eQuality Scholarships just announced its 2023 awards, which will support the education of 25 students in the coming year. Created by PG&E’s lesbian and gay employee resource group (ERG) in 1989, the eQuality Scholarship Collaborative was the world’s first ERG-run scholarship program with its unique focus. The scholarship was developed exclusively for recognizing and fostering students graduating from high school with demonstrated service in support of the LGBTQ community.

After awarding its first $250 scholarship in the summer of 1989, eQuality partnered with the Bay Area Network of Gay and Lesbian Educators, resulting in the program’s first named memorial scholarship. By 2001, when the program adopted the eQuality name, it had garnered participation from other ERGS, nonprofits, and individuals—creating a truly collaborative program.

By 2007, what started as a modest $250 scholarship had grown into over $100,000 in annual rewards. Today, with the addition of the 2023 awards, the cumulative total given to students by the eQuality Scholarship Collaborative exceeds $2,000,000.

With Horizons Foundation serving as a fiscal sponsor of eQuality, we are proud to share and introduce the 2023 winners below:

Receiving the Adolph Y. Bremerman, Jr. Scholarship:

These scholarship awards have been made possible by the generosity of the estate of Adolph Y. Bremerman, Jr. and are awarded to students graduating from Oakland high schools. One anonymous student joins those listed below.

Rochelle Berdan (they/them)

• Graduating from Oakland High School
• Going to UC Merced to study Critical Race and Ethnic Studies

Deric Chau (he/him)

• Graduating from Skyline High School
• Going to UC San Diego to study Public Health with a concentration in Community Health

J’Dan Jordan (they/them)

• Graduating from Coliseum College Prep Academy
• Going to UC Merced to study English

Ashkan Kashani (he/they)

• Graduated from Oakland School for the Arts
• Attending Laney College in Oakland

Stephanie Mojica-Estrada (any pronouns)

• Graduating from Coliseum College Prep Academy
• Going to San Jose State to study Forensic Science/Criminal Investigation

Xander Vazquez (they/them)

• Graduating from Oakland School for the Arts
• Attending UC Berkeley to study Ethnic Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies

Receiving the Dan Barber Memorial Scholarship:

Owen Salmon (he/him)

• Graduating from Acalanes High School in Lafayette
• Going to USC to study Sociology

Receiving the Rasmussen-Barber Scholarship:

Sohini Halder (she/her)

• BS from UCLA in Human Biology and Society
• Attending UCSF School of Medicine

Receiving the Hsu-Chambers Scholarship:

Jason Skerik (he/him)

• Graduating from City College of San Francisco
• Going to Towson University in Maryland to study Psychology

Receiving the Lester Marks Scholarship:

These scholarship awards have been made possible through the generosity of Lester Marks, who provided for these scholarships in his estate.

Paul Gontard (he/they)

• Graduating from Alameda High School
• Going to attend Stanford

Serenity Lam (they/them)

• Graduating from Lowell High School in San Francisco
• Going to CSU Northridge to study Cinema and Television Arts

Receiving the PFLAG San Jose/Peninsula Scholarship:

One anonymous student joins those listed below.

Ruby Carter (she/they)

• Graduating from Notre Dame High School in San Jose
• Going to Barnard College in New York to major in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Belly Laird (they/any)

• Graduating from San Mateo High School
• Going to USC Kaufman School of Dance

Pragya Natarajan (she/her)

• Graduating from Cupertino High School
• Going to George Washington University to study Political Science

Jacqueline Pham (she/they)

• Max Heckler Memorial Scholar
• Graduating from Evergreen Valley High School in San Jose
• Going to UC San Diego to study Sociology

Brevin Reed (he/his)

• PFLAG/Crocker & Jolly LGBTQ Achievement Scholar
• Graduating from Homestead High School in Cupertino
• Going to UC Davis to study Political Science

Tania Torres (she/her)

• Graduating from South San Francisco High School
• Going to Boston University to study English

Receiving the Genentech Scholarship:

Ryan Bohannan (he/him)

• MS in Medical Sciences from Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona
• Finishing his third year in the College of Osteopathic Medicine

Cori DeLisi (she/they)

• Finishing second year at California Health Sciences University in Clovis

Q Licht (he/him)

• Graduating from Scotts Valley High School
• Going to UC Davis to study Biochemical Engineering

Receiving the PG&E PrideNetwork Scholarship:

One anonymous student joins those listed below.

Sala des Rosiers (she/they)

• George Kronenberger Memorial Scholar
• Graduating from Analy High School in Sebastopol
• Going to Stanford

Reed Jadzinsky (he/him)

• Graduating from Palo Alto High School
• Going to Reed College to study Environmental Science