Meet the 2017 Golden Colibri Grant Recipient!

We are pleased to announce that Soror Maria Zepeda from Beta Pi Chapter at Yale University has been selected as this year’s winner for our highly competitive Golden Colibri Grant.

“Growing up in poverty and spending my professional experience working with poverty-ridden communities gives me unique insight into the everyday challenges that keeps families from upward mobility. I have experienced the life-changing impact that nonprofits can provide to struggling families and am cognizant of the management and policy challenges that nonprofits face.  Therefore, I aspire for a career where I can fully utilize my strengths and personal experiences to contribute a novel perspective to the issues that inhibit the upward mobility of the working class.”

Zepeda will be attending the Evans School at the University of Washington in the Fall 2017 to pursue a Masters of Public Administration that will allow her to “bridge the research happening at universities, provide nuances to the findings, and find thoughtful ways to implement policy changes,” as she passionately stated.  She will be able to connect with stakeholders that have a role in alleviating poverty and refine her analytical, advocacy and leadership skills thanks to the West Coast Poverty Center that exists in her university that will give her the hands-on experience she seeks to excel in her field.