Foundation celebrates students awarded record $5.54 million in scholarships

Selected 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 schooling access for students At its annual Locality Scholarship Celebration held at the San Diego Zoo the foundation brought together scholarship recipients a large number 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 District Scholarship Project San Diego Foundation is ensuring that local students preparation for college is matched with the financial assistance needed to succeed and grow our region s future workforce Mark Stuart the organization s president and CEO explained in a news release For the - season the undertaking 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 teaching 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 scheme such as AVID Reality Changers and TRIO Upward Bound The figures provided by the foundation s Scholar Aid Index formerly known as Earned Family Contribution underscore why investing in underrepresented students is significant personnel reported 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 development according to the San Diego Regional Economic Rise 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 several students announced Becky Petitt a vice chancellor at UC San Diego who was the keynote speaker at SDF s Scholarship Celebration By investing in their teaching and dreams San Diego Foundation is not only transforming individual futures but also strengthening the fabric of our entire locality 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 endorsement for the fund helped triple the number scholar scholarships Applications were submitted by more than local high school seniors region college graduate and adult re-entry students set to review a variety of subjects including science mechanism engineering and math STEM healthcare sciences and more There were moments in high school when I truly didn t know if I d make it mentioned 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 revealed It s a reminder that my story isn t over and that people believe in where it s going next The Locality Scholarship Plan is made manageable through the donor patronage of charitable funds at San Diego Foundation which is the largest non-university scholarship provider in the region Since its inception in the project has awarded more than million to students