New Leader Scholar summary biographies listed by year (2000-2011).
2011 NEW LEADER SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
MELISSA BARKER, 29, is an Interdisciplinary Studies Major in her senior year at U.C., Berkeley. A single mother, Melissa’s work, challenging access to education for single mothers on welfare, has taken her to U.C., Berkeley’s Women’s Empowerment Symposium. As a result of being a panelist there, she was invited to the Clinton Global Initiative University and most recently went to Washington, D.C. as a participant in the Institute of Women’s Policy Research. She hopes to attend law school in order to study Public Interest and Policy Law. Her inspirations are her brother, who succumbed to leukemia at age 19, and her daughter, who continues to inspire Melissa’s commitment to succeed.
MEGAN BLANCHARD, a U.C., Berkeley senior, draws from her background as an adopted child in a multiethnic family to shape her aspirations and commitment to improving communities and individuals struggling against the obstacles of poverty and lack of opportunity. Realizing that her opportunities in life would have been significantly different if she were not adopted, Megan decided to use her education to enrich her ethnic identity and understanding with the goal of being a social change agent. In addition to the honors she’s received, including being named a McNair Scholar, Megan has volunteered in New Orleans’s Lower-Ninth Ward, mentored exchange students and started a community service organization in her department, the Black Sociological Alliance. Growing up in a racially diverse family gave her tremendous insight and perspective which she takes with her this Fall to study in Washington, D.C.
STEPHANIE CHIRI, 24, is a senior at San Francisco State University where she is working on a Bachelor's in Child and Adolescent Development. Her aspirations include getting a Master’s in Special Education and a Ph.D. in Social Work. Her goal is to create her own nonprofit in order to help disadvantaged families who have children with disabilities. Stephanie continues to excel at school while working full time and volunteering with Big Brother /Big Sister as a mentor. Stephanie has had to overcome many challenges. She has learned to use the obstacles she has overcome to help her gain perspective and a deeper understanding for the families and children that she serves.
CINTHYA CISNEROS, 21, is chemistry major in her senior year at Sonoma State University, the first step in her dream to earn her Ph.D. in Forensic Pathology and work in minority communities with families who have lost a loved one. While achieving academically, Cynthia also commits herself to community service through working at a local garden that feeds families in need, organizes conferences in the Latino community, and gives informational workshops to the AB540 immigrant community. Additionally, she tutors students in chemistry and math and organizes chemistry events at the university for minority K-8 students. Inspired by her brother, who was diagnosed as autistic and went on to attend public school and thrive, Cynthia is determined to be an “AB540 [Tuition Act for immigrant families] Latina who will never quit.”
TABITHA FREYTAG, 39, is a junior at U.C., Berkeley working to complete a degree in sociology. When she graduates, she will be the first in her family of seven to earn a college degree. Tabitha has overcome many extraordinary obstacles in her life and is dedicated to helping others both through her academic pursuits and through community service. Tabitha is involved with Project Eye-to-Eye, which mentors high school students with learning differences. She regularly accepts many speaking engagements sharing her story and life experiences with various organizations such Learning Ally. Having raised two sons, she works to inspire them as well as her many nieces and nephews through her long-term goal of obtaining a Ph.D. in Psychology.
JESSIE HERNANDEZ, 21, a senior at U.C., Berkeley, is intent on pursuing graduate work in Public Policy and eventually becoming a legislator who will advocate for the underemployed. He plans on using his public policy training to create career opportunities for low income people of color. Jessie’s passion is driven by his own family’s experience with unemployment after his father was unable to work due to an injury and his mother suffered language discrimination at the workplace. He’s assumed numerous leadership roles throughout his college career, including President of the Latino Undergraduate Mentorship in Public Policy Program at the Goldman School of Public Policy, Multicultural Literature Co-Instructor at Harvey Mudd College Upward Bound Program, and Junior Institute Fellow at the Public Policy and International Affairs Fellowship Program at Princeton University. But the experience that propelled him the most strongly into Public Policy was his internship with Representative Judy Chu and his research and advocacy through the Jobs Now program.
JIRAYUT LATTHIVONGSKORN, 21, is a Molecular and Cell Biology Major at U.C., Berkeley. His long-term goal is to attend medical school. As a Thai immigrant, Jirayut has experienced the alienation and confusion immigrant families face during health crises. He wants to be a doctor who can bridge that distance between patients and their medical care. In addition to his work as an Undergraduate Research Lab Apprentice at the university, Jirayut volunteers at the Suitcase Clinic and at Alta Bates Medical Center. He considers one of his recreational activities his position as Co-Chair of Asian Students Promoting Immigrant Rights Through Education (ASPIRE) where he does outreach and advocacy for DREAM Act- related legislation to help immigrants attend college.
LA’SHAY MORRIS, 24, wants to continue work in Public Planning after she receives her undergraduate degree from San Francisco State University in December 2011. She is majoring in Health Education with a minor in Urban Studies. Inspired by her grandmother, and the first in her family to go to college, La’Shay is acutely aware of the health disparities between West Oakland, where she was raised, and more advantaged communities. Her decision to pursue Public Health rose out of her year studying at the University of Ghana where she worked in a military hospital and taught expectant mothers how to breastfeed their infants properly. In addition to her work tutoring middle and high school students through her church, La’Shay works in Elder Outreach and One Love Center for Health in an effort to eliminate health disparities in her community.
JOSHUA NIELSEN, 27, a senior at U.C., Berkeley, will receive his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a minor in Public Policy. His journey from being an East Los Angeles gang member, to earning his GED and Culinary Arts Certification while in a federal Job Corps program, to attending City College of San Francisco where he was Student Body President, to his transition to U.C., Berkeley, is marked by strong determination. He believes that not only he, but “others can triumph, regardless of the opposition.” Joshua helped implement systems to improve students’ transitions through community college while Student Body President at CCSF, and in addition to his current studies, he works as an affordable housing organizer for Alliance for Californians for Community Empowerment. His long-term goal is to attend law school to study civil rights.
DELANE SIMS, 50, is a senior at U.C. Berkeley majoring in American Studies with an emphasis on social justice for seniors. She hopes to go on for a Master’s in Social Work with an emphasis on public health. From a challenging childhood and young adulthood as a single mother who was sometimes homeless, Delane persevered and stayed committed to making a difference in her community, particularly for seniors. Since 2005 she has nurtured the organization she created, Senior Moments that identifies and provides services to seniors who are homebound and disabled. She also provides service to the community through the Lion’s Club and as a Death Penalty Focus Board Member. She spent this summer in Washington, D.C. as a Berkeley student advocating for changes in the legislation regarding incarceration of juveniles and working on health care issues for the elderly. Inspired by her younger sister, Rue Mapp, also a New Leader Scholar, Delane is receiving her first New Leader Scholarship.
