2025 Scholarship Winners
Supporting leaders in action, High School and beyond.
We are pleased to report that the California Jaycee Foundation is strong, supporting the Jaycee movement now and well into the future.
The California Jaycee Foundation (CAJCF) annually gives at least four scholarships of $1,000 to graduating California high school seniors. This year the selection was from eighty candidates whose applications were EXCELLENT. The CAJCF nominates two of the academic awardees and one vocational awardee to the USJCI Senate for consideration in the awarding its 35 scholarships of $1,500 across 50 states. Because of the generosity of our individual sponsors we were able to dramatically increase the number of scholarships granted beyond last year to TWELVE ! Thanks to our generous sponsors, all of whom were JCI officers now successful in business and professional careers. A good demonstration of the power Jaycees provides to young people that keeps on giving for decades afterwards.
Here's a quick look at the background of the top academic & vocational education candidates for California, each of whom receives a $1,000 scholarship from the CAJC Foundation. Congratulations to all of them!​
Meilani Abraham aspires to become a compassionate nurse practitioner in building healthcare equity in underserved communities. While interning at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center she is already tackling a critical health care problem by researching ways to reduce central line-associated bloodstream infections. She is also highly dedicated to her community as evidenced through extensive volunteer work with organizations such as the San Francisco VA Health Care System, the Alameda County Community Food Bank, Loaves and Fishes Family Kitchen, and Operation Christmas Child. Meilani is the founder and coordinator of Project Hygiene, an initiative to distribute hygiene packages from local hospitals to the Oakland area. At Saint Mary’s College, she demonstrates leadership in the National Honor Society Reading Buddies afterschool program, for the Varsity Softball team (as starting pitcher and shortstop), and she is both a Classical Pianist and the Pep Band Flutist. Meilani plans to pursue a major in Health and Human Sciences.
Meara Fay is passionate about both women’s rights and the stigmatization of mental illness, and she plans on a career in psychology so that she can aid and advocate for those with addiction and substance abuse issues. Meara served on the Youth Advisory Council for the Beach Cities Health District and created district-wide awareness campaigns on teen alcoholism, drug abuse, and mental health. Meara also excelled in Journalism as Entertainment and Opinion editor and graphic designer for Redondo Union’s nationally acclaimed newsletter and as their Yearbook Editor and Writer. As President of the Interact Club -Rotary International, she dedicated over 600 hours of community service volunteer hours and donated over 300 supply bags to aid LA homeless population. Meara is also a strong leader, for both the Feminism Club and the Youth & Government, and in her spare time has over 10 years of being an internationally competitive Irish Dancer. The future is bright for this young woman who consistently demonstrates compassion, kindness, and caring to help others and make a positive impact.
Matthew Sugiyama advocates for elder fraud protections to educate others about the prevalence of elder fraud scams and to protect victims of financial elder abuse. Through a multifaceted approach, Matthew created a petition to support safeguards to protect victims (CA Senate Bill 278), he created an educational website to spread awareness and provide resources, and he published an extraordinary op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle that focused on his grandmother’s brutal victimization at the hands of financial scammers. He was the first teenager to speak and present at the Legal Assistance for Seniors Annual Elder Abuse Conference in its 18 yr history. He is also involved with the Asian American Pacific Islander Youth Rising Board educating youth about untold stories of Asians in U.S. History, and as an Act to Change Youth ambassador, he works against the impact of bullying on Asian communities and provides strategies for resilience.
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At Campolindo, Matthew is the Varsity Football Team Captain, ASB Commissioner of Student Spirit, State Youth Ambassador for the CA Youth Think Tank (and their 2024 Leadership Award), and Team Leader for the Wharton Global Youth Investment Competition. Among his many honors and awards, he is a President’s Volunteer Service Award Gold recipient, and the Best Leader Award for Mery University Summer Business Leadership Academy. As Vice-President of the 10,000 Lunches Club, he coordinated bi-weekly distribution of sandwiches to alleviate hunger in homeless communities. He also is the Founder and President of Lion’s Heart Lamorinda Chapter, and his group completed almost 1900 hours of community service including tutoring, assisting food banks, and conducting bullying prevention workshops. With his focus on driving positive change, Matthew is an impressive leader who is destined to make a powerful impact in our world.
