Every year, Soroptimist distributes more than $2.6 million in education grants to about 1,700 women all over the world.
 
Over half of our Live Your Dream Awards recipients are survivors of domestic violence, trafficking or sexual assault. Nearly all of the women and families we serve have overcome enormous obstacles including poverty, teen pregnancy, and drug or alcohol addiction. Live Your Dream Awards recipients may use the cash award to offset any costs associated with their efforts to attain higher education, such as books, childcare, tuition and transportation. 
We invest in women’s education because it transforms lives and communities. The Live Your Dream Awards has been recognized for its effectiveness and long-term impact.
When women attend school they are more likely to have higher paying job opportunities, their families are more likely to have healthier lives and their communities benefit from greater economic impact.

Testimonial

From LYD Recipient, Melanie 

It is with great joy and pride that I send this update on my academic journey and thank you for all that you have done to help me succeed. In May I graduated Summa Cum Laude with my B.A. in Psychology. In addition, I was chosen by our Dean and Associate Dean to represent the College of Science and Engineering (CoSE) as the CoSE Undergraduate Hood Recipient at graduation.

The honor is part of a longstanding tradition in which each of the University’s six academic colleges select one graduate and one undergraduate student for the honor of representing their classmates during the ceremony by wearing their college’s academic hood. There are eight academic departments and 6,000 students in CoSE alone, and I was chosen based on my accomplishments in the classroom, lab, and community. While our ceremony is virtual this year, I am still being honored along with the other eleven hood recipients on the SFSU website and during the virtual ceremony on June 18th, 2020 at 5:30pm.

My accomplishments in the classroom, lab, and community would not have been possible without you. Not only did you give me the gift of education through access, you also gave me an unwavering confidence in myself. Knowing that an entire foundation believed in me and my ability to accomplish my dreams helped me thrive at SFSU. I cannot thank each and every member and donor enough for the impact they have had on not only my life, but my daughter’s life. It is because of the generosity of the Soroptimist Martinez Chapter that I am graduating and able to keep on working towards my dream.

Over the next year I will enter my second year as a Research Assistant in the Relationship, Emotion, and Health Lab at SFSU under the direction of Dr. Sarah Holley. I will also continue being a Teaching Assistant at SFSU, working in women’s health, volunteering with as a Doula at CCRMC, volunteering on the Postpartum Helpline with Postpartum Support International, and raising my daughter, Isabelle, while preparing to apply to graduate school in the fall for my Master’s in Clinical Psychology. I plan to continue on for my licensure as a LMFT specializing in fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum counseling while still staying actively involved in research.