2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (2024)

Table of Contents
Provide scholarships to high school girls graduating from Morgan Hill Unified School District (MHUSD) schools. 2023 High School Scholarship Recipients Provide “Re-Entry” and “Deferred Entry” to local women reentering college after a gap in their education. Recipients may include women who have taken a break during college, women who have taken a break after high school before entering college, and/or women completing their GED at the Morgan Hill Community Adult School and now entering college. 2023 Students Receiving Re-Entry / Deferred Entry College Scholarships Provide “Lauren Jenkins Healthcare Profession Scholarships” to college students from the Morgan Hill area who are pursuing a degree in a healthcare profession. Provide supplemental Keeping In Touch (KIT) grants to previous scholarship recipients to support them as they continue in their field of study. Provide a “Fritts Family STEM Scholarship” to college women from Morgan Hill or Gilroy who are already in college and planning to graduate from a 4-year school with a STEM (science, technology, engineering or math) degree. NEW: Provide two “Judy Kinker Memorial Scholarships”, established in memory of AAUW Morgan Hill member Judy Kinker. Provide funding and mentorship for “Young Women Leaders”. Provide Community Action Grants to local non-profit organizations for projects whose goals are consistent with AAUW’s mission. Sponsor a college student from Morgan Hill to participate in NCCWSL (National Conference for College Women Student Leaders). Provide scholarships to send MHUSD Middle School students to Tech Trek, an AAUW-sponsored one week math and science summer camp for middle school girls. Fund Morgan Hill’s Second Annual Community Earth Day Celebration, organized by AAUW Morgan Hill’s Climate Education and Action Committee. Sponsor a Morgan Hill woman’s participation in the Leadership Morgan Hill class of 2023. Underwrite national AAUW priorities. These include graduate fellowships for women, community action grants, pioneering research, public policy advocacy, legal advocacy, and leadership programs. References

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipientsadmin2023-07-12T15:08:36-07:00

In 2022-23, we distributed $74,000 from the Wildflower Fund (Wildflower Run registrations, corporate sponsorships, and individual donations) in support of education and equity for women and girls. Funds raised were directed to the following:

Provide scholarships to high school girls graduating from Morgan Hill Unified School District (MHUSD) schools.

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (1)

Some of our 2023 Scholarship recipients helping at the 2023 Wildflower Run

2023 High School Scholarship Recipients

RecipientHigh SchoolCollegeField of Study
Lysette AvilaLive Oak High SchoolGavilan CollegeUltrasound Tech
Helen BuiLive Oak High SchoolCal Poly SLOEmbryology
Danielle CassidyAnn Sobrato High SchoolLoyola Marymount (?)Psychology
Iris ChiangAnn Sobrato High SchoolUSCNeurosience
Taylor ChukesLive Oak High SchoolSFSULinguistics
Daniela Cruz ValascoAnn Sobrato High SchoolSan Jose StateBusiness Administration
Isabella FredericksLive Oak High SchoolUCSDChemical Engineering
Brenna GraffignaCentral High SchoolSan Jose City CollegeUltrasound Tech
Emily LopezLive Oak High SchoolUCLAPhysical Therapy
Yaquelin MartinezLive Oak High SchoolSan Jose StateComputer Engineering
Rachel RobertAnn Sobrato High SchoolUSCPre-Med

Provide “Re-Entry” and “Deferred Entry” to local women reentering college after a gap in their education. Recipients may include women who have taken a break during college, women who have taken a break after high school before entering college, and/or women completing their GED at the Morgan Hill Community Adult School and now entering college.

All 2023 Re-Emtry/Deferred Entry scholarships were awarded to Morgan Hill Community Adult School graduates.

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (2)

L-R: Mellisa Figueroa, Selena Gonzalez, Samantha Jones, Juanita Salinas

2023 Students Receiving Re-Entry / Deferred Entry College Scholarships

RecipientCollegeMajor or Field of Study
Mellisa FiguercaGavilan CollegeSocial Work
Selena GonzalezGavilan CollegeMedical Coding Certification
Sammantha JonesCabrillo CollegeEducation
Juanita SalinasGavilan CollegeAdministrative Justice

Provide “Lauren Jenkins Healthcare Profession Scholarships” to college students from the Morgan Hill area who are pursuing a degree in a healthcare profession.

