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We encourage New Leader Scholarship recipients to maintain contact with fellow recipients, mentors and board members. Click on any recipient or scroll down to see all bios.
2009 Recipients (current as of 2009) ELAINE BARTOLOME, 22, is a single mother in her senior year in nursing at San Francisco State University. Arriving from the Philippines at age seven, not speaking English, and sharing a one-bedroom apartment with her four siblings, mother and uncle has given her great compassion for others in similar positions. Her four year old son, A.J., a major source of inspiration to her, is partially responsible for her determination to become a nurse who works with underserved populations. Elaine has been active in many organizations, on and off campus, that offer help to young mothers, pregnant teens and the homeless. She hopes to earn a Master’s Degree in Nursing and a Doctorate in Ethics which will help her advocate for communities in need. This is her second New Leader Scholarship. CAMILLE BATES, 24, a senior at San Francisco State University, majoring in psychology, plans to earn a doctorate in clinical psychology. She was born in Texas in 1985 as "the last of the miscegenation laws banning interracial marriage was phased out". Her early education was inconsistent, involving periods of isolation and frequent relocation due to domestic violence. From the age of ten to seventeen, Camille lived in the Netherlands and saw firsthand the struggles of marginalized immigrant communities which reinforced her commitment to help underrepresented groups deal with issues of trauma and inter personal violence. Having distinguished herself as a scholar and researcher, she is among a select group of honor students receiving additional support in research training and graduate school application. For the past two years she has provided counseling to women of color through San Francisco Women Against Rape. She is the "first queer woman of color" in her family to go to college. DERICK BROWN, 30, is in his senior year at U.C., Berkeley and majoring in Rhetoric and Political Science. Growing up in a crime ridden neighborhood, and being all too familiar with "what a gunshot sounded like", he became the first in his family to attend college. Working for the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco for six years, and providing mentorship for underprivileged youth, led to his own decision to apply to college. While at City College, and as a single father, he served as student trustee on the Community College Board and chaired the Associate Students’ Executive Board that oversees ten city college campuses. He has interned for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who appointed him to the Youth Advisory Council of San Francisco. Derick plans to go to law school in preparation for community service. He was a Fellow at the Goldman Institute at UC, Berkeley in Public Policy and International Affairs this past summer. Derick is married and has one daughter. This is his second New Leader Scholarship. ESTHER M. GREEN, 43, is majoring in Spanish with a minor in public policy and is in her senior year at U.C., Berkeley. Having worked as a case worker for Alameda County Social Services Department and seen firsthand the "disenfranchised position of the most vulnerable members of our community" prompted her return to school. As a child raised in East Oakland by a mother on welfare, she is committed to attaining a Master’s Degree in Public Policy as well as a law degree. She was accepted into the Institute for Civic Leadership at Mills, is a McNair Scholar, and was selected by the Goldman School of Public Policy to attend their Public Policy and International Affairs Program this summer. Despite her heavy academic work load and three children, Esther volunteers at the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant and at the UC Student Parent Association for Recruitment and Retention. YAHYA GRIFFIN, 42, a senior at U.C, Berkeley, majoring in Education, plans to obtain a doctorate in the same field. Having attained a GED while in prison and from a background filled with drugs and crime, it was difficult to imagine going on to college. As he states, he "was born and raised in an environment that seemed to be created by broken dreams and unrealized potential". Today, he volunteers at Phoenix House, tutoring the residents and preparing them to take the GED exam. He is a McNair scholar, studying the potential impact of using "graffiti" as a non-traditional method of education. As the single parent of a young child and re-entry student, balancing his complex commitments is a daily struggle. JAZMIN MORELAS, 25, is completing her senior year at San Francisco State University and will graduate with a major in communications. While born in the United States, she was raised in Mexico, considering herself a "border baby". Both San Diego and Tijuana were her hometowns. Issues of acculturation, identity and immigration reform have been central to her work and community involvement. A community organizer at heart, she is concerned about the use of rhetoric to translate good ideas into easily understood language. In particular, immigration reform based on concepts of "truth and justice" that serve the underrepresented immigrant community are critical to her. Last year she volunteered for a program on KPFA called Vox Populi and gave interviews in Spanish. PRINCESS ROBINSON, 31, majoring in Social Welfare, is a senior at U.C., Berkeley, planning to earn graduate degrees in both Social Welfare and Public Policy. Growing up in foster care and living in "communities saturated with violence, poverty, and drugs", has formed her passionate desire to help change the circumstance of others. Her feelings of powerlessness with neither family support nor positive role models in foster care led her to face obstacles on her own and has increased her resilience. As an African American, impoverished, single parent with three children, she believes that she has "defied the odds". She will be the first in her family of thirteen siblings to obtain a college degree. She has been a foster youth mentor for the past several years and volunteers for "Team Up For Youth", an organization that teaches community organizing skills. CHRISTYNA SERRANO, 33, received her B.A. from U.C., Berkeley in Sociology and Social Welfare. While born in the United States, she lived in Puerto Rico until age 11, when she and her parents returned here permanently. At age twenty, she was awarded a full athletic scholarship to U.C., Berkeley. As she puts it, her emphasis was on athletics and not academics, which resulted in poor grades and dismissal. After a seven year hiatus, she successfully applied for re-entry. As a single parent and woman of color from an impoverished background, she is dedicated to helping others like herself. Christyna has received numerous scholarships, awards and research grants for her work on educational policy. Her research focus is on providing opportunity to low income student parents at community colleges who have the potential to attend a four year college. She has served on several university-wide committees, including the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee for Dependent Care and has been a student member of a university academic senate committee on "The Status of Women and Ethnic Minorities in Higher Education". Along with her acceptance to the doctoral program at U.C., Berkeley, she has been awarded the prestigious Chancellor’s Fellowship for Graduate Study. This is her third New Leader Scholarship. AYANNA SPIKES, 36, a senior at U.C., Berkeley, will receive her degree this spring in Psychology and Education. She intends to go to law school and wants to work with issues of juvenile justice. Raised first by her grandparents, then in foster homes and finally in group foster homes, Ayanna‘s adolescence was turbulent. Like her mother, she became pregnant as a teenager and was unable to earn her diploma. She believes that "early motherhood, little job skills, and being on welfare", led to her "becoming involved in criminal activities to survive". She was imprisoned and lost custody of her son but met this challenge by earning her GED while incarcerated. Today, as a single parent raising her two teenagers, she has refused to let her past define her future and is a role model for them to attend college. She has received numerous awards and this past semester was given the opportunity to intern in the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, working in the juvenile division. SARAH THIBAULT, 28, graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in Anthropology and is currently in the first year of a Master’s Program in the School of Social Welfare at U.C., Berkeley. Raised by a single parent, in a working class family, she experienced deep economic and political hardships. After leaving her home and high school at an early age, Sarah was offered the opportunity to continue her education several years later through Project Rebound, a program designed to assist those who have been incarcerated. While a student at SFSU, she worked at two jobs and managed to volunteer time for the San Francisco Needle Exchange Program. Her own experience of being marginalized and in a position of need has shaped her motivation to work with homeless youth in outreach programs. Knowing what it is like to be "hungry, tired, cold and trying to navigate social services" has led to her desire for a career in social work. This is Sarah’s second New Leader Scholarship. |
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