2024-25 Wildflower Fund Recipients

In 2024-25, we distributed $72,000 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.

2025 High School Scholarship Recipients

Recipient High School College Field of Study
Arely Beas Central DeAnza College Childhood Education
Marium Farooqui Live Oak UCLA Aerospace
Kaylyn Nguyen (YWL scholarship) Ann Sobrato UC Berkeley Bioengineering
Precious Ofobuike Live Oak UC Berkeley Pre-med
Molly Paul Ann Sobrato San Diego State Psychology
Elizabeth Richardson Live Oak Santa Clara University Pre-med
Grace Sakauye Ann Sobrato UCLA Pre-med
Ireland Smith Live Oak San Jose State Speech Pathology
Alana Yamat Ann Sobrato Stanford University

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.

2025 Students Receiving Re-Entry / Deferred Entry College Scholarships

Recipient College Major or Field of Study
Amaya Aguirre MHCAS -> Gavilan College
Joana Esparza SJSU -> Monterey Bay Sociology
Carmen Moya-Preciado MHCAS -> Gavilan College Computer Science
Maya Zamora MHCAS -> Foothill College Computer Science

Provide “Healthcare Profession Scholarships” to college students from the Morgan Hill area who are pursuing a degree in a healthcare profession. We would like to acknowledge and thank Mary Cox for partially funding this year’s scholarships.

Recipient College Major or Field of Study
Evelyn Ramirez Nightingale College Nursing
Valerie Doan Drexel University College of Medicine Medicine

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

Recipient College Major or Field of Study
Sofia Barreras UCLA Conservation Biology
Helen Bui Cal Poly SLO Biology
Taylor Chukes Lawrence University Anthropology
Daniela Cruz San Jose State Business Administration
Ria Deshpande UC Berkeley Bioengineering
Cleopatra Ellis San Jose State Nursing
Isabella Fredericks UC San Diego Applied Mathematics
Stella Gaudy Chapman University Biology
Zaida Gomez Foothill College Psychology
Hailey Haynes CSU San Marcos Human Development
Hannah Herrick Cal Poly Ponoma Plant Science
Isabella Jeffrey San Jose State Nursing
Simran Kaur San Francisco State Economics
Emily Lopez UC Irvine Art & Psychological Sciences
Madelynne McKenzie Grand Canyon University Justice Studies
Alyssa Mendoza UC Davis Economics
Juanita Salinas San Jose State Justice Administration
Roma Shah Brown University Neuroscience
Jasreen Toor UC Berkeley Economics

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.

Recipient College Major or Field of Study
Sofia Barreras UCLA Biological Science

Provide a “Judy Kinker Memorial Scholarship”, 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 are given each year from this fund while money remains. Recipient selection is from among students applying in any of the above scholarship categories.

Recipient College Major or Field of Study
Olivia Davis San Jose State Pediatric Speech Therapy

 

Provide funding and mentorship for “Young Women Leaders”

2025 Young Women Leaders’ Conference Participants

The annual Young Women Leaders Conference, organized and run by AAUW Morgan Hill’s Young Women Leaders is offered to local teens.

We would like to acknowledge and thank the County Office of Women’s Policy for their generous grant to assist with conference expenses.

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

South Valley Civic Theatre costumes for Mean Girls

Sobrato Girls Field Hockey

Recipient Project
AAUW Climate Education & Action Committee (with Farmer’s Market) Farm Fresh – Plastic Free. Reusable bag program at the MH Farmer’s Market
BookSmart Community Advantage The Gift of Reading book drive (purchase 125 books)
Britton Middle School 50 new Follet Bound library books
Susan & Charles Berghoff Foundation What is Lewy? educational video – Spanish translation
Empower Excel STEAM kits and afternoon enrichment program supplies
Martin Murphy Middle School Afterschool programming club computer lab upgrades
PA Walsh Running Club Mermaids Running Team
Sobrato High School Field Hockey Team Team equipment, gear, and uniforms
South Valley Civic Theatre Mean Girls musical costumes and supplies for teens
South Valley Science & Engineering Initiative 2025 STEAM Fair partner booth supplies

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.

We were excited to be able to again send 10 MHUSD middle school girls to Camp Carson at UCSC.

2025 Morgan Hill & Gilroy Tech Trek campers at pre-camp Ice Cream Social

Morgan Hill Recipient School
Olivia Benamou Charter School of Morgan Hill
Eleanor Davis Jackson Academy of Math and Music
Meredith Gallardo Duran Voices of Morgan Hill
Leilani Gonzalez Jackson Academy of Math and Music
Yifan He Britton Middle School
Hannah Rose Michaels Britton Middle School
Olivia Rico Martin Murphy Middle School
Andrea Rodriguez Voices of Morgan Hill
Fatima Torres San Martin/ Gwinn
Sydney Webb Martin Murphy Middle School

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

We would like to thank the City of Morgan Hill for partnering with us in offering this event to the public. Many thanks also to the presenters and entertainers who made the event fun and educational.

Sponsor a Morgan Hill woman’s participation in the Leadership Morgan Hill class of 2025.

Heather Poore 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.

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.

Taylor Ingram Selected Professions Fellowship U of Idaho Taylor, a member of the Choctaw Tribe of Oklahoma, is interested in criminal law and Native American law.

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GO BACK TO 2023-2024 AWARDS