RecipientCollegeMajor or Field of Study
2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (3)Jazlyn SanchezSan Jose StateNursing
2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (4)Nikki NguyenSan Jose StateNursing

Provide supplemental Keeping In Touch (KIT) grants to previous scholarship recipients to support them as they continue in their field of study.

RecipientCollegeMajor or Field of Study
Emilie AllaertUC DavisMedicine
Shirley Antonio ArriagaSan Jose StateIndustrial Systems Engineering
Adriana ArroyoGavilan CollegeHealth Science
Ashlee AtkinsCuesta CollegeAgricultural Business
Kelsey BeardNorthern Arizona UniversityPsychology
Sophia CarrilloMilwaukee School of EngineeringEngineering
Cleopatra EllisGavilan CollegeNursing
Pamela FrederickSan Jose StateNursing
Aliyah HabibUC Santa BarbaraPolitical Science
Hailey HaynesCSU San MarcosNursing
Hannah HerrickCal Poly PonomaBotany
Diya KandhraUC BerkeleyEnvironmental Studies
Elise KimUC MercedComputer Science
Janelle LaflinUSCHealth & Human Services
Shalimar McGinnisGrossmont CollegeInternational Relations
Madelynne McKenzieGrand Canyon UniversityCriminal Justice
Yessinia ReedHoward UniversityBiology and Spanish
Kassandra ShoresSonoma State UniversityNursing
Grace SullivanUC DavisPsychology

Provide a “Fritts Family STEM Scholarship” to college women from Morgan Hill or Gilroy who are already in college and planning to graduate from a 4-year school with a STEM (science, technology, engineering or math) degree.

This is an endowed scholarship providing a $1000 scholarship each year for 10 years. No qualifying recipients were identified last year, so two scholarships were presented in 2023.

RecipientCollegeMajor or Field of Study
2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (5)Hassti TirgardoonPepperdine UniversityBiology
2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (6)Lixian OuWest Valley CollegeMathematics

NEW: Provide two “Judy Kinker Memorial Scholarships”, established in memory of AAUW Morgan Hill member Judy Kinker.

This is an endowed scholarship, with $10,000 provided by Judy’s four daughters and an additional $2,000 by friends. One or two $1000 scholarships will be given each year from this fund while money remains. Recipient selection will be from among students applying in any of the above scholarship categories.

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (7)

Ria Deshpande, one of the Kinker scholarship recipients, was a member of AAUW’s Young Women Leaders and one of their conference organizers and presenters.

RecipientCollegeMajor or Field of Study
Ria DeshpandeUC BerkeleyBiomedical Engineering
Taylor ConelyCSU FullertonEarly Childhood Education

Provide funding and mentorship for “Young Women Leaders”.

The annual Young Women Leaders Conference, cancelled in 2021 and 2022, was reestablished in 2023. This conference, organized and run by AAUW Morgan Hill’s Young Women Leaders is offered to Morgan Hill teens.

We would like to acknowledge and thank Silicon Valley Clean Energy for their generous grant to assist with conference expenses.

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (8)

2023 Young Women Leaders’ Conference

Provide Community Action Grants to local non-profit organizations for projects whose goals are consistent with AAUW’s mission.

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (9)

Students at SVCT’s Matilda the Musical

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (10)

Community, Family and Senior Health and Wellness Fair

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (11)

BookSmart Community Advantage’s Gift of Reading

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (12)

PA Walsh’s Mini Mermaids at the Wildflower Run

RecipientProject
BookSmart Community Advantage“The Gift of Reading”
Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon ValleyTechBridge Girls program at the El Toro Morgan Hill Clubhouse
Jackson Academy of Math and Musicrefresh its campus library books collection
Morgan Hill Historical Societyliving history field trips to Villa Mira Monte
PA Walsh STEAM Elementary SchoolMini Mermaids Running Club
Poppy Jasper International Film FestivalWomen’s Day
San Martin/Gwinn Schoolpurchase Spanish-language books for the school library
Senior Advisory Committee at the Morgan Hill Senior CenterCommunity, Family and Senior Health and Wellness Fair
South Valley Civic Theatre“Matilda the Musical” community outreach project

Sponsor a college student from Morgan Hill to participate in NCCWSL (National Conference for College Women Student Leaders).

