Scholarships for Spring 2026
Information for Graduating Senior
Women* from
Acalanes, Campolindo, and Miramonte High Schools
The AAUW-OML Branch offers one $2,000 scholarship to a graduating young woman at each of the high schools who enriches her school community, demonstrates a sustained commitment to community service, and maintains a grade point average of at least 3.5.
- High School Community Service Scholarship Directions
- High School Application Form
*Those who identify as female
College Scholarships for Spring 2026
Information for Junior or Senior Women* in the
Saint Mary’s College High Potential Program
AAUW-OML offers two $2,000 scholarships to undergraduate women in the High Potential Program who enrich their college community, demonstrate a sustained commitment to community engagement, and maintain academic success.
If you meet these criteria, we invite you to apply.
- College Community Service Scholarship Directions
- College Application Form
* Those who identify as female
The 2025 OML Branch Scholarship Awardees
Our OML Branch has supported young women in our community by awarding scholarships for 58 years. The Scholarship Committee is committed to encouraging local, young women who demonstrate academic excellence and are discovering their leadership abilities through community service. We offer these scholarships to high school graduating seniors at Acalanes, Campolindo and Miramonte high schools and undergraduate members of the High Potential Program of Saint Mary’s College. This program provides access to education for dedicated students from traditionally underrepresented groups in higher education.
These scholarships are based on community engagement, leadership, and grades. The awardees are chosen after completing an application which includes a written essay and letters of recommendation, followed by an interview with members of our Scholarship Committee. Our committee interviewed twenty students this year.
This year’s recipients all seemed to have the goal of inclusion. They found ways to include others or help others in a way they would feel acceptance. Ensuring all voices are heard.
Girls who lead
promote inclusion, equity, and acceptance
Saint Mary’s Scholarship Receipents
REBECCA CARRANZA Saint Mary’s College
Class of 2026
Rebecca provides translation services to the Hispanic community through the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, a nonprofit organization which offers legal assistance and resources to immigrants. Alongside paralegals and attorneys, Rebecca helps fill out work permits, residency forms, naturalization papers, asylum applications, etc., in hopes of leading pathways towards empowerment for a better life.
In addition, Rebecca worked at the nonprofit East Bay Catholic Charities in the Immigration Legal Department Services as a legal services volunteer, helping fill out forms and assisting in preparing clients for naturalization interviews.
She also taught classes at the Saint Mary’s Center “WE-CONNECT” department to help seniors master technology challenges. Rebecca helped set up technology to make it senior-user friendly. She is an honors student and very active on campus as the Vice President of Finance for the SMC Associated Students Executive Team.
Rebecca credits her mom for her wise words and in helping her realize that power exists within her. She hopes to do the same for other young women looking to empower themselves and create their own purposes in life.
MAYRA JIMENEZ ALMARAS Saint Mary’s College
Class of 2025
Mayra volunteers at the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solana in Concord, CA. She has been involved in all areas of the organization, assisting in food sorting, packing, and distribution to ensure efficient food delivery to local communities in need. Her bilingual abilities were an advantage in this role. In addition, Mayra has also dedicated much time to tutoring students for whom English is a second language. She is also active at Saint Mary’s by being on the committee for Our Lady of Guadalupe celebrations. She helped plan and execute a rosary event. This experience not only connected her to her cultural traditions but also deepened her appreciation for the power of community and collaboration.
She feels these experiences have shaped her personal growth and strengthened her belief in the importance of service. She has learned that creating meaningful social change requires patience, compassion, and consistent effort. She also has come to understand that leadership can take many forms—not always through a single figure, but often through collective action and the ability to inspire others.
Her plans will involve her commitment to continuing to connect finance, social justice, and community involvement to create lasting impact. Mayra will graduate in December of 2025.
SOPHIA GONZALES Saint Mary’s College
Class of 2026
Sophia is part of the Residential Experience at Saint Mary’s College, in her second year as a Residential Advisor. In this role, she has loved being there for her residents and fostering a sense of community, support, and inclusivity. Sophia has also spent eight years as a math tutor working with students from various backgrounds and volunteering with the Multicultural Institute in Berkeley to support children lacking academic resources.
She is a member of several clubs on campus and holds several positions
She dedicates herself to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment for students. She serves as a mentor, advocate, and resource for students facing academic, social and personal challenges
She is looking forward to her work at the Contra Costa Crisis Center where she will provide emotional support through a crisis hot line.
She has a passion for neuroscience and medicine has fueled her interest in understanding the complexities of mental health and how social support structures can improve individual wellbeing.
She hopes to have a future in medicine or genetic counseling. She is committed to bridging gaps in health care accessibility and patient education especially for underrepresented communities.
FELICIA COLEMAN Saint Mary’s College
Class of 2026
Felicia is passionate about writing and works with Saint Mary’s Center for Writing Across the Curriculum, helping students with essays and editing their Spectrum Book. She writes poetry and believes writing is a tool for social change. Felicia is an active member of the Black Student Union at Saint Mary’s. She feels her participation in the Black Student Union has deepened her understanding in having a voice and the importance of it as well. She has also volunteered at a pet shelter, helping care for neglected animals and communicate with potential forever homes for the pets. Felicia also gives tours at Saint Mary’s Art Museum and helps staff set up the artwork. She performs as a majorette which is a form of expression for black students to cultivate confidence with an art form as well as to celebrate their culture.
