The Leadership in Social Change Awards provide a $5,000 summer internship scholarship for students working in a progressive social change organization. Previous winners have done community organizing, conducted social research, served as advocates and worked on community development projects in places such as Thailand, Senegal, India, Germany, Costa Rica, and Oregon. Graduates have matriculated to graduate programs at Yale, Oxford, NYU, Columbia, Wisconsin and Berkeley.
The 2009 winners of the Social Change Awards are Christina Blanchard and Cristina Delgado.
Christina Blanchard is a junior in English and a student worker in the Department of Music. Christina's goal is simple-to seek equality through Education. She currently strives for that goal as the Programs Coordinator for the OSU Women's Center. She will be doing her summer internship at the Sadie Nash Foundation in New York City. The committee was most impressed with the approaches used by this operating foundation. The Foundation selects students like Christina to work directly with minority middle and high school women to give them leadership skills. This experience will give Christina the opportunity to network with others in the field of nonprofit youth work.
Cristina Delgado is a junior in Political Science and is also receiving a minor in Philosophy. She is on the Political Action Committee for MeCha and works as an office assistance at Community Outreach (Corvallis homeless shelter). Cristina will be working for Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste in Woodburn, Oregon. She will research farmworker issues, conduct outreach, and work on immigration reform through education and will raise donations. She will also explore the provision of legal services to the migrant communities. Cristina is a previous winner of the Manuel Pacheco Award for excellence in the study of diversity and social justice.