MARLYSA THOMAS, 21, a senior at U.C. Berkeley, will graduate in 2012 with an undergraduate degree in African American Studies and a minor in Public Policy and Education. Her efforts to achieve academically began with a personal commitment to be a model for her sisters, but extended to the desire to foster legislative change for her underserved community and honor her ancestors’ struggle as an American minority. Challenged by poverty from childhood and financially struggling to stay in college, Marlysa deeply understands the value of education in helping the underserved overcome the external limits of their circumstances. In addition to her coursework, Marlysa tutors Berkeley students and works with the Black Recruitment and Retention Center to help students from middle school through college prepare for and tour California universities, and help U.C., Berkeley retain black students once they’re enrolled.
HALEH BADKOOBEHI, 30, received her Bachelor's degree in Molecular and Systems Neuroscience from U.C., Berkeley in 2003. She completed her M.D. at Albany Medical College in 2009 and is currently a resident in Orthopedics at U.C.L.A.’s Harbor General Hospital. She is also in the process of completing her Master’s of Public Health Program from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. While her parents were studying in the United States, 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. 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 also spent a year conducting research on AIDS and its effects on the brain at U. C., San Diego in the Psychiatry Department. During medical school, Haleh conducted research at UCLA in neuropathology. She is planning a career in surgery and has worked and researched at HEAL Africa, a non-governmental organization and hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where she was able to provide care to seriously injured children and advocate on their behalf through research. She has received three New Leader Scholarships.
GABRIELLE FALZONE, 40, graduated from San Francisco State University with a major in Psychology and a minor in Classics. She is currently attending U.C., Berkeley’s Social and Cultural Studies M.A. /Ph.D. Program where she will research community-based alternatives to school for homeless and marginalized youth. Using her own experience as a teenage runaway, she has been successful in developing programs for troubled homeless youth, incorporating her interest in Greek mythology as part of a successful outreach approach. She graduated magna cum laude, was admitted to Psi Chi, the Golden Key Honor Society and to Phi Beta Kappa, and attended New College's multicultural teaching program. She has three teaching credentials and taught at two different charter schools in San Francisco. She has fostered three teens. Gabrielle is the recipient of two New Leader Scholarships.
ANGEL KU, 22, is a San Francisco State senior studying Cell and Molecular Biology with the goal of doing graduate work in Public Health and studying health disparities. As an undocumented student, Angel has faced the serious challenges met by his family and his community. "My morning walks to the bus station for my commute to San Francisco State [are] always accompanied with the fear of having my future and family taken from me." His deep commitment to his community and his indomitable focus on academic achievement has resulted in goals that merge his love of science with his commitment to community action. The result is his plan to work in community-based participatory research that will lead to sustainable health-care solutions for challenged communities. "With these tools….I will attempt to uplift my communities," he says. Angel spends his non-academic time as President and Student Organizer for IDEAS to achieve legislation to help undocumented students move into higher education. This is his second New Leader Scholarship.
VIRGINIA (Jenna) LEE, 26, graduated with a degree in Social Welfare at U.C., Berkeley and continues at the school of Social Welfare for a Master’s in Social Welfare, Management and Planning. She was born in Macau, China and lived in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Mexico and many other countries until she was seventeen. Virginia was home-schooled and self-educated until entering community college. At the age of seventeen, she came to the United States independently and became a volunteer at a center for street and homeless youth in Oregon. It was here that she developed her strong commitment to help those in great need, being inspired by the example of the couple that founded and ran Hearthstone Ministries. Subsequently, she volunteered for an organization in Morelia, Mexico and witnessed conditions of poverty that far exceeded those of the homeless with whom she had previously worked. These and subsequent work and life experiences have informed her desire to have a career in public service. This is her second New Leader Scholarship.
MELISSA RIVAS, 21, is a senior at U.C., Berkeley, working toward her degree in Sociology. Born in San Francisco, Melissa's mother is a San Salvadoran immigrant who together with Melissa, has "struggled to find the Latino American Dream." Daily she sees the men, women and children in her community striving and struggling to survive. "This is the world I was born into," she says, "this is the world I am trying to change." To that end, in addition to school and working to help support herself, Melissa is an Outreach Intern for the Raza Recruitment and Retention Center and works with "By Any Means Necessary" (BAMN) to give a voice to the Latino community. She hopes to teach Sociology at the college level to "better improve my community and communities like mine." Melissa has been a recipient of Next Generation Scholars and has taught underserved middle school children through their program. This is her second New Leader Scholarship.
CHRISTYNA SERRANO, 35, received her B.A. from U.C., Berkeley in Sociology and Social Welfare. She is currently at U.C., Berkeley working on her Ph.D. in Education. 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 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. 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. Christyna also currently serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors for Berkeley’s first charter school: Revolutionary Education and Learning Movement (REALM). This is her fifth New Leader Scholarship.
2010 NEW LEADER SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS (Current as of 2011)
ELIAZAR CHACHA graduated from Berkeley in 2010, majoring in both African American and Interdisciplinary Studies and minoring in Education. He has been accepted to Harvard Law School and plans to defer his admission in order to enroll jointly in a Ph.D. Program in History. He hopes to focus on law and race in his doctoral education. Eliazar is the child of immigrants who came to the United States on university scholarships provided by their native Tanzania. He grew up poor as his parents felt it was their duty to give back to the country, community and village that provided them with educational opportunity. While in college, Eliazar faced even greater challenges personally and financially, but remained determined to continue his education. Eliazar had learned the profound lessons of determination and giving back to his community from his parents and used those lessons to change his future. In addition to his academic achievements, he has tutored underprivileged students at Willard Middle School in Berkeley and was a facilitator for an Education 190 course focused on the educational and legal frameworks that perpetuate inequality.
JULIE GRAMLICH graduated from UC, Berkeley with a major in Political Economy. Currently, she is working at Google and plans to save money for post-graduate studies in law with the goal of practicing public interest law. In her senior year, she spent a semester in Washington D.C. doing research and interning on Capitol Hill. Her mother, an immigrant from Japan, raised Julie with a deep exposure to the Japanese language and culture, as well as a commitment to education. As a “kyooiku mama”—an education-focused mom—Julie’s mother instilled in her the commitment to education as a means of achieving beyond her family’s economic challenges. In addition to her rigorous studies, Julie volunteered at the Miss Asian America Pageant and was the District Leader for the World Peace Buddhist Club.