Katherine Verrando experience in advocating for peers on important global issues has solidified her aspiration for a career in public service where she can create positive change through cyber diplomacy to cultivate global peace. Her leadership roles include Founder of Changemakers Student Leadership Team, Executive Director of The World in Us, and Curriculum Development Intern at the Institute for Youth in Policy. She gives voice to youth in education serving as the sole student representative on the State of California’s Instructional Quality Commission representing nearly 6 million K-12 public school students in California. Among her many exceptional honors and awards, she was selected as an AFS Global STEM Academies Scholar, represented Aliso Niguel HS at California Girls State, and participated in the U.S. Dept of State National Security Language Initiative for Youth.
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​At Aliso Niguel High School, Katherine maintained a 4.65 GPA and earned National AP Scholar with Distinction while serving as Class President for three years, ASB Secretary, and recently served as the student representative to the Capistrano Unified Schools District Board of Trustees. In the Key Club Division 04 South, she represented 300 Key Club members across 10 schools and organized to raise funds for Key Club supported charities. She worked as a Congressional Intern in CA-40 District Office and interned with Youth Mentoring Action Network. Katherine’s exacting standards of academics and passion for public service will guide her well into the future. She plans to pursue a major in Intelligence and Cyber Operations to foster political stability and protect digital infrastructure as a cybersecurity analyst.
Chloe Chou has a passion to work in interdisciplinary fields to unite her love of STEM with the humanities to offer broad applications to help her communities. She is California’s State Youth Poet Laureate, chosen from a most competitive applicant pool, and who has spoken at Urban World’s Institute for Poetry & Praxis as well as at county and state events of over 1,000 people. She is also the Founder and Editor in Chief at Cloudy Magazine, a service project for Daly City to unite and highlight youth voices in art and writing. This mission fosters a global community of young artists and writers, and she has reviewed over 550 submissions from over twenty-five countries to celebrate diverse perspectives that unite individuals worldwide.
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At Westmoor, her work in STEM centers on community building as Founder and President of the school’s Hack Club. As the Head of Fundraising at Robotics for All, a national non-profit, she teaches computer science to K-8 students. Her leadership continues as Class VP, ASB Treasurer, VP of the Ping Pong Club and Varsity Tennis Team member, and then she also serves as president of Jefferson Union District’s Youth Advisory Board. She earned congressional recognition from the US House of Representatives, CA State Senate and Legislature, and three President’s Volunteer Service Gold Awards for over 450 hours of volunteer work. Chloe is the Daly City Youth of the Year. She has won numerous national and local poetry and writing awards and in STEM was named the FBLA State Champion in Website Design. Her commitment to civic engagement and community service is exemplary. Chloe plans to attend Stanford University where she will major in Computer Science and Digital Humanities.
Sanghyuk (Eric) Ko has a deep interest in organic chemistry research, the magic of synthetic chemistry, and he aspires to pursue a career in medicine. His research at the Njoo Lab on the anti-cancer properties of andrographolide demonstrates both his passion and ability to contribute to meaningful scientific discovery. He also dreams of closing the gap in healthcare inequality.
At Homestead High, he is the Co-founder of the Bloom Institute, a student-run nonprofit aimed to spread Career Technical Education topics under/unfunded by schools like financial literacy, art, and law that foster dreams and curiosity through 27 online courses, an international competition, in person events, and which impacts over 1,000 students worldwide. As Chapter President of Future Business Leaders of America, he led 22 officers and 300 members, mentored 37 students, and won national competitions proposing social entrepreneurship solutions with recognition from US Senator Alex Padilla and other city mayors. For Quizizz, an EdTech company based in India, he is the IQAPS Program Co-Founder and Director, where he launched English speaking internships for youth in economically developing regions with 175 plus ambassadors from 6 US states and 9 countries. Sanghyuk is also on the Cupertino Teen Advisory Council to promote STEM in the community, serves as ASB Club Commissioner, and has All-State Honor Band and Orchestra awards playing the French Horn. His leadership and academic prowess are impressive, and he is heading to the University of Pennsylvania to major in Chemistry.
