2019 Scholars

Thank you for your generous support of our Jobs for Youth Scholars

We are incredibly proud to introduce our 2019 Jobs for Youth Al Teglia Scholars, a group of inspiring individuals marked by achievement in the face of adversity, commitment to their community, and continuous learning and growth.

Each Scholar faced a unique set of daunting obstacles on their path to open the doors of opportunity, from financial hardship and unstable homes to disabilities and discrimination. But they are each here today because they refused to be defined by disadvantage, refused to rest in their prescribed circumstance, and most of all refused to relinquish their inalienable right to have a dream of a brighter tomorrow.

The following biographies are just snippets of our winners’ triumphs and challenges, and just the start of what we are sure will be incredible life stories as they pursue higher education and beyond.

Adrian Amesquita

Adrian dreams of turning his passion for sports and fitness into a career of helping others perform at their best. Currently a senior at Pescadero

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Audrey Lau

Audrey is proud to have earned the moniker “animal girl” in school; a passion for helping fallen creatures on the playground grew into expertise advising

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Charles Hong

Charles displayed an aptitude for numbers at an early age, but illness and an extended recovery forced him to recognize that success depends on tenacity

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Cheska Ibasan

Cheska aspires to be an agent of change for her community and the criminal justice system. She plans to take her passion for public service

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Dian Rodriguez

Dian hopes to inspire fellow foster youth by showing what is possible through education and plans a career working with this community as a Social

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Emely Vazquez

Emely is spurred to success by an understanding of the opportunity she has to advance through education, an opportunity her parents were denied but have

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Fariha Khan

Fariha’s family immigrated in search of the American Dream, but she quickly learned that requires actively seizing every opportunity and sometimes making them for yourself.

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Gerryk Madrigal

Gerryk is unapologetically ambitious about his planned career in public service and elected office; his first-hand experiences demonstrated the fierce urgency of now to reform

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Isabella Marinos

Isabella is a passionate advocate for mental health and mentorship in her school and community. As someone who faced the challenges of finding the silver

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Jazmin Bautista

Jazmin strives to serve her community in any way she can, from extensive volunteering with vulnerable populations to a planned career as an Oncology Nurse

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Lucia Gonzalez

Lucia fell in love with the written word at a young age as a source of light against the dark cloud of loneliness she grappled

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Maria Tapia

Maria knows too well the indignity of societal indifference and is determined to shelter others from the challenges she faced in the foster system. References

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Nicole Hlushko

Nicole grew up between worlds. While her recently immigrated parents established a life in America, Nicole was sent to live with family in Belarus, until

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Nicole Silliman

Nicole found her calling through forced circumstance, as a former foster youth she aspires to be a social worker to “help change lives just like

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Richard Rios

Richard has long been fascinated by the invisible world beneath the skin and the marvel of modern medicine, from the impact of a single pill

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Rowan Woodward

Rowan always had a hard time answering “what do you want to be when you grow up?” because she overflowed with answers covering careers from

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Ximena Sanchez

As a child, Ximena fell in love with learning as an escape from challenging circumstances while her family moved from Mexico. Today, Ximena is an

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