ANGEL KU (See 2011 entry, awarded a second New Leader Scholarship),
ELIZABETH McCoy graduated from San Francisco State University in 2011 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology. She plans to continue post-graduate work to earn a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. As the single mother of two, Elizabeth’s commitment to her education encompasses both her dedication to being an example for her children, as well as her passionate interest in researching the issues of self-destructiveness and resilience in the aftermath of family dysfunction. Raised in an emotionally and psychologically challenging environment, Elizabeth’s work and training have allowed her to use her past to shape her dedication to becoming both a professor of psychology and a clinical psychologist. “By embracing both clinical and academic facets of Psychology, I can contribute to the advancement of mental health on a social and individual level.” Now working in Contra Costa County as an African American Health Conductor for the Center for Human Development, she is a re-entry specialist. In addition to her other duties, she has developed a community garden to encourage healthy eating for the clients that she works with.
MELISSA RIVAS (See 2011 entry, awarded a second New Leader Scholarship)
ESTHER M. GREEN graduated from U.C., Berkeley with a major in Spanish and a minor in Public Policy. Currently enrolled as a Master’s student in Public Administration at San Francisco State University, Esther is also working as a career counselor in Berkeley’s Program for Disadvantaged Students. While working as a case worker for Alameda County Social Services Department and seeing 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, was a McNair Scholar, and was selected by the Goldman School of Public Policy to attend their Public Policy and International Affairs Program the summer before last. Despite her heavy academic work load and three children, Esther has volunteered at the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant and at the UC Student Parent Association for Recruitment and Retention. This is her second New Leader Scholarship.
CHRISTYNA SERRANO (See 2010 entry, awarded a fifth New Leader Scholarship).
2009 NEW LEADER SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS (Current as of 2011)
CAMILLE BATES, a graduate of San Francisco State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, is currently enrolled in the Master’s Program in the School of Education, also at San Francisco State University. Her emphasis is on equity and social justice. Following completion of her Master’s Degree, she plans to apply for either a Ph.D. or an Ed.D. 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 that reinforced her commitment to help underrepresented groups deal with issues of trauma and inter personal violence. Since 2007 she has provided counseling to women of color through San Francisco Women Against Rape and now is working as a counselor for transitional aged youth. Camille is the “first queer woman of color” in her family to go to college.
ELAINE BARTOLOME is a single mother who graduated from San Francisco State University with an undergraduate degree in nursing. 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 young 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 was active in many organizations, on and off campus that offered help to young mothers, pregnant teens and the homeless while an undergraduate. Currently, she is working as a registered nurse in telemetry at Seton Medical Center and plans to apply to the Family Nurse Practitioner Program at UCSF. Elaine received two New Leader Scholarships.
DERICK BROWN graduated from U.C., Berkeley with a Bachelor’s Degree in Rhetoric and a minor in 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 in 2009. He is taking his LSAT exam this fall and now plans to apply to law schools. Derick is married and has one daughter. He is the recipient of two New Leader Scholarships.
ESTHER M. GREEN, (See 2010 entry, awarded a second New Leader Scholarship),
YAHYA GRIFFIN graduated from U.C, Berkeley with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education and 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 was a McNair scholar and used the opportunity to study the potential impact of public “graffiti” as a non-traditional method of education. As the single parent of a young child and re-entry student, balancing his complex commitments was a daily struggle.
JAZMIN MORELAS graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree 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 reforms, based on concepts of “truth and justice” that serve the underrepresented immigrant community, are critical to her. In 2008 she volunteered for a program on KPFA called Vox Populi and gave interviews in Spanish.
PRINCESS ROBINSON graduated from U.C., Berkeley with a degree in Social Welfare and plans 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 is 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, (See 2011 entry, awarded a fourth New Leader Scholarship).
AYANNA SPIKES graduated from U.C., Berkeley with a degree 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 care, 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 to “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 in 2009 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 graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in Anthropology and completed 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. Currently, she is working as an intensive case manager at Community Housing Partnership. Sarah has received three New Leader Scholarships.
2008 NEW LEADER SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS (current as of 2011)
LANICE AVERY received her BA from San Francisco State University and is now in her third year of doctoral work at the University of Michigan. She is jointly enrolled in the Psychology Department as well as Women’s Studies. Lanice has published two papers, received an honorable mention from the National Science Foundation and is the recipient of a three-year pre-doctoral Ford Fellowship. The first in her family to attend college, she has a deep commitment to help marginalized youth continue their education. Lanice worked for many years with various HIV/AIDS organizations helping the transgender community obtain access to social services. Having experienced firsthand the impact of discrimination based both on race and sexual orientation, she has devoted her energy to assisting oppressed groups with help in housing, employment and advanced education. In her senior year at SFSU, she was invited to join a select number of honor students who were helped with research training and application to doctoral programs. She has received three New Leader Scholarship Awards.
ELAINE BARTOLOME, See 2009 entry (awarded a second New Leader Scholarship).
DERICK BROWN; See 2009 entry (awarded a second New Leader Scholarship)
SHARYN HALL received a BA from U.C., Berkeley, having majored in both Psychology and Sociology. She is currently in a Master’s Program in Journalism at Harvard University. As a single mother, Sharyn and her son were homeless and living out of a car when she applied to Berkeley, and he, to Berkeley City College. While at Berkeley, she was a leader in several student programs, including Fly to Berkeley that seeks to recruit, welcome and acculturate new students from underserved populations. Sharyn has researched, produced, and been on the air with Clear Channel Radio. As a McNair Scholar, her research focused on the cultural roots of stigma and prejudice.
YESENIA OCAMPO graduated from U.C., Berkeley with a degree in Sociology. She has returned to her initial passion and plans to become a nurse practitioner. Her parents migrated seasonally as farm workers between Mexico and the United States, living in labor camps in the Central Valley. This exposed her early on to issues of social injustice and has led to her commitment to become an “activist”. Overcoming many barriers and stereotypes, she enrolled in Bakersfield City College. (the first in her family to do so), and transferred to U.C., Berkeley after excelling there. Yesenia has worked in Migrant Head Start as a teacher’s aide and as a team leader in the Jumpstart program, teaching literacy and social skills to preschoolers. In her community, she has worked for the Dolores Huerta Foundation, helped low-income pregnant women and collected food for the disadvantaged in her rural community. Despite her heavy work load, Yesenia volunteered extensively at Children’s Hospital in Oakland while an undergraduate. She worked as a Coordinator for the Mt. Diablo CARES Programs based at a low income, largely Hispanic, elementary school in Concord. Returning to her parents’ community, she hopes to become a pediatric nurse practitioner, serving communities like the one in which she was raised. Currently, Yesenia is working as a Recovery Coordinator for College Community Services, a provider of outpatient health services for children, adolescents and families. She works with at-risk youth providing mental health services.