Nathaniel Sherman has a passion for engineering because of its potential to make a positive impact and where he can combine his love of learning and creativity to bring about practical solutions and positive change. He aspires to create new technologies, solve environmental issues, and expand access to resources in underprivileged areas. He plans to pursue Mechanical Engineering as his major in college.
At Kelseyville, Nate is ranked #1 in the Senior Class, and he is active in his school and community. He’s Captain of the Golf Team, Co-Captain of the AG Mechanics Welding Team and served as an ASB officer for all 4 years. He’s also Squad III Leader for KCORPS (high school search and rescue squad on call 24/7/365 to search for missing persons). Outside of school, Nate was awarded Supreme Grand Champion for Agricultural Mechanics at the County Fair, the Star Chapter Farmer award in the FFA organization, and he became a certified welder. As a steadfast community volunteer, he feeds the hungry monthly through Catholic Charities Rural Food Projects, works for the Passion Play, THAT Ranch Pumpkin Patch, Knights of Columbus, and he honors Veterans by playing Taps for Wreaths Across America. The future definitely looks bright because of Nathaniel’s dedicated, caring, and industrious efforts!
Sophia Tang is planning her future to be the intersection of data science and environmental science to develop innovative solutions for those who are impacted by climate change. At the American Geophysical Union International Conference, she was recognized with the Outstanding Student Presentation Award (top 2 % of 9,000 presentations, contributing to fighting global warming). Collaborating with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), she led a project forecasting wildfire emission and was published in Journal of Student-Scientists Research. With the National Science Foundation, she analyzed correlation between PM2.5 air quality and asthma rates earning the Best Presentation Award at the UCSD CLEAR Symposium. Her leadership also extends as Chief Action Officer for the Green Future Alliance. With a firm belief that individual actions matter as well as collaborative efforts, she set up repurposing workshops with other students to make practical items from what would otherwise be environmental waste, and she also created a Backyard Biomes website of region-specific native plants listing and taught tree planting using the Miyawaki Method.
At Del Norte High, her leadership is strong as Team Captain for Varsity Cross Country and track, Co-President of The Featheralist, and Website Manager of nonprofit STEM Accelerates Girls’ Excellence (SAGE). Sophia also wrote for Reinvented Magazine, initiated and hosted the first youth subforum for the United Nations Global Outstanding Youth Ambassador of Green Practices. She participated in CyberPatriot and led a climate advocacy campaign for the California Youth Climate Policy Leadership Program. She volunteered over 250 hours and earned the President’s Volunteer Service Award Gold, is a 2025 National Merit Semifinalist, a Climate Science Olympiad Semifinalist, dedicated pianist and Chinese Zither performer, all while maintaining a GPA of 4.55. In college, this distinguished young woman plans pursue a major in Environmental Engineering and follow her passion of sustainability towards positive change in the world.
Sydney Zhang has a passion for biological research and created an innovative “EyeScore” mHealth smartphone app for early dry eye diagnosis enabling patients to use it for daily in-home eye exams at no cost. His EyeScore project was recognized with the Best Abstract Award from 782 international submissions at the 2023 American Association of Clinical Chemistry Annual Conference. His app is in testing in large clinical settings validating its potential as a point-of-care diagnostic tool. Sydney’s impressive results were published in a peer-reviewed scientific Journal of Clinical Medicine. He was also selected as one of twenty-five global youth leaders to speak at the United Nations Science Summit (UNGA79), presenting his efforts to improve vision health while representing the voices of next-generation young global scientists.
At Westview High, Sydney founded and is the CEO of VisionCure, a student led 501(c)3 nonprofit aimed at improving vision health for seniors and low-income families. He was VP of the National Honor Society, Team Captain for the Boys Tennis JV Team, Founder and President of their Magic Tricks Club, and tutored AP level STEM subjects. He also was the Representative for the Greater San Diego Science and Engineer Fair and the California State Science Fair, winning awards including Life Science, the Regeneron Biomedical Science Award, and Computational Systems. He is inducted into the National Gallery for America’s Young Inventor, is a Civics Unplugged Innovators Fellow, and is headed to Stanford University with a major in Biology. He plans to “innovate and address gaps in healthcare accessibility, transforming blurry, overlooked issues in healthcare into clear solutions that change lives.”
