The Women’s Empowerment Awards arew unique to Soroptimist International of Rio Vista and their commitment to women and girls in this community. There are two awards that address a gap in the club’s typical awards – specifically, women who are out of high school who struggle to achieve their educational and career goals.
The award grants are:
- $1,000 for schooling or skill-building to complete educational goals
- $2,500, sponsored by Campo’s Engineering, to start or finish an educational program for a S.T.E.M (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) career
You are eligible to apply if you:
- are a woman with primary financial responsibility for yourself
- are attending an undergraduate, graduate degree program, or a vocational skills training program
- have not received an award previously
- have a high school diploma or G.E.D.
- show financial need
Meet the 2024 Women’s Empowerment Award Recipients
2024 WEA Awards were presented to Aurora Hupfer and Jacqueline Leal-Carillo.
Aurora Hupfer received $1,000. She is training to be an ultrasound technician and has an internship at Kaiser. She is a resident of Isleton.
Jacqueline Leal-Carillo is the Recipent of a STEM WEA from Campo EDC for $2,500. She is a biomedical engineering student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Her career goal is to fabricate prosthetics for underserved patients with limb differences. She is a graduate of Rio Vista High School. Presenting the award to Jacqueline was Campos representative, Alyssa Zuniga.
In 2018, the club created the Women’s Empowerment Award to meet a need for women locally who don’t qualify for other Soroptimist International of the Americas and Founder Region sponsored awards programs. The club saw many deserving local women fail to qualify for the Live Your Dream Award because they did not meet its specific requirements.