RULETTE MAPP received her BA in Art History from U.C., Berkeley. She is a single, divorced mother with three children, who was emancipated from foster care at 18, and learned to face the world alone. After odd jobs and an initially unsuccessful try at college, Rue opened a small game and hobby store in 2003 while raising her children as a single parent and simultaneously holding another job. Following her transfer to U.C. from a community college, she dedicated herself to recruiting and training under-represented minorities and non-traditional older students and student parents to Berkeley. She has been given numerous honors, including the Celia J. Peeler Award, the Philanthropic Education Organization Award and IDEAL Scholar designation. Rue was the keynote speaker at the 2007 Multi-Cultural Transfer Day. A year ago, Rue created an online community called “Outdoor Afro” as an attempt to induce more people of color into outdoor family activities. She has been invited to attend two White House Conferences in the past year, highlighting programs like hers. This year, she was hired as a Youth Investment Program Officer by the Stewardship Council to oversee grant giving and evaluation. Most recently, she was awarded conservation “hero” status by the Wilderness Society. Rue hopes to “move the needle” and continue her graduate studies in the near future.
DANIEL PAREDES received his BA from U.C., Berkeley with majors in Political Science and Sociology in addition to a minor in Urban Planning. This past spring, he received a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from UCLA.”Surrounded by gangs, drugs, and poverty” he made mistakes that almost cost him his future. He describes his high school years as turbulent and crisis-filled, leading to suspension and ultimately to school expulsion. An older brother and sister, along with a high school teacher, taught him how to “work within the system.” Epitomizing this progression, Daniel first became a mentee of the Academic Achievement Programs, then a peer mentor, and finally a Student Program Coordinator. While working 20 hours per week, he also interned at Berkeley’s Center for Race and Gender as well as volunteering for the Big Brother/Big/Sister Program on campus. He credits both parents, immigrants from Mexico, with teaching him the value of hard work. At the present time, Daniel is working at an International Charter High School in Los Angeles, helping to prepare students for college. This work is an outgrowth of his position at the Youth Policy Institute for the past two years. He has received two New Leader Scholarships.
SAMORN SELIM received both her BA and JD from UC, Berkeley. Her family and older siblings immigrated to the United States from Laos due to political and economic oppression. Prior to her acceptance to law school at Berkeley, she volunteered extensively at Hospice and the San Joaquin County Superior Court Family Law Center and simultaneously developed a program to teach life skills to high school students. Samorn was awarded several scholarships for her outstanding academic performance, while also coordinating the Berkeley Law Foundation Phoenix Fellowship. She worked for one summer at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. on consumer rights issues and in 2008 she served as a law clerk extern for a federal court judge in San Francisco. In the summer of 2009 she traveled in Laos and Thailand engaging in human rights work. Samorn is fluent in Thai, Laotian and American Sign Language, all of which will greatly enhance her nonprofit work while in Laos and Thailand. In 2009 she started work as an attorney for a national firm that emphasizes pro bono public interest work and diversity. She has received four New Leader Scholarships.
CHRISTYNA SERRANO, See 2011 entry (awarded a fifth New Leader Scholarship)
SARAH THIBAULT, See 2009 entry (awarded a third New Leader Scholarship)
AREZO YAZD earned both her BA and JD degrees from U.C., Berkeley, having majored in Political Science and Middle East Studies. Born in Iran, imprisoned with her mother as a baby, she emigrated here with her family in 1984, when forcefully expelled due to her mother’s Kurdish ancestry and political activism. Arezo is the first woman in her family to attend college and as a Kurd Muslim woman; she is deeply involved in a number of organizations that help recent immigrants. She has volunteered for Survivors International, the East Bay Sanctuary and has worked with the Kurdish Youth Forum. She served as a Communications Fellow for the U.S. Women without Borders Campaign under the Women’s Funding Network. Her role was to build support for women that were the victims of sex trafficking and who were seeking asylum under the Gender Asylum and Recovery Project. She was the executive editor of the Berkeley Journal of International Law and editor in chief of the Middle East and Islamic Law Journal in addition to serving on a number of student boards while at UCB. In 2008, she externed for the Senate Judiciary Committee, working on the staff of Senator Feingold and following that she worked for Human Rights Watch in Washington, D.C. Arezo has been awarded five New Leader Scholarships.
2007 NEW LEADER SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS (current as of 2011)
LANICE AVERY, See 2008 entry (awarded a third scholarship)
TIFFANY BROOKS graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in Criminal Justice. Growing up in the foster care system has created a special imperative for her to work toward affecting change in both the foster care and juvenile justice systems. Despite many abusive foster placements, one foster mother inspired her to be the first in her family to attend college. Without her inspiration, Tiffany believes that she, too, would have been another foster child that “went down the wrong track.” She helped create a program for emancipated foster children on campus in addition to her many other mentoring activities. Currently, she is working for the San Francisco State University Police Department as a Crime Prevention Coordinator and has taken classes to prepare for her LSAT exam. Tiffany hopes to attend UCLA law school and simultaneously major in Public Policy. With these joint degrees, she hopes to become an advocate for change in both the juvenile justice and the foster care system.
TONIA BUI graduated from U.C., Berkeley with a double major in Gender and Women’s Studies and Mass Communications. Her parents are Vietnamese immigrants who were among the boat people that sought political asylum in the United States. Their struggle has been the cornerstone for Tonia’s desire to pursue higher education and a career in public service. In particular, she has worked on programs to help prevent the sex trafficking of women and female minors from Southeast Asia to the United States. She is the founder and chair of an organization that raises awareness of sex trafficking and assists survivors (S.T.O. P.). Tonia has also worked as a campus journalist, focusing on stories of public service. She was employed as a field organizer for the Darcy Burner congressional campaign in Washington’s 8th District in 2008 and has just left her position working for California Congressman Xavier Becerra, Vice-Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and Ranking Member of the Social Security Subcommittee. Due to her admission into the Master’s Program in Public Policy at American University with a fellowship that covers all of her tuition and expenses, she will be able to study full time.
HONG CAO graduated with a degree in political science and is now in the Master’s Program in Public Administration at San Jose State University. She is currently a part time employee of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, engaging in community outreach. Upon completion of her Master’s degree, she plans to obtain a doctorate in International Relations. Hong was born in Vietnam, emigrating here in 1993 with her father. In 6th grade, following a serious injury to her mother, she took over the delivery route of the San Jose Mercury. Through college, she delivered the paper every day of the year between midnight and 6am. Despite her financial burden, as an undergraduate, she found the time to volunteer with a number of community organizations that offer help to the Vietnamese population. She has assisted in programs such as the AIDS walk and peer mentoring. Hong is also a recipient of a Bill and Melinda Gates Millennium Scholarship, the first ever given to a student at San Jose State. She received two New Leader Scholarships.
