ITWomen Awards 8 More Scholarships for Girls Pursuing Technology & Engineering Degrees

We have awarded eight more college scholarships to help girls pursue technology and engineering degrees.  ITWomen presented certificates for four-year renewable scholarships of $8,000 each at an awards dinner for the scholarship winners and their families. The event was hosted by Citrix at its Fort Lauderdale headquarters on June 1.

Since 2004, ITWomen has provided over $624,000 in 106 scholarships through our annual fundraisers supported by the IT community in South Florida.

The 2018 recipients were selected from many worthy applicants across South Florida’s Tri-County area. “It was very tough to narrow down. The winners stood apart due not only to their academic accomplishments, but also for their work in giving back to others,” said ITWomen president Claire Marrero.

Special thanks goes out to Dr Susan Clemmons for chairing the Scholarship Committee, and to Shawna Cartwright for joining the Selection committee.

The scholarships this year also show how ITWomen youth programs are Inspiring, Educating and Empowering  girls to dream of a future in technology.

Claire noted three examples:

• “One of the young ladies selected was inspired by a field trip to World Fuel to choose a career in Computer Science. “
• “Another girl was inspired to change her career direction by attending ITWomen Robotics & Coding Summer Camp. Thanks to Noel Picinich, one of our current scholars at Cornell, for the gift of coding, and to Patricia Mundarain, our Executive Director, for making the the Robotics camp fun!” Claire added.
• “Another scholarship winner is a student who graduated Pace Center for Girls Miami and who has overcome incredible obstacles. She was inspired to pursue a Degree in Computer Science by our Robotics On the Go program, thanks to Patricia’s energy!”

Jo Moskowitz, Citrix’ Director of Corporate Citizenship, welcomed this year’s recipients and their families to enjoy another special evening to celebrate their accomplishments. This dinner enabled the girls to connect with ITWomen Board Members and meet more women in tech from Citrix, in addition to being able to form relationships with their fellow Scholars.

ITWomen board member Margaret Brisbane will be connecting each winner with a volunteer mentor.

The girls also received some incredible dorm goodies thanks to donations, including:

• HP Laptops courtesy of ITWomen’s George Snow Reserves
• Kuerig Coffee Makers, Coffee Suppliers & Citrix Backpacks, thanks to Jo Moskowitz, Citrix.
• Gift Cards from Arlene DeMita and Jen Boyer.
• An inspiring Leadership Book and USB power pack from Raj Rawal. 

The girls and their families were truly overwhelmed with everyone’s generosity, and there were a few tears, captured by Citrix marketing intern Destiny Arlotta, our photographer for the evening,

We proudly present the ITWomen scholarship winners for 2018:

Amanda AlvarezEmbry Riddle Areonautical University – Areospace Engineering
South Broward High School

Aaminah Hussain
University of Florida, Engineering
Hialeah Gardens High School ** Inspired at World Fuel Field Trip

Cynthia Quispe – Miami Dade College / FIU (Computer Science)
Pace Center for Girls Miami ** Inspired at Robotics on The Go Camp

Hayley Piper
Dartmouth College, Computer Science
Dr Michael Krop Senior High

Arianna Walters
UCF Computer Science
Jose Marti MAST Academy

Emilia Hernandez
UCF, Computer Science
Nova High School *** Inspired by our Summer Robotics Program

Fariha Raza
University of Florida, Computer Science / Engineering
Miami Springs Senior High

Daejah Walker
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Engineering
School for Advanced Studies

Post by Christine Zambrano