Foundation celebrates students awarded record $5.54 million in scholarships

Several of the scholarship recipients at Saturday s San Diego Foundation luncheon Photo courtesy of the foundation The San Diego Foundation on Saturday awarded a record-breaking million in scholarships to expand higher instruction access for students At its annual Population Scholarship Celebration held at the San Diego Zoo the foundation brought together scholarship recipients a multitude of of whom are low-income their loved ones and donors Special guests included U S Rep Sara Jacobs D-San Diego and state Assemblymember Chris Ward Through the Population Scholarship Campaign San Diego Foundation is ensuring that local students preparation for college is matched with the financial patronage needed to succeed and grow our region s future workforce Mark Stuart the organization s president and CEO revealed in a news release For the - season the venture granted awards from scholarship funds worth a total of almost million exceeding last year s total by more than Among the recipients were first-time awardees including who are first-generation college students or the first in their immediate families to pursue higher coaching who are considered low-middle income who identify as Latino a who identify as U S -born Black and or African American who are affiliated with a college access and readiness operation such as AVID Reality Changers and TRIO Upward Bound The figures provided by the foundation s Attendee Aid Index formerly known as Earned Family Contribution underscore why investing in underrepresented students is key functionaries mentioned Strengthening opportunities for Black and Latino a students to compete for high-demand innovation jobs is vital to meet the region s projected need for new skilled workers each year and fosters inclusive economic progress according to the San Diego Regional Economic Advancement Corp It was an honor to speak to future scholars and witness firsthand the incredible difference San Diego Foundation is making in the lives of so plenty of students noted Becky Petitt a vice chancellor at UC San Diego who was the keynote speaker at SDF s Scholarship Celebration By investing in their mentoring and dreams San Diego Foundation is not only transforming individual futures but also strengthening the fabric of our entire public Pettit serves on the advisory council of the National Rainbow College Fund a new foundation initiative supporting LGBTQ and other students across California This year advocacy for the fund helped triple the number aspirant scholarships Applications were submitted by more than local high school seniors area college graduate and adult re-entry students set to analysis a variety of subjects including science machinery engineering and math STEM wellbeing sciences and more There were moments in high school when I truly didn t know if I d make it commented Sajanah King a scholarship recipient and Young Prosperous Foundation participant who graduated in May I faced setbacks self-doubt and hard lessons but I kept going The Lincoln High School grad is headed to Morgan State University this fall to major in psychology This scholarship is more than just funding King noted It s a reminder that my story isn t over and that people believe in where it s going next The Public Scholarship Operation is made feasible through the donor assistance of charitable funds at San Diego Foundation which is the largest non-university scholarship provider in the region Since its inception in the venture has awarded more than million to students