VIRGINIA (Jenna) LEE See 2011 entry (awarded a second New Leader Scholarship
DANIEL PAREDES, See 2008 entry (awarded a second New Leader Scholarship)
CARLOS MACIAS graduated with a degree in Chicano Studies from U.C., Berkeley and a Master’s Degree in American Studies from Purdue University. He immigrated to the United States from Mexico in 1992 with his parents and nine siblings. Carlos is the first to go to college in his family. Having made a previous unsuccessful attempt at carrying both a full-time academic load and a full time job, he returned to Berkeley, obtaining an outstanding academic record. As a re-entry student, knowing the support he lacked, Carlos became a leader in creating access for others facing similar challenges. He is a co-founder of Transfer Collectiva at Berkeley and worked with high school students in East Oakland, describing his own challenges in the hope of encouraging their application to college. In 2007 he attended the IRT Program in Massachusetts to help him prepare for entry into a doctoral program. While studying for graduate entry exams, he worked with hi-risk high school students at a health center in Hayward.
FELICIA MOORE-JORDAN graduated from law school at U.C., Hastings. She received her B.S. in Political Science from U.C., Berkeley in 2004. Independent since age 18, Felicia has continued to engage in community outreach despite her enormous financial burdens. While an undergraduate, she devoted herself to fighting racism on campus. Following her graduation, she worked on the staff of Supervisor Keith Carson in Alameda, honing her experience in public interest law. Having a brother who was incarcerated and being adopted as a young child, have led to a profound commitment to social justice with particular emphasis on helping those in the criminal justice system successfully re-enter society. While at Hastings, she was the Director of Development for the Hastings Public Interest Law Foundation and on the Board of Hastings’s Race and Poverty Law Journal. Following her graduation, Felicia worked as a Program Associate on the staff of the Berkeley Center for Criminal Justice and is the first alumna of the New Leader Scholarship to become a Board member. Currently, Felicia is working as Director of Reentry Services for the Associated Community Action Program (ACAP). She has received four New Leader Scholarships.
MARTHA LORENA ROCHA has a BA from U.C., Berkeley with a double major in Sociology and Spanish. She, her parents and siblings, emigrated from Mexico in 2002, hoping to find greater job opportunities here. While her parents’ work situation is an improvement over what it was in Mexico, they still have had limited opportunity for advancement and currently work as field hands in Watsonville. Martha’s desire to be the first in her family with a college education was shaped by the example of her parents’ moral integrity and courage. A second source of her ambition to teach and provide counseling to educationally disadvantaged students, has come from her volunteer work with the EOP and Migrant Program at UC, Berkeley. A McNair scholar, Martha studied at Carlos III University in Madrid during fall, 2008. She is planning to go on for graduate work in Education and is studying to take the CBEST examination.
CHRISTYNA SERRANO, See 2011 entry (awarded a fifth New Leader Scholarship)
SAMORN SELIM, See 2008 entry (awarded a fourth New Leader Scholarship)
AREZO YAZD, See 2008 entry (awarded a fifth New Leader Scholarship)
2006 NEW LEADER SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS (current as of 2011)
LANICE AVERY, See 2008 entry (awarded a third New Leader Scholarship)
HONG CAO, See 2007 entry (awarded a second New Leader Scholarship)
ASHLEY DUNN graduated from U.C., Berkeley, having majored in History and Molecular and Cell Biology. She is the first in her family to attend college, coming from a single parent, economically disadvantaged background. Due to a severe cranio-facial birth defect, Ashley has undergone many painful surgeries, leading to a lifelong interest in helping medically indigent youngsters with surgically correctible deformities. Her interests in public health and public policy led to a six week internship in three European countries, studying the impact of the AIDS epidemic. Ashley chose to write an honors thesis in her junior year on the history of genetics at Berkeley, for which she received high honors. Additionally, she was elected to be the Premedical Liaison to the National Health Policy Action Committee while at UCB… While working in the Surgical Research Department of UCSF, she studied the potential for embryonic stem cells to improve rates of wound healing in diabetic patients. This fall, Ashley started her second year in Medical School at the University of Southern California and is already engaged in meaningful research. She is a two time recipient of the New Leader Scholarship.
ARMANDO LARA completed his Master’s Program in Educational Leadership and Preliminary Administrator Credential Program at San Jose State University. He is a graduate of San Jose State University with a major in child and adolescent development. As an adolescent, who emigrated from Mexico, he is devoted to working with low income Latino youngsters. He completed his multiple subject BCLAD-Spanish teaching credential and has been working as an educator in a low income school in San Jose. Following in the footsteps of an early mentor of his, Armando is passionate about his work with the families of low income Hispanic immigrants and is engaged in a variety of outreach projects. This past year he began a special assignment as a Literacy Teacher for grades 3-6 in an Intervention Program at his school. In his ninth year of teaching, he hopes that his background will lead to becoming a school administrator. Armando is the first in his family to attend college and has received two New Leader Scholarships.
FELICIA MOORE-JORDAN, See 2007 entry (awarded a fourth New Leader Scholarship)
MELISSA LAURA SAN MIGUEL graduated from U.C. Berkeley, with a degree in Political Science. In 2008, she gave the valedictory address to political science majors. In 2009 she was awarded an education fellowship by the state of California and worked for the Department of Education in Sacramento for two years. Through both her work and volunteer activities with nonprofits, such as Hispanics in Philanthropy, she has gained a great deal of experience in the non-profit sector. In 2007, Melissa was awarded a summer fellowship at Berkeley’s Goldman Institute in Public Policy and International Affairs. Currently, Melissa is working for an educational nonprofit organization, the organization, “Education Trust”, advocates for changes in legislation that will close the achievement gap for low-income students and students of color. Melissa is part of the external relations team which meets with legislators in Sacramento hoping to effect changes in legislation. She plans to continue her studies and earn a JD and an MBA. after acquiring more work experience at her nonprofit. She is fluent in several languages, speaking Spanish at home with her Peruvian parents, and hopes ultimately to master seven languages with fluency. As an avid musician, she spends her free time playing the piano, guitar and violin.
SAMORN SELIM, See 2008 entry (awarded a fourth New Leader Scholarship).
