimer Scholarship Winner

Who was Kristen D. Hofheimer and what is the scholarship?

Kristen D. Hofheimer was an attorney in our office – and the owner of Hofheimer Family Law Firm – before she passed away from breast cancer in early 2019. She had taken over ownership of the firm after her dad, Charlie Hofheimer, retired a few years prior.

Kristen was an incredible attorney and an even better friend. After she passed away, we were heartbroken, and we wanted to do something to pay tribute to her memory. The Kristen D. Hofheimer Memorial Scholarship was born.

Kristen was a great believer in education; in fact, despite having received a full scholarship to the University of Richmond for law school, she wanted to attend the University of Virginia. She attended as a single mother, often bringing her son, Shay, to classes with her, and forming a babysitting co-op with several of the other law student moms. She co-wrote an article in the law review on breastfeeding, and joined the firm (alongside her dad and current firm owner, Sheera Herrell) after graduation.

She worked in the firm until her retirement in 2017, but in that time worked tirelessly representing women exclusively in divorce, custody, and support. She worked with a number of different causes to protect abused children, to support protective moms, and to promote gender and marriage equality.

After she passed away, we wanted to do something that both honored her and stayed true to our mission of supporting, educating, and empowering women. A scholarship competition seemed like the perfect fit, so we launch it each year on her birthday (April 15th)!

I’ve got more questions!  Who can I contact?

If you have questions or need additional information regarding Hofheimer Family Law Firm, you may contact Katie Carter at kcarter@hoflaw.com.