Jennifer Cruz
Jennifer Cruz is from Richmond. She did not take the typical path to her studies at Diablo Valley College. As a latina woman she experienced setbacks. The Lao Family Community Development Organization helped her. She was admitted to a 14 week Cybersecurity Training which was followed by a 150 hour paid internship. Although she experienced housing instability, lacked reliable transportation and at times had to work 2 jobs she was able to complete the program.. She plans to use her scholarship to continue her studies at Diablo Valley College.
Smitha Chandrasekhar
Smitha Chandrasekhar is from San Ramon. She graduated from the University of Washington iSeattle with a major in General Biology. Smitha has worked with her mother through a program called Maitri which is an advocacy group based in the SF Bay Area for women from eight South Asian communities who are experiencing Domestice Violence While volunteering there she had a podcast, Policy Matters, and advocated for the Child Marriage Prohibition Act of 2024. Learning about the CA mandated reporting act through her work in healthcare she noticed the lack in services that were available after medical staff were obligated to report their patients’ domestic partnership violence. While at U of W decided to Study Abroad in England and focused on how publicly accessible healthcare differs on a global level. This led to her being a clinical research aid who focused on better treatment and outcomes for (HGSOC) high grade serous ovarian cancer. In the fall she will be attending the Keck School of Medicine at USC.