SARAH THIBAULT, See 2009 entry (awarded a third New Leader Scholarship)
AMIA TRIGG graduated from U.C., Berkeley with a double major in Psychology and African American Studies. Experiencing the early loss of both parents and being raised by her grandparents in Las Vegas, has deeply shaped her concept of how to help others. Her grandfather became heroic in her eyes through his capacity to overcome great poverty and discrimination while encouraging her to pursue her dreams. She was the president of the Black Pre-Law Society on campus and volunteered for Alameda County Pre-Trial Services. Her emphasis is on remedying inherent discriminatory practices within the legal system. Amia has completed both her J.D. at Harvard Law School and her Master’s of Public Policy Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School. While at Harvard, she was the co-chair of the Black Law Student’s Mentorship Program which encourages high school students to continue their education. Currently, Amia is clerking for U.S. District Judge of the Southern District of New York, the Honorable George B. Daniel.
AREZO YAZD See 2008 entry (awarded a fifth New Leader Scholarship)
2005 NEW LEADER SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS (current as of 2011)
CINDY BICK obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Organismal and Conservational Biology from San Jose State University and is now a doctoral student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Program at the University of Michigan. Cindy was born in American Samoa and moved to California in order to attend school here. She states that she comes “from a culture in which women aren’t encouraged to pursue an education beyond high school”. Though her mother is illiterate and her family of origin continues to be poor, her mother encouraged Cindy to continue her education. She is interested in understanding the feminist movement in relation to issues of class and race, having witnessed considerable violence against women in her formative years. In the summer of 2009 she taught tropical biology in Costa Rica and plans to continue her research in that area. In recent years, Cindy’s studies have focused primarily on research in tropical ecology.
KEN COEHLO graduated from U.C., Berkeley with a major in psychology while simultaneously taking pre-med course work at San Francisco State University. He earned a Master’s Degree from the Global Health Studies Graduate Program at UC, San Francisco last spring. Ken and his family immigrated to the United States from a small town in India, having spent the first eight years of his life in the Middle East before returning to his home. While in India, he had extensive experience working with terminally ill cancer patients at a hospice. Subsequently, Ken volunteered in Romania, distributing warm food, blankets and medication to orphans and homeless children in transit for adoption. At U.C., Berkeley, he was a dynamic force in developing a number of volunteer programs for medically underserved populations along with co-founding a Cal undergraduate public health coalition. Until leaving for England this fall to enter the M.Ph. /Ph.D. program in Public Health at Cambridge University, he worked for the San Francisco Department of Public Health. As part of his work to expand health care to the underserved in San Francisco, he published a paper on identifying telemedicine services to improve access to Specialty Care for the underserved.
APRIL JOY DAMIAN graduated with a B. A. in Ethnic Studies from U. C., Berkeley, and is currently a third year student at Harvard Medical School and has just begun her MBA Program there as well. As a Filipina, first-generation college student, coming from a background of poverty, she has a profound commitment to help others with similar backgrounds through a variety of mentoring programs. April has engaged in extensive outreach work through her church from the time that, she, herself, was a potential dropout as a young teenager. Her senior thesis was on cardiovascular disease in the Pilipino community. As a considerable honor, she was asked to be the sole speaker at the graduation exercise for the Pilipino community. April received a Truman Scholarship in 2005, spending a year at the VA hospital in Washington D.C. Since 2007 she has been active on several fronts, all exploring her deep concerns about public health in the Filipino community. She has worked with the Bridges to Health Program of the Greenlining Institute in Berkeley and in several mentorship programs through UC, Berkeley and Berkeley City College.
ASHLEY DUNN – See 2006 entry (awarded a second New Leader Scholarship)
SVETLANA LUNSKAYA VAHAB graduated from law school at U.C., Berkeley, having been an exchange student at Harvard Law School for her third year. She and her family emigrated from Russia in 1991 to escape institutionalized anti-Semitism. Svetlana graduated with high honors from U.C., Berkeley, earning a B.A. in the Economics of Industrial Societies. As both an undergraduate and law school student, she has volunteered her services to human rights organizations. As she speaks Spanish fluently, while an undergraduate, she worked to help Latino prisoners be released on their own recognizance. She worked with the California Asylum Rights Clinic, and once again, joined her skills as a fluent Spanish speaker with her skills as a law student, to help families from Latin America seek asylum in the United States. Currently, she is working for the Department of Justice in the Office of Immigration Litigation. She was the first person to be awarded a scholarship for graduate school and to receive three New Leader Scholarships. Lana was married in 2009 and continues to reside in Washington, D.C.
FELICIA MOORE-JORDAN – See 2007 entry (awarded a third New Leader Scholarship)
FARHAD SALEHIAN graduated from U.C., Berkeley with majors in Inter-Disciplinary Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies. Emigrating from Iran with his parents in 1987, he grew up in a low-income household, and is the first person to attend college in his family. While at Saddleback Community College, he was elected to student government, where he began to develop his interest in conflict resolution. With his mentor at U.C., Berkeley, he developed a campus-wide mechanism to address inter-student conflict, thus expanding his interest in conflict resolution to an even greater degree. He received the Kenneth Priestley Award for “outstanding student leadership and invaluable contributions to student welfare”, an award given to only one student in the graduating class. For two summers, he participated in the Caux Scholars Program in Caux Switzerland, which brings together approximately 20 students from around the world to study conflict resolution intensively. After acquiring American citizenship, he returned to Iran for the first time and is now back in the United States working in the Bay Area. He is an Account Manager at the “Give Something Back” office supply company in the Bay Area. The company donates the majority of its profits to charities and nonprofits.
MICHAEL TSIA, a two-time recipient of the New Leader Scholarship, graduated in May, 2006, with majors in political science and business administration from U.C., Berkeley. He was active in a number of campus activities including that of Peer Advisor in the residence halls and was president of the Undergraduate Political Science Association. Being evicted illegally and made destitute at the age of eight and losing most of the family possessions, has made Michael a committed advocate of tenants’ rights. While in college, Michael created a Housing Advocacy Group, dedicated to educating students about the importance of rent ordinances and housing boards. He has completed his Master’s Degree in Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School. Currently, Michael is working for a management consultant firm in California, dedicated to improving health care delivery in the United States. Michael is currently assigned to a hospital in Orange County, California and is working on a program to improve the community’s access to neonatal care.
