WLI Scholarship

WLI selects three women each year to receive scholarships enabling them to continue their education. The awards include the $3,000 Frances Hesselbein Award granted to an outstanding minority woman and two WLI scholarships, usually in the amount of $1500 each, given to outstanding candidates. In light of additional resources available at this time, council voted to increase the WLI scholarships to $2000. Our awardees are pursing educations in psychology, nursing and social work. The Frances Hesselbein awardee grew up in Guyana and has overcome great adversity, becoming a strong, determined woman of great spirit.
 
FRANCES HESSELBEIN SCHOLARSHIP WINNER 2012: Simone C. Phillips, Muhlenberg College
When the Scholarship Committee learned about all Simone Phillips has done and the remarkable woman she has become, we had no hesitation that she was most deserving of the Francis Hesselbein Scholarship.  Born to a fourteen-year-old mother in dire poverty in Guyana, South America, subjected to abuse as a child, and told she would never amount to anything -she had much to overcome.  Simone credits her healing and ability to focus on what is positive in her life to her mentor and therapist.  She has no regrets and no hatred, and she has infused her life with a spirit of gratitude and a determination to give back.  She lives by “whatever is given to me, I will give away.”  In that spirit, Simone has volunteered with the Junior League of the Lehigh Valley; Truth for Women, a non-profit reaching out to women subjected to domestic violence and sex trafficking; and the local prison system, where she shares her life experience with women.

Simone currently works in healthcare at Atria, an assisted living facility.  She is the sole support of two daughters.  She is currently a psychology major at the Wescoe School of Muhlenberg College.  After she graduates in 2013, she plans on attending Chestnut Hill College to obtain a master’s degree in psychology.   She writes, “I want to dedicate my life to helping women and adolescent girls break the cycle of abuse and lack of education.”  The Women’s Leadership Initiative is honored to award Simone C. Phillips this year’s Frances Hesselbein Scholarship.

WLI SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS: 2012  Estelle Armstead and Doreen Dia

Estelle Armstead, Lehigh Carbon Community College
Estelle is indeed a woman for whom Mark Twain’s adage about age rings true: “It’s mind over matter; if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” A youthful baby boomer, Estelle’s philosophy is to keep moving. Estelle is studying nursing at Cedar Crest College, but plans on transferring to LCCC, and in the fall she will enter the nursing program there. She currently is a per diem worker for Hospice and volunteers for Lehigh Valley Hospital and the American Cancer Society. Estelle does all this in addition to aiding the recuperation of her husband of many years, who suffered a stroke three years ago. Together they raised seven children and at this stage of their lives, they are planning on opening a live-in home for the elderly and disabled when Estelle completes her education. WLI is honored to award Estelle Armstead a WLI scholarship.


Doreen Dia, Northampton Community College
Doreen has accepted great responsibility at a young age. She is committed to her studies at NCC with the goal to become a social worker. She is a wife and mother to a baby, and she has joined a service learning program through which she will mentor at The Children’s Home of Easton. She currently works with children from the home and from the Boys and Girls Club in Bethlehem. The eldest of five children and the second eldest of thirty-four grandchildren, Doreen is the first in her family to have graduated from high school. She is determined to also be the first to graduate from college. As a social worker, Doreen knows she will never be rich, but as she puts it, “It’s not about the pay; it’s about making a difference, big or small, in a child’s life.” With this scholarship, Doreen says she will continue her education and prove that “hard work pays off in the end.” We are delighted to offer a WLI scholarship to Doreen Dia.