NCCWSL is an annual national leadership conference for college women. Funding includes travel expenses plus conference registration.

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (13)

NCCWSL Chairs, Cinda Meister and Marian Sacco, with recipient Chinazom Ofobuike

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (14)Chinazom OfobuikeGavilan CollegeChinazom’s parents were born in Nigeria of the Igbo tribe and had limited education. She says, “I learned to take everything I do seriously and to put in all my effort to complete tasks.”

Provide scholarships to send MHUSD Middle School students to Tech Trek, an AAUW-sponsored one week math and science summer camp for middle school girls.

In 2021 and 2022 Tech Trek was a virtual event. This year we were once again able to send students away to camp, and a virtual camp was also offered. Since Stanford University–our usual camp of choice–was not a Tech Trek destination this year, we instead sent 5 campers to Sonoma State, 4 campers to Fresno State, and 2 additional campers to the virtual camp. We were excited to be able to offer the Tech Trek experience to a record 11 students.

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (15)

2023 Tech Trek campers at the 2023 Wildflower Run

RecipientSchoolCamp
Caitlyn AmaralJackson Academy of Math and MusicFresno State
Valeria CastilloVoices Morgan HillSonoma State
Samantha ChildresCharter School of Morgan HillFresno State
Kylie DuleyMartin MurphyVirtual Camp
Madison DuleyMartin MurphyFresno State
Isabella LealBritton Middle SchoolVirtual Camp
Salem OmanaBritton Middle SchoolSonoma State
Uliana RomanovaCharter School of Morgan HillFresno State
Kaede SalomBritton Middle SchoolSonoma State
Eloara SanchezJackson Academy of Math and MusicAlternate
Jyzzellah SifuentesSan Martin GwinnSonoma State
Lexi TillmanJackson Academy of Math and MusicAlternate
Sierra Van HoltJackson Academy of Math and MusicSonoma State

Fund Morgan Hill’s Second Annual Community Earth Day Celebration, organized by AAUW Morgan Hill’s Climate Education and Action Committee.

We would like to thank Silicon Valley Clean Energy for an additional generous grant which defrayed some our event expenses.

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (16)

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (17)

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (18)

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (19)

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (20)

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (21)

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (22)

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (23)

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (24)

Sponsor a Morgan Hill woman’s participation in the Leadership Morgan Hill class of 2023.

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (25)Krisse BoursierAAUW Morgan Hill branch member

Underwrite national AAUW priorities. These include graduate fellowships for women, community action grants, pioneering research, public policy advocacy, legal advocacy, and leadership programs.

The $75,000 “Morgan Hill Wildflower Run Research and Projects Grant Endowment” (#4403) was established in 2014 and funding was completed with proceeds from the Wildflower Run in 2019. It now provides funding annually for community action and career development grants.

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (26)Rebecca SosaAntioch UniversityPsychologyWorking toward dual marriage and family therapy and professional clinical counseling licensure, Sosa hopes to expand mental-health literacy and access within BIPOC and creative communities and destigmatize it across generations and cultures.

Another branch endowment, the $100,000 “Blaine/Cate Endowment for Graduate Fellowships” (#1802) was completed in 2001. It funds an annual graduate or postgraduate fellowship.

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (27)Naomi EigbeStanford UniversityM.S., Symbolic Systems, Computer and information sciencesEigbe is interested in computationally answering social-psychological, sociological and sociolinguistic questions with statistical and machine-learning methods. She would like to use the answers she finds to develop innovative technology with fruitful social and emotional impacts on society.

.

GO BACK TO 2021-2022 AWARDS

2022-23 Wildflower Fund Recipients (2024)

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Eusebia Nader

Last Updated:

Views: 5955

Rating: 5 / 5 (60 voted)

Reviews: 91% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Eusebia Nader

Birthday: 1994-11-11

Address: Apt. 721 977 Ebert Meadows, Jereville, GA 73618-6603

Phone: +2316203969400

Job: International Farming Consultant

Hobby: Reading, Photography, Shooting, Singing, Magic, Kayaking, Mushroom hunting

Introduction: My name is Eusebia Nader, I am a encouraging, brainy, lively, nice, famous, healthy, clever person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.