Scholarships A-Z started in 2009 as an online resource with a list of private scholarships that Arizona students could apply for to help pay for college since they don’t qualify for federal or state aid. Today, the organization not only offers that scholarship list, but also helps students apply for them.
It's Immigrant Scholarship Hustle program led by other immigrant youth teaches Phoenix and Tucson students how to tell their stories and learn how to use their lived experiences to expand their education and employment.
“Aside from getting all these awesome workshops on how to write a scholarship essay. They also have a person that works with them to edit their essays one-on-one ‘cause we know that that is really, really important,” said Scholarships A-Z Executive Director Carolina Silva.
Students have told Silva that they enjoy this mentorship services the most because they are able to form a relationship with the reviewers and ask for their help on future scholarship applications.
Scholarships AZ was recently awarded a $25,000 grant from the nonprofit A for Arizona that will allow it to increase the number of students it is able to help and to offer year-round curriculum and mentorship.
“We are really excited to continue building on the amazing curriculum that we have and be able to host things like a networking night or an undoc professionals panel because, guess what, undocumented youth and they become college students,” Silva said.
The organization is also looking to expand access to its service to northern Arizona as well as create programming to help students already in college with internship and networking opportunities so they can find a job after graduation.
