May 2022
Hello Cooke Scholars and Alums!
The weather is warming up, and so are activities at the Foundation! We recently welcomed our newest cohort of College Scholars and we’re looking forward to now notifying and welcoming the newest Undergraduate Transfer Scholars in the coming weeks. This past month also saw some in-person Regional Chapter activities resume, and we’re expecting even more this month.
Read more below and find out what’s going on at the Foundation and some of the great things your fellow Cooke Scholars have done recently. Alums, send us an email at alumni@jkcf.org with the latest updates from your life and work, so we can feature you next!
Foundation Buzz
2022 College Scholars
In April, the Foundation announced that 100 graduating high school seniors will join the 49 current Young Scholars selected in February to receive the 2022 Cooke College Scholarship. This year’s recipients will receive up to $55,000 annually to cover costs associated with their undergraduate education. Here is a full list of the 2022 Cooke College Scholars, including the high schools and states they represent.
Compass Feature: Neveen Mahmoud
2002 Young Scholar; 2007 College Scholar, Stanford University
Neveen Mahmoud, a member of one of the first cohorts of Cooke Scholars, has always sought ways to reinvest her education in others. After serving as CEO of Stanford Student Enterprises for several years, she co-founded The Young Vets - a social impact startup that works with underserved student-athletes. Along with corporate partners that include LinkedIn and Adidas, they’ve created a leadership development program that cultivates academic, athletic, personal, and professional skills that help prepare students to have a successful career after sports. To learn more about Neveen’s professional and academic journey, click here.
Community Buzz
New Blog - My Fitness Journey During the Pandemic: Aman Waheed
Aman Waheed remembers 2020 as a time that he allowed himself to get too comfortable as he was working from home and rarely attempted to exercise or make his own meal. Fast forward to mid-2021, when he finally made the decision to reinvest in himself and prioritize self-care. To learn how Aman centered fitness, nutrition, and sleep to improve his well-being and how to make good food tasty and bad food healthy, click here.
Regional Chapter Events in California
This past month, Alums gathered in San Diego and San Francisco for in-person activities after more than two years of “social distancing”. The community gathering involved lots of meals and the Bay Area Alums even went on an eight-mile hike to burn off the food! Alums shared their graduate school and career plans, embraced the beautiful west coast weather, and celebrated an Alum’s birthday! Special shout outs to our Chapter Leaders Ana Parra Vera, Rex Ledesma, and Sarah Schwab for bringing our community together across California!
Upcoming Regional Chapter Events in New York, Boston, and London!
Larry is visiting New York and Boston this month to gather Alums for Regional Chapter activities! Local Alums will be gathering in New York on Saturday, May 14th and Sunday, May 15th, and then in Boston on Saturday, May 21st and Sunday, May 22nd. Also, Cooke Scholar Alum and Chapter Leader Tiffany Carpenter is organizing a dinner in London on Saturday, May 7th. Please email alumni@jkcf.org if you are interested in attending any of these activities.
April Career Pathways Virtual Chat: Pursuing Your Interests Beyond the 9-to-5
On Tuesday, April 26th, Cooke Scholar Alum Stephani Calderón moderated a conversation with fellow Alums Amy McMillen, Derrick Arthur-Cudjoe, Kamal Abuarquob, and Twila Fisher to discuss how they pursue their interests beyond their full-time job. We discussed strategies and approaches to make outside-of-work-time fulfilling and meaningful through building a startup project or business, volunteer work with your community, expressing yourself artistically, or picking up a new skill or hobby. You can check out the video from the event below.
May Career Pathways Virtual Chat: Social Justice Work
Join us on Tuesday, May 24th as the Alumni Engagement Council hosts a conversation with a panel of Alums to discuss how they are involved in Social Justice Work. Come to learn how Alums are engaged in activism and advocating for positive change in their communities. We will be discussing how to lead a career that centers social justice advocacy, their learned experiences, and how to prioritize self-care and restoration in this line of work. A formal invitation will be sent soon, but you can register for the event right now here.
Alumni Buzz
2014 Undergraduate Transfer, University of Central Florida; 2017 Graduate Scholar, University of Miami
This past month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Angel was selected as a Second Chance Fellow! Angel’s fellowship will focus on restoring and enhancing access to education for people with prior criminal justice involvement. Prior to his fellowship, Angel was the Senior Policy Analyst at the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), where he also headed the organization’s Fines & Fees pro bono program and led the organization’s efforts that informed and shaped Covid-19 interventions for individuals who were incarcerated, on supervision or being released.
2015 College Scholar, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach
Courtney recently started a new job at the Last Mile Education Fund - a social impact organization increasing diversity in tech and engineering fields by addressing critical gaps in financial support for low-income underrepresented students. In her new role, she will lead Last Mile’s technology development and data support strategy and implementation. Also, Courtney wants your help to share this Microsoft Cybersecurity Scholarship with current community college students enrolled in a cybersecurity-related program!
2013 Graduate Arts Scholar, Institute of American Indian Arts
This year, Jamie has been teaching an assortment of creative writing workshops with the Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, The Porch in Nashville, and Santa Fe Workshops. Jamie is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Brother, Sister, Mother, Explorer - which the New York Times Book Review describes as a “fableistic, ‘beautifully crafted, poetic’ debut novel of enormous power and grace about a sister trying to hold back her brother from the edge of the abyss.” To follow and check out Jamie’s work, click here.
2009 Young Scholar; 2014 College Scholar, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; 2021 Graduate Scholar, University of Southern California
While Osei is just wrapping up the first year of his MBA program at USC, he also is an audio-preneur who has produced records for major label recording artists as well as audiobooks and podcasts for a host of global publishers and corporate entities. In 2019, he started Dreamakers Studios, a mobile audio production company, and served 100+ clients across Atlanta and Los Angeles including local schools, boutique publishing houses, and Sony Music Entertainment. After graduate school, he hopes to leverage business development skills with his experience in music production to join a record label or music publishing company.
2013 Undergraduate Transfer, Lehigh University; 2018 Graduate Scholar, Northern Arizona University
Do you or someone you know work in a small business or organization building sustainable systems, products, or service? If so, you’ll be interested to learn that Katelyn and her team at Sustainable Earth just launched a brand new Small Business Award. They are giving away 15 awards with individual prizes up to $5,000. Interested parties can Share your digital story and apply for a chance to win by July 1st! Katelyn currently works as the Program Manager at Rob & Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Service, which is housed at Arizona State University.
2013 Undergraduate Transfer, UC Berkeley; 2018 Graduate Scholar, Oxford University
Mandolyn, known by her artist name Mystic, is preparing to release a new album called Dreaming In Cursive: The Girl Who Loved Sparklers - and is a part of what she describes as her “healed Black woman music.” She has been busy shooting the videos for the project, which are collectively called A Black Love Trilogy. Mandolyn is a GRAMMY-nominated hip hop artist who is also an activist, scholar, community educator, home chef and manages Beautiful Soundworks, her independent label. To check out more of and listen to Mystic’s music, click here.
2006 Young Scholar
Ania recently decided to step outside of her comfort zone and start a blog where she plans to share reflections on important events in her life. To read her first post, "Why I love the violin, and how my relationship with it has changed through the years”, click here. In addition to being a concert violinist, Ania is the Co-Founder & CEO at MVMENT - an innovative mobile game that allows you to experience music in an active and fun way. In Fall 2022, Ania will start an MBA degree at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Throwback Photo of the Month
Young Scholars at Scholars Weekend 2006