RICARDO VALENCIA graduated from U.C., Berkeley with a Bachelor’s Degree in Ethnic Studies and a minor in Education, having spent a semester studying in Brazil. As a McNair Scholar, a program which prepares and encourages underrepresented students of color to pursue doctoral studies, he was able to clarify his long term ambition of entering graduate school in an educational leadership program. His experiences “growing up below the poverty line” have shaped his commitment to issues of social justice leading to a summer educational internship with an Iron Worker’s Union in Sacramento. He completed a one-year fellowship with the Greenlining Institute, a multi-ethnic institute, focusing on issues that affect low-income communities of color. Following his fellowship, Ricardo was accepted into the Master’s Program in Educational Leadership at Tufts University. Three years ago, he received his social studies credential and completed his Master’s Degree. Ricardo lived in Boston for two years teaching Ethnic Studies and History in a pilot public high school that emphasizes collaboration between the faculty and its underserved community. As of this fall, his dream has come true and he has been able to return to his community of Santa Maria, teaching in the high school that became his touchstone for believing he could become an educator and provide leadership to underserved students of color. He has received two New Leader Scholarships.
2004 NEW LEADER SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS (current as of 2011)
SUSAN EAR graduated from U.C., Berkeley, with majors in Political Science and Interdisciplinary Studies. Her parents are survivors of the Cambodian genocide and were granted political asylum in the United States in 1982. Susan has earned numerous awards and honors for both her scholarship and community service. She is a co-founder of an after-school tutoring and mentoring program in Oakland, similar to the one that her own mentor founded. While at Berkeley, Susan engaged in significant research on the atrocities committed against ethnic minorities by governments. In spring, 2005, she published two articles, respectively, in the California Legal Studies Journal and the Berkeley McNair Research Journal on the atrocities in Darfur and Cambodia. Susan studied at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and took the opportunity to travel during the spring. She is currently living in Texas, working in a family-owned business. (not updated).
SVETLANA LUNSKAYA – See 2005 entry (awarded a third New Leader Scholarship).
TIFFANY MONTGOMERY graduated from San Jose State University, with a B.S. in nursing and a minor in African American Studies. She was named the 2005 Student of the Year by the National Black Nurses Association. She, along with Pastor Franklin T. Hysten, founded a non-profit organization called “Waking the Dream”. Additionally, she developed and led a prevention and intervention program for medical emergences in her community. At San Jose State, she was president of Student Nurses of African Descent and Vice Chair of the student advisory Committee for the College of Applied Science and Arts. She held a position as a registered nurse at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose in the Labor and Delivery Unit before returning to the Los Angeles area. Tiffany completed a Master of Science Nursing Program at California State University, Dominguez Hills and is now in the Doctoral Program in Nursing at UCLA with a Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship.In addition to numerous awards and prestigious positions related to nursing, she has also established a mentoring academy for high school students desiring to enter nursing and a scholarship at her former high school for students who register in a nursing program.
DIANA OLIVA received her B.A. from U.C., Berkeley, with majors in Ethnic and Chicano Studies and an MPH from San Francisco State University. Growing up in a poor Salvadoran household, with parents who were war victims and political refugees, she was inspired by their activism. . She has initiated and conducted research on environmentally caused illnesses in poor Latino communities in Oakland while simultaneously working with a number of youth groups to promote their interest in higher education. For two years, Diana worked with a variety of organizations throughout the Bay Area, focusing on high risk youth in health centers; she recently worked with a Native American Health Center in Oakland. Diana hopes to go on to obtain a doctorate in public health with an emphasis in clinical management. (not updated).
JULIZA PEREZ obtained her B.A. from U.C., Berkeley with majors in Mass Communications and Sociology. As a foster child who became emancipated, she continues to be involved with all of the programs that supported her own development. Having experienced considerable tragedy in her own family, Juliza has made a special point of reaching out to others who have faced difficult circumstances. She continues to work with Extended Opportunities and Program Services, volunteering as a motivational speaker. In June 2004, Juliza was honored by the Department of Children and Family Services of Los Angeles County as a “Foster Care Hero”. Juliza plans to acquire a law degree and specialize in child advocacy within the foster care system. She has returned to Los Angeles in order to find a relevant position and continue to mentor children in the foster care system. (Not updated)
SHAHIN SHAMSABADI received his B.A. from U.C., Berkeley, with a major in Middle Eastern Studies. Shahin describes himself as the “product of four cultural backgrounds, two races, two religions and five languages “ between himself and his parents, both of whom emigrated from Iran due to religious and social persecution. In a post 9/11 world, Shahin became an active spokesperson for Middle Eastern, Muslim and Sikh students on campus who face a variety of prejudicial behaviors directed at them. While at Berkeley, he was the recipient of numerous awards and honors in International Studies. He received his Master’s Degree from Georgetown University majoring in Arab Studies at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. Last, but not least, he married three years ago and plans a career in the diplomatic sector. He and his wife are living and working in Dubai, where he holds a position in the Risk Advisory Group, heading their casework in the Middle East.
MICHAEL TSIA – See 2005 entry (awarded a second New Leader Scholarship).
NGAN TRAN, 29, was born in Vietnam, emigrating here with her mother, brother and grandmother in 1994. She graduated from U.C., Berkeley with a degree in Sociology, spending the fall semester of her senior year, studying and undertaking sociological research in Vietnam. She has been given numerous awards and honors for her scholarship, but a summer internship with NOW, particularly inspired her to be an advocate for issues affecting women and disadvantaged groups. Along with two other Berkeley students, she co-founded a mentoring program for low income, inner city youth in the Oakland public school system. Ngan was a recipient of The Achievement Award Program sponsored by alumni of UCB and currently is the chair of the Sacramento scholarship committee of UCB. She works as a program and research analyst for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, helping to coordinate research for evidence-based practice and is planning to return to school for an advanced degree. She is in her second year of graduate work in the Master’s Degree Program in Public Policy at California State University, Sacramento.
RICARDO VALENCIA – See 2005 entry (awarded a second New Leader Scholarship).
AREZO YAZD – See 2008 entry (awarded a fifth New Leader Scholarship)
2003 NEW LEADER SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS (current as of 2011)
HALEH BADKOOBEHI See 2011 entry (awarded a third New Leader Scholarship
JENNIFER PILOR IBARDOLAZA 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. (not updated)
FRIEDA M. KRETH 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. Four 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. She also worked as an Academic Counseling Assistant for Project SOAR, a program which serves low income students in the Oakland schools. Currently, Frieda is spending the year in Andorra teaching English in the Andorran School System.
FELICIA MOORE-JORDAN – See 2007 entry (awarded a fourth New Leader Scholarship)
SAMORN SELIM – See 2008 entry (awarded a fourth New Leader Scholarship).
