2021-2022 Wildflower Fund Recipients

In 2021-22, we distributed $53,000 from the Wildflower Fund (Wildflower Run registrations, corporate sponsorships, and individual donations) in support of education and equity for women and girls. Due to the Covid-19 virus, some of our programming (such as Tech Trek and the National Conference for Women College Leaders (NCCWSL) were turned into virtual programs. The reduced expense associated with these virtual events enabled us to, for example, have additional middle school students participate in Tech Trek. Funds raised were directed to the following:

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

Some of our 2022 High School Scholarship recipients with Scholarship Chair Stacy Moeder at AAUW’s spring lunch.

2022 High School Scholarship Recipients

Name High School College Major or Field of Study
Ashlee Atkins Live Oak High School Cuesta College Agricultural Business
Hailey Haynes Live Oak High School CSU San Marcos Pre-Nursing
Hannah Herrick Ann Sobrato High School Cal Poly Pomona Botany
Diya Kandhra Ann Sobrato High School UC Berkeley Environmental Studies
Elise Kim Live Oak High School UC Merced Computer Science
Kasheen Kitzman Central High School Gavilan College General Studies
Madelynne McKenzie Ann Sobrato High School Grand Canyon University Criminal Justice
Gelasia Tiwana (Margie Snively Leadership recipient) Ann Sobrato High School UC Berkeley Microbiology & Neurobiology

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 2022 Re-Emtry/Deferred Entry scholarships were awarded to Morgan Hill Community Adult School graduates. Special thanks to Shannon Lane, Principal, Morgan Hill Community Adult School and Career Pathways, and MHCAS Counselor/Teacher Patty Healy for their support in identification of scholarship candidates.

L-R: Donna Dicker (AAUW MH Scholarship Chair), Patty Healy (MHCAS Counselor), Vicky Reader (AAUW MH Re-Entry/Deferred Entry Scholarship Chair)

2022 Students Receiving Re-Entry / Deferred Entry College Scholarships

Name College Major or Field of Study
Cheyanne Baleria Gavilan College General Studies
Fabiane Dutra da Silva Evergreen College General Studies
Cleopatra Ellis Gavilan College Nursing
Amber Saldana Gavilan College Phlebotomist Certification
Rosemary Terry Merced College Administrative Professional Program
Amie Tinsley Sierra or American River College Business and Sign Language Certification

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

Name College Major or Field of Study
Pamela Frederick San Jose State Nursing
Emilie Allaert UC Davis Medicine

Provide a one time “Judy Garrett Nursing Scholarship” to a student pursuing a nursing degree. This is in memory of AAUW Morgan Hill member (and retired nurse) Judy Garrett. It was specially funded by Judy’s friends and family.

Name College Major or Field of Study
Alexa Follante San Jose State Nursing

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 applications were received for the upcoming academic year.

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

Name College Major or Field of Study
Adriana Arroyo Gavilan College Health Science
Shirley Antonio Arriaga San Jose State Industrial Systems Engineering
Abigail Brendlen UC Santa Barbara Communications
Sophia Carrillo Milwaukee School of Engineering Nursing
Breanna Casas San Jose State Nursing
Taylor Conely CSU Fullerton Early Childhood Development
Amanda Cummings San Jose State Business Administration
Emily Dinh UC Santa Barbara Psychology and Brain Science
Aliyah Habib UC Santa Barbara Political Science
Virginia Hendersen San Jose State Economics
Lindsey Hilesland University of British Columbia Geography
Katelyn Lemieux UCLA Asian Humanities
Shalimar McGinnis Grossmont College International Relations
Sruchi Patel UCLA Film and Television
Yessenia Reed Howard University Biology and Spanish
Grace Sullivan UC Davis Psychology

Provide funding and mentorship for “Young Women Leaders”.

Typically, these local teens host an annual, all-day leadership conference. Due to Covid-19, the 2021 and 2022 conferences weres cancelled. Instead, the young women, under AAUW’s mentorship, initiated and participated in a variety of advocacy projects, with a focus on Climate Action and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

Young Women Leaders at the Community Earth Day Festival, coordinated by AAUW Morgan Hill.

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

Recipient Project
BookSmart Community Advantage “Diverse Books for Our Community” and “The Gift of Reading”
Britton Middle School Ozaria coding program for 6th graders
PA Walsh Elementary School Mini Mermaids, social-emotional empowerment learning and movement for girls
San Martin Gwinn School Two components of the SMG Reading Revolution: Furry Friends and Middle School Novel Collection
Paradise Valley Engineering Academy Classroom library refresh for 1st grade
Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley TechBridge Girls, a component of the SciTech Initiative
One Step Closer Therapeutic Riding GRIT, equine assisted learning program for women
Literary Legacies Mentor support
Discovery Counseling Center Support of Bold Quest and Bold Journey programs to build self-esteem and mentoring in elementary and middle school students

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

This year, Tech Tech was again a virtual event; reduced costs enabled us to have 18 girls participate (instead of our usual 8 in person). Each camper remotely participated in STEM related conference discussions. Campers each also assembled and programmed a wearable robotic device from a kit of parts. They each verified their design via upload of an invention video.

2022 Tech Trek campers with Tech Trek coordinator Joy Safakish helping at the 2022 Wildflower Run

Caliana Barberi Charter School of Morgan Hill
Samantha Boyer Britton Middle School
Fang Cailyn Martin Murphy Middle School
Emma Casteel Jackson Academy of Math & Music
Kenia George Voices Academy
Nancy Guzman Voices Academy
Chantilly Hill Jackson Academy of Math & Music
Ishq Kandhra Britton Middle School
Isabella Larsen Charter School of Morgan Hill
Cadence Meriales Charter School of Morgan Hill
Serena Prola Martin Murphy Middle School
Isabel Reichert Charter School of Morgan Hill
Isha Toor Britton Middle School
Hareen Toor Britton Middle School
Marley Tubach Charter School of Morgan Hill
Eveeana Vallejo Charter School of Morgan Hill
Angelina Wu Britton Middle School
Alisya Zulhazmi Britton Middle School

Sponsor a Morgan Hill women’s participation in the Leadership Morgan Hill class of 2022.

Tammy Parker AAUW 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.

Desiree Salomon Chicago School of Professional Psychology Psychology Salomon’s focus is on transformational human resources (HR). Her focus is on employee satisfaction and well-being, with a goal to redefine what HR means to an organization and its employees.

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.

Brenna Mockler UC Santa Cruz PhD Astronomy and astrophysics Mockler’s research focuses on understanding the growth and behavior of supermassive black holes, such as the one at the center of our own galaxy. She studies stars captured and engulfed by black holes to learn about how fast black holes can grow.

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