Scholarship winners

AAUW Clayton Scholarship Recipient 2022

We are pleased to announce that Mai Saleh is our 2022 Scholarship Recipient. Mai is a recent graduate of Diablo Valley College where she held a 4.0 GPA while raising three young children. During her time at DVC, she volunteered as a Doula at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center where she worked with a diverse population of Medical and Multicultural patients. It is her goal to become a Nurse Practitioner and Social Justice Advocate for women and children who, traditionally,  might be denied high-quality medical care. Mai is a thirty-nine-year-old Immigrant and single mother of Egyptian Decent and is thrilled to be continuing her career goals this fall in Oakland, California.

Scholarship Committee:
Dana McDaniel, Carol Gurrad, Adela Oldford, and Elena Noble

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Clayton Branch of AAUW DVC Scholarship Recipients for 2021A

Clayton Branch offered two $2,000 scholarships to Diablo Valley College female students. Twenty applicants applied. Four members of the Committee, Dana McDaniel, Adel Oldford, Carol Gurrad and Elena Noble each read and scored the applications. On April 15th we met, (wearing masks) to compare our results. Two students emerged from the group of applicants. They are Juliana Rubalacava and Jessica Welsh. Tonight, both ladies will be joining us via Zoom to meet our Branch members and tell us a bit about their education goals.

Juliana Rubalacava is 19 years old and has been a student at DVC since the spring of 2018. She holds a 3.7 GPA, and is earning two AA Degrees in Sociology and Social Justice. As a first –generation college student she discovered the PUENTE Project for support. Finding it so helpful, she became a DVC Student Ambassador and a Member of the DVC DREAMers Alliance where she helps fellow students navigate the various services and programs available on Campus. Last summer she organized a trip to visit six colleges to Southern California for students interested in transferring to four-year institutions. Juliana has applied to UC and CSU colleges, and has been accepted UC Riverside.

Jessica Welsh is 21 years old and has attended DVC since summer of 2018. She holds a 4.0 GPA, and plans to earn a degree in International Relations. Jessica’s curiosoty of cultural and racial diversity comes from her Japanese upbringing where she compares a homogeneous society to that of the United States.  Her eyes were opened to both the positive and negative impacts of globalization and its impact on minorities. At DVC she has been President of Alph Gamma Sigma honor society and is a Student Ambassador. In addition, she strives to build her leadership skills by volunteering for people in need whenever possible. She works with groups that donate to local homeless shelters and fundraises for clean water initiatives in third world countries. Jessica hopes to earn a BA degree and then continue on to graduate school at UCB or UCLA.

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The 2019 DVC Scholarship winner is Brittany Sartor, a very accomplished and determined
young lady. She not only received our Scholarship, she was also chosen by the Clayton
Valley Woman’s Club and the Concord AAUW. We will hopefully hear her story at September’s Membership Luncheon. The Woman’s club will meet her in June.

She had a major setback medically when she developed Lupus as a young adult. She was
confined to a wheelchair for awhile. In spite of that, when she was able, she continued her education at DVC and now has been accepted at Berkeley in the Fall. Congratulations to Brittany.