• A recent immigrant from Vietnam who has maintained a 4.0 GPA while serving as the sole breadwinner of her family after her father had a stroke and could no longer work. Already a certified pharmacy technician, she aspires to become a UNICEF doctor and plans to attend Virginia Commonwealth University.
• A young man who immigrated from Honduras four years ago on his own and supports himself by working 35 hours a week as a custodian while taking AP classes and serving as captain of his high school soccer team and a member of ROTC. After attending Anne Arundel Community College, this Arce-Aviles Family Scholar plans to become a mechanical engineer.
• A recent immigrant from Panama who is currently enrolled in an advanced curriculum mirroring that of Cambridge University in England. Passionate about politics and particularly immigration reform, he is an intern for Montgomery County Council member Nancy Navarro and president of his high school’s Young Democrats Club.  He aspires to become Maryland’s first Latino governor.
• An immigrant from the West African country of Guinea who will graduate at the top of her class with straight A’s in an AP curriculum and has volunteered hundreds of hours at a homeless shelter. An aspiring cardiologist, this Garland-Rojas Family Scholar plans to attend Montgomery College.
• A recent Chinese immigrant who works 50 hours a week managing her family’s restaurant while maintaining a 3.6 GPA. She plans to major in accounting at the University of Virginia at Wise and hopes to one day start her own business.
• A young man who grew up in a rural Bolivian village where education ended at middle school and there was no electricity. After convincing his family to move to a city so that he could continue his education, he immigrated to the United States two years ago and is now getting A’s in IB Math, IB Chemistry, and IB Physics. An aspiring engineer, this Natalia Aragon Scholar plans to attend Virginia Tech.
• An Indian immigrant passionate about politics and economics who has managed a Rockville City Council campaign, won the Economic Challenge State Competition, works 20 hours a week at a check cash depot, and founded the Young Independents Club at his high school, where he is an IB diploma candidate. After attending Montgomery College, this Fred Wang Memorial Scholar hopes to one day start his own micro-finance business.
• A Mexican immigrant who has maintained a 4.5 GPA in an AP curriculum while working 20 hours a week at a restaurant to help support her family. After attending Anne Arundel Community College, this Arce-Aviles Family Scholar plans to become a lawyer who will represent victims of domestic violence.

Each of these students will be paired with mentors in their communities to ensure that they will be able to excel upon arrival at their new colleges and universities.

Keep posted for our next round of scholarships this summer.  With the generous support from the District of Columbia Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs, The Esperanza Education Fund will launch a scholarship program for GED recipients, awarding at least $20,000 in scholarships.

For now, thank you to all of you who made this class of scholars possible–from the over 50 readers who volunteered their time, to the hundreds of donors who have made these scholarships financially possible.  Like our scholars, you are all the best!

The Esperanza Education Fund

This session is the first in the Esperanza Fund’s effort to provide its scholars with both the financial resources–and the social and professional networks–that are critical to academic success.  If you would like to help our Mentorship Committee, by hosting an event, making contacts for our scholars, or in other ways, contact Alice Yao here.

2009 Year in Review

As you read the letter, we hope you will consider making a year-end tax-deductible contribution — and help us to award $100,000 in scholarships next year — by clicking here.

Highlights of our inaugural year include:

• January: Incorporated as a 501(c)(3) public charity.
• March: Launched the capital region’s only college scholarship for immigrant students regardless of ethnicity, national origin, or immigration status.
• May: Awarded $50,000 in college scholarships to six promising immigrant students.
• August: Matched our scholars with mentors from the local community.
• October: Secured a generous grant from the District of Columbia Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs to help start a new scholarship program for GED recipients.
• December: Hosted a gala benefit concert at the Carnegie Institution with renowned pianist Elizabeth Joy Roe.

Best wishes for the new year,

The Esperanza Education Fund

Hailed as “brilliant” (New York Times), “electrifying” (Dallas Morning News), and “an artist to be taken seriously” (Chicago Tribune), Korean-American pianist Elizabeth Joy Roe has captured universal acclaim from critics and audiences alike for her appearances as recitalist, orchestral soloist, and chamber musician. A graduate of the Juilliard School and winner of the William Petschek Piano Debut Recital Award, Ms. Roe has been featured on NPR, BBC, and MTV, and has performed at major venues around the world, including Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York City; the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; Salle Cortot in Paris; Salón Dorado in Buenos Aires; the Seoul Arts Center in South Korea; and the Banff Centre in Canada. Ms. Roe is a Steinway Artist.

We will be running our first race, the Veteran’s Day 10K in Washington, DC, on November 15.  Nine of us, the “phalanx,” if you will, will be running with one of the letters of “ESPERANZA” on our shirts, and will run the course as a group.  If you can actually run, or if you just don’t want to run in line, you can also run solo and join us when we all regroup at the finish line.

Register here and please affiliate yourself with “Team Esperanza.” The registration fee is about $28, including fees.  Please try to register by Friday, October 16. We also ask that registrants raise at least $100 to go towards scholarships although we would love for you to raise more; our hope is that we can raise enough money for one more $5,000 scholarship through this event.  If you run, you will get a free Team Esperanza t-shirt, and, of course, everlasting glory.

To support a runner, please go to our Support section.