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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.
2003 Recipients (current as of Autumn 2008) HALEH BADKOOBEHI, 27, received her Bachelor's degree in Molecular and Systems Neuroscience from U.C., Berkeley in 2003. While her parents were studying here, the revolution in Iran and hostage crisis prevented them from returning to their country. The many experiences of her family as refugees have shaped her passionate advocacy on behalf of children along with a strong desire to aid others through the practice of medicine. In addition to her volunteer work for foster children in Oakland, she spent a summer in Cambodia working at an orphanage founded by a U.C., Berkeley faculty member. Haleh spent a year doing research on AIDS and its effects on the brain at U. C., San Diego, in the Psychiatry Department. Prior to entering Albany Medical School, she continued her research at UCLA in neuropathology. She is entering her fourth year in Albany Medical School, planning a career in Pediatric Orthopaediatric surgery and will be doing rotations this year at Johns Hopkins, Harbor and Shriners Hospital in Los Angeles. She has received two New Leader Scholarships. JENNIFER PILOR IBARDOLAZA is a 26 year-old Filipina, who graduated with a major in Psychology from San Francisco State University. She and her brother joined their mother in the United States after a four-year separation, during which her grandparents raised her in the Philippines. She spent several years volunteering her skills for a variety of programs which serve disadvantaged inner-city youth while conducting cross-cultural research. She extended her undergraduate education by a year in order to apply for and receive a two-year NIMH funded grant, designed to increase ethnic minority representation in mental health research. Jennifer completed two years of graduate study in the psychology doctoral program at NYU. She has received two New Leader Scholarships. FRIEDA M. KRETH, 26, received a B.A. in History and Spanish from U. C. Berkeley. Her parents and two older siblings immigrated to the United States from Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge atrocities. Her Khmer and Chinese background have led her to a particular interest in working with Southeast Asian youth to encourage them in their educational development. She spent her senior year abroad studying at the U. C. Study Abroad program at the University of Barcelona. Two summers ago, she studied the Khmer culture and language in Cambodia, engaging in independent research at one of the archeological sites. Frieda worked as a college advisor for the Educational Guidance Center, a program within U. C., Berkeley's outreach Center for Educational Outreach. Currently she is working as an Academic Counseling Assistant for Project SOAR, a program which serves low income students in the Oakland schools. FELICIA MOORE-JORDAN (See 2007 entry, awarded a fourth scholarship) SAMORN SELIM (See 2008 entry, awarded a fourth scholarship) VANNA TRUONG, 25, graduated from U.C., Berkeley with a B.A. in Sociology and Business. She and her extended family immigrated to the United States, following the political and economic turmoil of the Vietnamese war. Vanna is the co-founder of two organizations dedicated to mentoring and providing leadership training for low income minority youth. Vanna has a passionate commitment to help others avoid the cycle of poverty and disillusionment which were such a large part of her own background. As a senior, she completed a year in the U.C., Berkeley, Study Abroad Program, returning to Vietnam after 20 years . Currently, Vanna works for Wells Fargo. She was recently honored with a $10,000"Volunteer Service Award" for her work at the non-profit agency that provided her needed support as an adolescent in a low income community. Currently, she is the youngest Board Member of that organization, which she credits with helping her transcend a background of poverty. Despite her demanding work, Vanna has continued to coach for the Midnight Basketball League, one of the programs sponsored by the non-profit agency that was so helpful to her. She has decided to pursue an MBA program in California. AREZO YAZD (See 2008 entry, awarded a fifth scholarship) |
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