Our Community Outreach Fund 2024 Scholarship Awards
The room was filled with young women, their families, mentors, and friends We  enjoyed listening as our speaker and awardees shared their stories with us.

The speaker, Daniela Catubig graduated from Saint Mary’s College and works for Salesforce.  She also received a branch scholarship in 2021 so she was able to reconnect with her Saint Mary’s mentors and Scholarship Committee members.  Daniela’s presentation called “Becoming Her” invited students to think about themselves as a whole person.  She offered her story, stressing the importance of her grandmother and mother as role models who shaped her life.  

Three Seniors were awarded scholarships based on community service:

Zoya Acuna                            Acalanes High School
Bella Stratford                      Campolindo High School
Nicole Hui                              Miramonte High School

Two Saint Mary’s College students participating in the High Potential Program received scholarships based on community engagement:

Evony Jackson                       Class of 2025
Ayanna Wade                        Class of 2024

CLICK HERE FOR THE LAMORINDA WEEKLY NEWS ARTICLE FOR THIS EVENT

LAURA WITTENBERG – AAUW-OML  2024 DISTINGUISHED WOMAN

The person selected as our 2024 Distinguished Woman is probably the best ambassador for our branch among all of us.  She will talk about OML to anyone she meets, and is so enthusiastic that many get involved – either with their time, talent or money. And she challenges us to spread the AAUW message far and wide too.

She is dedicated to carrying out the AAUW-OML mission of working for equity for girls and women and does that by actively supporting the many activities of OML.  There are very few members as active as this year’s Distinguished Woman.

She has done significant volunteer work over many years in supporting Scholarship, Tech Trek, and the STEM Conference.    

She participates in many interest groups, and is always willing to share her home and her time to help members get things done, or just to get together.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE ABOUT LAURA

TECH TREK ICE CREAM SOCIAL

This year our Lamorinda seventh graders are headed to residential Tech Trek STEM camp at Santa Clara University in July. The Tech Trek committee invited the 2024 girls and parents to meet on May 19 for a casual ice cream social in the Miramonte Gardens Clubhouse.   Sadie Ginestro and Athena Simbajon form Moraga, Olivia Sanders and Priya Holl from Lafayette and Merritt Thompson from Orinda joined our committee members.  Unfortunately, Madelyn Azalde from Orinda and Quinn Sousa from Lafayette had previous commitments.  We also welcomed Sophia Bitton, one of the past Tech Trekkers who will be a junior counselor at camp.  Giorgia Stankus and Claire Casado will also be junior counselors at Santa Clara and Bella Stratford will be a senior counselor at Sonoma State.

The girls in the photo from left to right are Priya Holl, Sophia Bitton, Sadie Ginestro, Athena Simbajon, Merritt Thompson and Olivia Sanders.

All enjoyed seeing an informational slide show and glimpse of the Santa Clara campus where our Lamorinda campers will attend camp for the first time. As Tech Trek Chair Jan Cushman showed slides, she shared details about a typical camp week’s schedule of activities and showed pictures of the dorm rooms.  This summer the core classes held each day are Botany, Forensics, Engineering/Physics and Climate Science/Oceans.  Other activities at camp will include the Mad City Money financial workshop, robotics, professional women’s night, soldering to make a flashlight and 3D math.  Since 1998, AAUW-OML has selected 136 local STEM girls to attend Tech Trek science camps. Special thanks to our branch members who attended and the many branch members who have donated to support our program.  And special thanks to Christine Walwyn for making it possible for us to use the Clubhouse.

They listened to Dr Sonya Schuh’s keynote address encouraging them to follow their passions, not to be dissuaded, and to find alternate paths, if necessary. The attendees were then led to their three workshops by 28 high school students, recruited by our 17 ambassadors.