2019-2020 Wildflower Fund Recipients

In 2019-20, we planned to distribute $65,000 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 Young Women Leaders’ Conference) was cancelled. Unused funds were rolled into the subsequent year’s funding . Funds raised were allocated to the following:

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

Name High School College Major or Field of Study
Linh An Ann Sobrato High School
Shirley Antonio Arriaga Live Oak High School Biomedical Engineering
Alyssa Gonzales Live Oak High School CSU San Diego Biology
Lindsey Hillesland Live Oak High School University of British Columbia Political Science
Katelyn Lemieux Ann Sobrato High School
Julie Muzzi Live Oak High School Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Agriculture/Business
Tiffany Nguyen Ann Sobrato High School University of Rochester Biology
Sruchi Patel Ann Sobrato High School UCLA Film / TV
Sandra Zamora Saldana Central High School Gavilan College Photography

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
Cristina Avina NYU Occupational Therapy
Abbey Pfefferien UC Davis Veterinary Medicine
Golnesa Safavi Midwestern Medicine

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
Lindsay Baker San Jose State Nursing
Alyssa Gonzales CSU San Diego Psychology
Raya Kavosh UC San Diego Data and Cognitive Science
Morgan Kissinger CSU Monterey Bay Psych. Communications
Sruchi Patel UCLA Film and Television
Rachel Sjostedt UC San Diego Aerospace Engineering
Arabella Williams UC Santa Cruz Psychology
Rishelle Zertuchi San Jose State Communications

Sponsor a college student from Morgan Hill to participate in NCCWSL (National Conference for College Women Student Leaders), an annual national leadership conference for college women.

Due to Covid-19, the conference was cancelled and our selected participant, Crystal Vazquez, was unable to attend.

Provide funding and mentorship for local teens to host an annual, all-day Young Women Leaders Conference.

Due to Covid-19, the conference had to be cancelled. However, since the theme of this year’s conference was climate change, we held two climate change video competitions, one for middle school students and one for high school students. Prizes were awarded to the following video competition winners:

Young Women Leaders Climate Change Video Competition Winners

High School Video Competition

Megan Gill / Kyla Spence (1st) Monte Vista / Oakwood School Ways to Cut Down Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Quinten Kouwenhoven (2nd) Oakwood School Pollution

Middle School Video Competition

Sydney Wohlgemuth (1st) Britton Middle School Factory Farming
Thomas Kouwenhoven (2nd) Oakwood School Global Warming
Sabrina Lim / Elizabeth Richardson (3rd) Britton Middle School Soil Pollution

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

Advent Group Ministries for staff training for First Aid Art Groups for Brighter, Trauma-Free Futures, a program in a residential treatment program for 30 teenage girls and transgender youth in Morgan Hill
BookSmart Community Advantage for The Gift of Reading, which distributes hundreds of books each year to young readers who might not otherwise have their own new books
Britton Middle School in support of intramural soccer and flag football to encourage girls to participate in lunchtime “pickup” games
Community Solutions for “Liberated: Self-Sufficiency for Survivors of Interpersonal Violence,”,a program that teaches financial literacy and career planning
Discovery Counseling Center for Bold Quest Mentor and Bold Journey programs to build communication skills and self-esteem in elementary and high school students
Learning and Loving Education Center in support of the “English Now!” adult program
Literacy Legacies for materials and books for a gender identity writing workshop for boys and girls
Morgan Hill Peace Project toward completion of a monument to build peace, tolerance, and friendship
PA Walsh Elementary School toward campus beautification, including painting of the school stage, new stage curtains, and a mural near the student drop-off point, to build school pride
Poppy Jasper International Film Festival in support of “See It and Be It,” a program to encourage high school girls in becoming involved in filmmaking

Sponsor a local speech competition as part of Speech Trek, a state-wide AAUW program.

First, second, and third place winners each received cash prizes. Our first place winner also went on to place fourth in the state contest.

2020 Speech Trek winners. L-R: Danielle Chaisson (3rd), Diya Khandra (2nd), Gelasia Tiwana (1st)

Gelasia Tiwana (1st) Ann Sobrato High Schoo
Diya Khandra (2nd) Ann Sobrato High School
Danielle Chaisson (3rd) Ann Sobrato High School

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.

Unfortunately, Tech Trek was cancelled because of Covid-19. We instead held a one day STEM Virtual Program just for the Morgan Hill Tech Trek girls.

Vickki Lynn Chiong Jackson Academy of Math and Music
Kasey Kepler Martin Murphy Middle School
Dan Pham Jackson Academy of Math and Music
Elizabeth Richardson Britton Middle School
Zoe Rodriguez Charter School of Morgan Hill
Grace Sakauye Martin Murphy Middle School
Laurel Spencer Charter School of Morgan Hill
Alana Yamat Britton Middle School
Jada Gowan (Alt #1) Charter School of Morgan Hill
Sabrina Lim (Alt #2) Britton Middle School

Sponsor two Morgan Hill women’s participation in the Leadership Morgan Hill class of 2020.

Susan Oldham-Fritts AAUW Morgan Hill branch member
Patrice Lyn 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.

Celine Maurice CSU Riverside Extension Law – Paralegal Certificate Celine Maurice received a Business Degree from California State University San Bernardino then worked as a hair stylist for 20 years. later, after a difficult divorce, Celine vowed to help other women through the process.

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.

Cheyun Lee Santa Clara University MBA Business Administration Cheyun is very much dedicated to helping domestic violence and child abuse victims as a public speaker to the community leaders and policymakers in the SF Bay Area.

.

GO BACK TO 2018-2019 AWARDS
GO FORWARD TO 2020-2021 AWARDS