SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED TO GRADUATES OF LAS CALIFORNIAS YOUTH LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

June 8, 2004

The International Community Foundation (ICF) is pleased to announce that a $1,000 scholarship will be awarded to the following students, who will “graduate” from the Las Californias Youth Leadership Program (LCYLP) at an event on June 10, 2004 from 6:30-8:30pm at the Joan Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego:

Student High School College (Fall 2004)
Melissa Campos Scripps Ranch High School Yale University
Alejandro González CONALEP Tijuana Universidad Autónoma de Baja California
Marco Antonio Mendoza CETIS No. 156 Universidad Autónoma de Baja California
Nain Martinez Castle Park High School University of California-Berkeley
Melisa Peña CETYS Centro de Enseñanza Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey
Areli Pérez Castle Park High School University of California-Los Angeles
Ricardo Rozen Torrey Pines High School University of Southern California
Hammurabi Rubio Lázaro Cárdenas Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey
Daniel Santiago CONALEP Tijuana Southwestern Community College
Sorayda Santos Sweetwater High School University of California-San Diego
Yanin Saucedo CETIS No. 58 Universidad Autónoma de Baja California
Rebecca Valenzuela Preuss School UCSD University of California-Santa Cruz
Beatriz Virgen CETYS Cent. de Enseñanza Téc. Y Sup. University of Alberta, Canada

ICF launched this innovative binational youth leadership project in May 2003 with Fundación Internacional de la Comunidad (FIC) in Tijuana, the International Studies Education Project (ISTEP) at San Diego State University, and LEAD San Diego.

The Las Californias Youth Leadership Program is an attempt to nurture a new generation of leaders who embody individual responsibility and possess a strong commitment to leadership and community service with a binational perspective.

LCYLP focuses on under-served and high-achieving Latino high school students from San Diego and Tijuana. The program is free, but the students must be of Mexican descent, be bilingual in Spanish and English, and have a 3.5 grade point average.

To receive the $1,000 scholarship, the students completed a year-long program of educational enrichment, mentoring and job shadowing activities, and community service projects. In addition, the students traveled to Mexico City, Washington, D.C., and New York City to meet with top policy makers and civic leaders. Through these experiences, the students development a unique perspective of the border region where they live.

Daniel Santiago (LCYLP 2004) reflects, “I see the need for young leaders given that so much of the population (in Mexico) is young.” Beatriz Virgen (LCYLP 2004) adds, “I realized that just as I have a lot to learn from the world, society can learn from me…A leader is one who listens and then says, ‘let’s go, we can do it.’”

Nain Martinez (LCYLP 2004) summarized, “I know it is up to us as citizens to invoke change for the betterment of our nations…My world is no longer Chula Vista, Mexico, the Border Region; it is a unification of both Mexico and the United States.”

The event program for the June 10, 2004 ceremony is available on ICF’s Web site at http://www.icfdn.org/aboutus/events/lcylp/LCYLPprogram.pdf. For more information, contact Amy Carstensen at 858-677-2914.