VANNA TRUONG 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. While an undergraduate, Vanna co-founded two organizations dedicated to mentoring and providing leadership training for low income minority youth. She 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. Early in her career at Wells Fargo, she was honored with a $10,000”Volunteer Service Award” for her work at the non-profit agency that provided her with support as an adolescent in a low income community. Vanna is the youngest Board Member of that organization, which she credits with helping her transcend a background of poverty. She continues to coach for the Midnight Basketball League, one of the programs sponsored by the non-profit agency that was so helpful to her. Currently, Vanna is a vice president at Wells Fargo.
AREZO S. YAZD - See 2008 entry (awarded a fifth New Leader Scholarship)
2002 NEW LEADER SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS (current as of 2011)
HALEH BADKOOBEHI – See 2011 entry (awarded a third scholarship).
GABRIELLE FALZONE (See 2011 entry (awarded a second scholarship).
VICKY GOMEZ, the single mother of a teen age boy, graduated from San Francisco State University with a double major in Health Science and La Raza Studies. As a single parent with obligations to her extended family, she deferred acceptance into graduate school. As these obligations lessened, she was able to return to school and obtain a Master’s Degree in Public health from San Francisco State University. She is currently working for the Kaiser Permanente Foundation in a research position. It is clear to her that she has found a field of study and work that is extremely meaningful.
JENNIFER PILOR IBARDOLOZA – See 2003 entry (awarded a second scholarship)
SVETLANA LUNSKAYA – See 2005 entry (awarded a third New Leader Scholarship)
CESAR MORENO graduated from U. C., Berkeley in Political Science and History. As a young person growing up in the Bakersfield area, he and his family worked in the fields, which his mother continues to do. His background has strongly influenced his desire to become a political advocate for his community. Cesar was awarded a Social Justice Fellowship at the John F. Kennedy Center at Harvard University in their summer, 2002 program. He spent the following year in Spain and Mexico in the U.C., Berkeley Study Abroad Program. . Cesar has worked for the AFL-CIO as the Policy and Communications Analyst for the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, based in Washington, D.C. Currently, he holds a position at the American Federation of Teachers in Washington in their Human Resources Division. Prior to that, he worked in Chicago as the Deputy Executive Director for the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute.
2001 NEW LEADER SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS (current as of 2011)
AISHAH BASHIR graduated from U. C., Berkeley with an interdisciplinary degree in Anthropology, African American Studies and Public Health. Despite being a single mother of two children until she remarried, she has been actively engaged in projects concerning women’s health. As a fellow with the Family Independence Initiative in Oakland, she developed her idea for a women’s health center based on the healing traditions of the African Diaspora. In 2004, she helped to coordinate the “Black Women’s Health and Healing Conference” which brought together over 200 health practitioners. Her long-standing dream of purchasing a home that would house the first phase of the women’s health center has been realized and the Center has received start-up funding for the planning phase. (not updated)
MELISSA FREEMAN studied for her BA at U. C. Berkeley with a major in Rhetoric. She spent a semester in Washington, D.C. interning at the World Bank on a project to develop Internet access in rural areas of developing countries. She worked for several years at a law firm in Oakland, gaining practical experience while studying for the LSAT. Her goal is to provide legal support to low income women, (one of her passions), after obtaining a law degree. (not updated)
ARMANDO LARA – See 2006 entry (awarded a second scholarship)
CRISTINA MORA graduated from U. C., Berkeley with a major in Sociology and a minor in Public Policy. In 2009 she completed her doctorate at Princeton and was awarded a two year Provost Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Sociology at the University of Chicago. She has conducted research on sexual abuse of women in Latino communities. While at Princeton, Cristina was awarded scholarships for her entire period of study. Eight years ago, she was chosen as a National Science Foundation Pre-Dissertation Fellow, one of four students chosen nationally in Sociology. Her primary research interest centers on understanding the changing dynamics of immigrant communities and assessing the role of culture in immigrant adaptation. This led to conducting fieldwork on the US Latino news media for her dissertation. Cristina’s goal of being an “activist” professor has been realized in her appointment to UC, Berkeley as an Assistant Professor in the Sociology Department. She is writing a book and completing several articles.
ANDREA VARGAS-MENDOZA graduated from U. C. Berkeley with a major in Rhetoric. Starting in high school, she developed and participated in Student Success Workshops in Castro Valley, guided by her parents’ strong activism in the Latino community. After graduating from Berkeley, she enrolled at Santa Monica Community College to explore her other compelling interest in art. She moved to Providence Rhode Island for one year and continued her studies in art, taking courses at the Rhode Island School of Design. At the present time, Andrea lives and teaches in Southern California, continuing her art in the form of film making projects, painting and other artistic endeavors, all from a Latino activist perspective. She is currently applying to graduate schools.
2000 NEW LEADER SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS (current as of 2011)
XAVIER CORONA emigrated from Mexico with his parents and earned a Bachelor’s Degree from U.C., Berkeley in 2001 with majors in Peace and Conflict Studies and Chicano Studies. He received a Master’s Degree in Public Policy in Education from the University of Michigan and is now completing his MBA at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. In his second year of graduate study at Michigan, he received a “New Student Leadership Award”. Xavier returned to San Diego and worked as a community relations officer for a national retail chain until being recruited for a position in Wisconsin as a branch manager for Chase Morgan Stanley…He worked in Chicago for two years as head of the Latino Division for Flowers Communication Group and volunteered at the Public Schools Board of the Chicago School System, helping to develop a Safety and Security Strategy for all of their schools. Currently, he is living in Denver and working as the regional marketing manager for McDonald’s. Recently, Xavier was recognized by Diversity MBA magazine as one of the top 100 emerging leaders under fifty.
WILFREDO HERRERA was born in El Salvador and came to the United States as a teenager in 1992. A graduate of U.C., Berkeley, he received his Master’s degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas in Austin, where he studied the impact of racism in Brazil as his thesis. He went to work for Citibank as a Client Financial Analyst, first in Marin County and then in Austin, Texas. He specialized in helping first-time home owners in the Latin American community. Three years ago, he returned to El Salvador, working as an English teacher in his home village for several months. Subsequently, he taught English in Columbia. Now, back in the United States, he has returned to his work as a personal and business banker at Citibank, specializing in mortgage help for clients. Willie, recently married, also became an American citizen and a new father this year.
VERONICA KEIFFER NEAL, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from San Jose State University and both an MA and Ed.D. from Mills College. She continues her strong interest in diversity and biracial identity training and also administers the two non-profit organizations which she co-founded with her brother. Prior to starting her doctoral program in education at Mills, she held a staff position at Shanti. Veronica is on the faculty of the Extended Education Program at San Francisco State University as well as other universities in the Bay Area, teaching courses on diversity. Veronica is married and has two children.