She moved to California from Minnesota on her own to further her education at Saint Mary’s. With this move, she learned to adapt and found her independence and gratitude.
She hopes to one day publish her poetry and inspire other young women to use their education and skill to their advantage.
High School Scholarship Recipients
EMMA WONG Miramonte High School Class of 2025
Emma Wong was an AAUW tech trek alumni and she helped with a virtual summer camp for a week.
In her high school community, Emma was on the Cross Country and track team. She was the on-line editor-in-chief and the Editor at Large for The Mirador. She was president of the writing club. Emma was also the founder/editor-in-chief of re-imagine literary magazine. Three years ago, she and two friends decide to lead an independent research project to investigate levels of mental and academic burnout in her school community, with interesting results! They are now partnering with Stanford university nonprofit Challenge Success to author a research paper with their findings.
Emma has also been active outside her school community; she has been involved with the Lamorinda Arts council and has been part of the poetry open mic. She saw that her peers were not involved, so found a way to involve them by creating a youth ambassador program. She also was a volunteer with the UCSF Walnut Creek sports medicine for young athletes which inspired her to pursue a pre-med path.
Many of the traits used to describe her are creative, confident, professional, respect for others, a listener, consideration of others and willingness to create opportunities for the growth of others. She impressed the interview team with her involvement with the Lamorinda Arts council. She saw that her peers were not involved, so found a way to involve them by creating a youth ambassador program. She used her love of writing through Dear Asian youth, open mic. mic, poetry, the school newspaper, and the Lamorinda Newspaper. She won a 2025 Poul Anderson writing contest sponsored by the Friends of the Orinda Library award for her poem “Letters to home”. She plans to attend UCLA pursuing a pre-med path.
JENNA KESSLER Acalanes High School Class of 2025
Jenna Kessler has packed superior academics and significant service to her school and community in her four years at Acalanes High School. She impressed us with her varied community service. On campus, she has been active with the Blueprint newspaper, community Outreach and Improvement program, trombone player in the school band for 9 years and math tutoring. She has been an important member of the Blueprint (Acalanes school newspaper) team all four years. For her, this activity was a big help in re-connecting with school and community after the Covid lock-down. Researching, interviewing, and writing brought her a sense of confidence and satisfaction. Being the founder of Community Outreach and Improvement club at Acalanes gave her the leadership skills needed to branch out in her other endeavors. She organized a volunteer fair at Acalanes that was a big success. She hopes her foundation will continue and is looking for someone else to continue, so that all her hard work is not lost. Globally she volunteered with the green school alliance which helps school become sustainable. It was the Community Outreach program that gave our Scholarship Committee a glimpse into her conscientious “follow-through.” She organized the successful sneaker drive each year, which collected shoes from the students and brought money into the Scholarship fund. Outside of school,Jenna has worked tirelessly all 4 years with Friends of the Library at the Lafayette Library. She found that she really enjoyed her time helping in the Lafayette library. We know that Jenna will continue to serve her community and world as she heads to Skidmore College in upstate New York for study in environmental science.
MIA POLICHIO Campolindo High School Class of 2025
This year’s AAUW scholarship recipient from Campo is Mia Polichio. Several things stood out to us about Mia besides her wonderful smile and enthusiasm. She founded the Campo Faith Club to promote religious discussion and curiosity at Campo which turned into the most attended club on campus with 200 members which is an amazing accomplishment today. What stood out to us about that is how Mia met the challenge of campus naysayers by talking to them and inviting them to meetings. That confidence and nonjudgemental mindset is truly impressive.
Mia also exhibited leadership with the Contra Costa Foster Family Network where she started and led the Foster Family Support Club to hold drives, educate peers, and create volunteer opportunities. She is also an accomplished athlete, Senior Team Captain of the Campo Varsity Soccer Team, and a very talented singer, cast in the lead role in the Campo production of “The Prom.” And she is a language lover which she discovered on a house-building trip to Tijuana. On that trip she bonded with a 10-year-old Mexican girl and learned that Spanish built more than houses-it built relationships. This encouraged her to mentor kids at Community Reading Buddies in Oakland.
She feels her work as a giver is not done, and hopes a college education will open doors to professions that value serving others. She plans to expose herself to opportunities her tiny home town never knew existed. She strives to connect with professors and students, get involved in service groups that benefit from her talents and achieve her goal of Spanish fluency.
Mia is planning on attending Notre Dame through the Gateway Program as a co-enrolled student at Holy Cross and Notre Dame her freshman year, but ultimately graduating with the Notre Dame class of 2029!
Please Donate to Support Our Scholarship Program
You can donate by:
Making your donation on-line with your credit card using the DONATE link at top right of this page. (Enter scholarship on memo line)
- Sending a check with your donation to the Branch treasurer. Donations should be made out to the AAUW OML Community Outreach Fund. Please write “scholarship” on the memo line of the check. Send your check to: AAUW OML Treasurer, PO Box 6705 Moraga CA 94556
Donations made to Scholarship as part of the AAUW OML Community Outreach Fund are tax-deductible. The Fund is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, EIN 38-3837745.
Thank you for supporting these outstanding young women.