Corey Unamoto has leadership skills and passion to pursue entrepreneurship that will be effective in the world to improve life for others. As CFO of Inferno – Engineering Design & Development, Corey leads the finance department of a start-up company working on a reusable dual rocket, detachable drone, and control towers. As Superintendent Liaison on the Student Advisory Committee for the Long Beach Unified School District, he represents over 63,000 district students in advocating for equity grading. With the LBUSD Community Coalition, he helped to advance VISION 2035 to make education equitable, excellent, and inclusive. As Business Lead for FIRST Robotics, he managed his team’s $50K budget and developed branding. In a Pokemon-themed technology video, he used thematic appeal to simplify engineering vocabulary for elementary students. Disney Dreamers Academy recently selected Corey to be 1 of 100 nationwide student winners to attend their upcoming Leadership Summit to engage with expert mentors.
At CAMS, Corey is the Senior Class VP, served as Athletic Commissioner, and is now ASB President, leading fundraising events and he pioneered the school mascot rebranding from CAMS Rebel to CAMS Coyote. As Key Club International Lieutenant Governor (LTG), he leads eleven local Key Clubs and chartered one, where he volunteers his time to help communities with many service and fundraising initiatives. Serving as President, prior to becoming LTG, his notable contributions in service, fundraising, and increasing the Kiwanis Family impact led to him receiving the Dr. Harr Distinguished President Award. Corey plans to major in business/economics and finance in college and in the future become an executive within the entertainment industry to create joy in communities.
Sofia Villacorta is an exceptionally talented young woman who is serious about mechanical engineering and shines outside of the classroom in finding ways to impact, help, and uplift others. She represents her hometown, recognized as a Distinguished Young Woman of Corona. Sofia is also the Malama Co-founder, Dragon Kim Foundation Fellow, and a Dragon Challenge Finalist (one of five finalists out of seventy projects across California). To address the endemic of elderly loneliness and detrimental physical and emotional effects, Malama provides hula performances, crafts, and conversation for the elderly and U.S. Military veterans, and her work has reached more than 2,500 people. A competitive hula dancer, she also wins awards for her hula studio in both the soloist and team categories.
At Fairmont Preparatory Academy, Sofia enrolled in the Advance Science & Engineering Program. Her STEM team entered multiple competitions with their LotICE Development idea that used nanotechnology to coat airplane wings so they would repel water and ice, removing the need for de-icing. Their idea won the Conrad Challenge, and a provisional patent was filed to bring their invention to life. Her other team, AstroPaws, was named a NASA Space Apps Global Finalist, in the top forty teams out of 5,500 plus that entered. They created a website to advertise NASA’s hypothetical Office of Space Tourism with interactive 3D models that allow users to walk around all eight planets, have a rocket design with special amenities, and have itineraries for each planetary destination. As part of a Boeing Company High School Internship, she created a preliminary design for a future Lunar Resupply Mission, such as the Artemis Mission. Sofia also participates in the school ASB leadership and achieved a 4.79 GPA. She has been accepted at Duke University where she plans to major in Mechanical Engineering.
Hailey L has chosen to major in nursing in college because she believes that a career in nursing aligns with her core beliefs of making a difference in the lives of others through kind acts and through strong character qualities used to benefit those others. After overcoming adversity from the devastating Camp Fire in Paradise, CA, Hailey asked and answered many tough questions about the meaning and purpose of life. She came to the understanding and intent for her life to be focused on people, relationships, and community.
At CORE Butte High, she was captain of the Varsity Volleyball Team and earned the All-League Award while also playing on several club Volleyball teams. In the Patient Care CTE, she pursued the American Sign Language Pathway. In the California Scholarship Federation, she focused on community service hours and college prep. Among her volunteer activities, she helped in her church’s daycare, she built housing for needy families in Mexico through Youth with A Mission, and she gave a Foster Care Advocacy Speech and met with the founders of Foster the Family Chico. She also honed her leadership skills through the Impact 360 Institute and followed a rigorous classical education in the Chico Community through Classical Conversations. She found a genuine appreciation for debate and critical thinking, won First Place in the National Latin Exam, and played the lead defense attorney in the Mock Trial. Hailey is a compassionate and exceptional young woman who will make a tremendous future impact through nursing and serving others.