LANL FOUNDATION NEWS

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of its 2021 Bright Futures Fundraising Campaign, with the goal of raising $100,000 additional dollars for its scholarship program. Throughout the campaign, the Foundation will share the stories of current LANL Scholars and alumni who reflect on how the LANL Foundation Scholarships have helped them build brighter futures. The Foundation will also share donors’ stories, through which they explore why they are inspired to give to the LANL Foundation Scholarships. 

Since 1999, the LANL Foundation, in partnership with the Los Alamos Employees’ Scholarship Fund (LAESF), Triad National Security, Anchorum St. Vincent/Christus St. Vincent, and private donors, has awarded more than 2,000 scholarships valued at $8.5 million to students from a seven-county region of Northern New Mexico (Los Alamos, Mora, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, and Taos). 

“Each year, the Foundation has to turn away two-thirds of our well-qualified and deserving applicants. With greater community support, we can continue meeting the ever-growing demand for scholarships from students who live in the seven-county region that the LANL Foundation serves,” Tony Fox, Vice President, Institutional Advancement & Scholarship said. “If you want to help more Northern New Mexico students realize their dreams, please donate to the Bright Futures Campaign.”

Below are abridged stories from a few LANL Scholars and alumni. The stories in their entirety are found on the Campaign page, lanlfoundation.org/future:

• Larissa Scott, a graduate of the Santa Fe Indian School, received the John & Marti Browne Leadership Scholarship in 2021. She says, “This scholarship was a huge benefit for my family, allowing us to focus on the academic aspect. It allowed me to open my options for college. I applied to 12 schools, and four Ivy League schools, and I got into Stanford University. The great thing about this scholarship is that it focuses on community.”
  
• Alyvia Hogan, a graduate of Mandela International Magnet School, received the John & Marti Browne Leadership Scholarship in 2020 and attends Depauw University. She says, “Seeing a young Hispanic female go out and explore the world and get a higher education is really important and I hope it inspires a lot of people to pursue their dreams and apply to their dream schools.”
  
• Edgar Sarceno, a graduate of Santa Fe High School, received the John & Marti Browne Leadership and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Scholarships in 2019. Now a rising junior at Bates College, Edgar is pursuing a bachelor of science in Physics and plans to pursue a graduate degree in the same field. Edgar will intern at Los Alamos National Laboratory, about which he says, “Without the support I received as a LANL Scholar, I don’t think I would have been as comfortable applying to work at the Laboratory.
  Interning somewhere else wouldn’t have been as meaningful as coming back to my home community.”
  
• Evelyn Juarez, a graduate of Española Valley High School, is a self-described first-generation immigrant DACA student, who received the Silver Scholarship in 2016. She graduates from Northern New Mexico College in May 2021 with a bachelor of science in Biology and a Health Sciences concentration, and will be a NNMC student regent for the next two years. She says, “Because of the LANL scholarship, I will pursue a career as a physician. I would love to come back and serve rural Northern New Mexico. Because of the donors, I am confidently and passionately pursuing my dreams.” 

In 1998, the Foundation was created in response to a need for education equity in Northern New Mexico. Scholarships administered by the LANL Foundation support graduating high school seniors and current undergraduate students pursuing a four-year degree in any field of study. All recipients maintain primary residence in one of the seven Northern New Mexico counties surrounding the Los Alamos National Laboratory and have demonstrated excellence in academic achievement, leadership, and service, as well as met rigorous academic and merit-based requirements. Scholarship amounts range from $1,000 to $20,000 with certain awards focused on students pursuing degrees in education, nursing, health care, engineering, business, STEM, or the arts. 

To learn more about our Bright Futures Campaign, view the students’ inspirational stories, and to donate to the campaign, please visit lanlfoundation.org/future. 

About LAESF
The Los Alamos Employees’ Scholarship Fund began in 1998 and gets its name from the main source of donations: Los Alamos National Laboratory employees, contractors, and retirees. Donations also come from community members and local businesses that value education and economic development in the region

About the LANL Foundation (lanlfoundation.org)
Since 1997, the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Foundation has been investing in education, learning, and human potential in Northern New Mexico. Through our diverse programming and collaboration with key partners, we work to ensure that all New Mexicans have the skills and confidence they need to be self-sufficient lifelong learners engaged with their communities. The LANL Foundation is dedicated to supporting college and career readiness by enhancing student access to academic and technical opportunities in schools, districts, communities, Pueblos, Tribes, and Nations.

About Los Alamos National Laboratory (lanl.gov)

Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Triad, a public service oriented, national security science organization equally owned by its three founding members: Battelle Memorial Institute (Battelle), the Texas A&M University System (TAMUS), and the Regents of the University of California (UC) for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.