11 Women Awarded FWSF Scholarships in 2016

Thanks to the generosity of our members, sponsors and supporters, FWSF will award 11 scholarships totaling $90,000 to a remarkable group of young women. Undergraduates will receive $5,000 grants. Graduate students will receive $10,000 grants.

FWSF Honorees 2016 from John Crane Films on Vimeo.

Click on the student's name to read her bio.

Graduate Scholarship Recipients

Jennifer C. Chappell

Dominican University of California

Jennifer Chappell was born in Lancaster, California. She is currently a graduate student at Dominican University, where she is pursuing an MBA with a concentration in strategic leadership. Jennifer received two bachelor’s degrees from Dominican University, where she was President of the History Club and actively helped with Institute of Leadership Series events. Her career goal is to become a financial manager and work her way to becoming a CFO or CEO of a large corporation. Jennifer volunteers within the community to decrease homelessness within the Bay Area. She is also passionate about protecting the rights of children, women, and people with disabilities. One day, she hopes to start a non-profit organization that assists disadvantaged young women to succeed and fulfill their dreams.    

Katherine Hayes

Stanford Graduate School of Business

Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Katie attended Queen's University, where she pursued Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Science degrees. Katie has been working in the financial industry for the past four years, first at Goldman Sachs as an investment banking analyst and most recently at Madison Dearborn Partners as a private equity associate. Outside of work, Katie loves to travel, ski, and run. She serves on as an associate board member for America Needs You, Northshore University Hospital System, and viaHealth. She will be attending Stanford Graduate School of Business this fall and is hoping to continue her career investing in exciting, growing companies.   

Tomisha Miller

Saint Mary's College of California

Tomisha was born and raised in San Francisco, California, and attended Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, receiving an academic scholarship to the University of San Diego. At USD, she played Division 1 basketball for two years and received an undergraduate degree in marketing. Tomisha was Vice President of the Black Student Union and received the African American Student Trail Blazer of the Year Award in May 2015. She currently attends St. Mary's College, pursuing a master’s degree in accounting. Her future goal is to graduate from this program and, right after graduation, sit for the CPA exam. Tomisha’s next plan is to receive a full-time offer at any of the Big Four accounting firms, where she can continue her professional career as an accountant.   

Vineetha Mummadi

Mills College Lorry I. Lokey School of Business and Public Policy

Born and raised in India, Vineetha is passionate about education and has achieved success in becoming an interdisciplinary engineer. She worked as a supply chain engineer in the automobile industry and has an educational background in chemical engineering and energy engineering. Currently, Vineetha is pursuing an MBA in finance and accounting at Mills College Lorry I. Lokey School of Business and Public Policy where she serves as a teaching assistant as well as a graduate assistant. She served as a consultant at two non-profit organizations, OaklandWORKS Alliance and Centro Community Partners in Oakland. Post-MBA, Vineetha wants to lead roles where she can manage and impact financial results in order to add value to a complex manufacturing sector and the associated supply chain. She wishes to sponsor at least one girl’s lifetime education expenses.   

Deanna Ping

Stanford Graduate School of Business

Deanna Ping is a first-year MBA candidate at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. At Stanford, Deanna is a consortium fellow and plans to focus on finance and social impact business. Deanna was born and raised in Fairfield, California, and received a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University. Post-graduation, she accepted a fellowship, and later a full-time committee consultant position, with the California State Senate. As a consultant for the Senate Labor Committee, Deanna handled an expansive issue area portfolio, including workplace discrimination and worker’s compensation as well as family and medical leave. Most recently, Deanna served as a finance analyst for the California Department of Finance, managing the Labor and Workforce Development portion of the governor’s budget.

Stephanie Shaffer

Mills College Lorry I. Lokey School of Business and Public Policy

Stephanie is from Orinda, California. In high school, she played lacrosse, becoming captain during her senior year. Upon graduation, she attended California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California, where she studied city and regional planning. Stephanie received the Errett Family Scholarship and was on the Dean's List. As an active member in Kappa Alpha Theta, she served as VP of Development. She was also a four-year starter on the college lacrosse team, and in 2010, she was awarded Most Outstanding Defensive Player in the nation. Stephanie is pursuing a MBA/MPP at Mills College Lorry I. Lokey School of Business and Public Policy. She aspires to become a financial planner and inspire women to pursue a career in the financial industry.   

Alice Song

Stanford Graduate School of Business

Alice was born in China and spent most of her childhood and teenage years in Georgia. She is currently a private equity investor at GTCR, a leading investment firm with over $10 billion AUM. Prior to her role at GTCR, she worked as an investment banking analyst at J.P. Morgan. As an undergraduate student at Yale, Alice interned at the Yale Investment Office, where she helped manage the university’s endowment and served as Executive Director and CFO of a student-run microfinance organization. Alice is passionate about mentoring and helping LGBT youth find success in their lives and careers and has served for multiple years as Director at Out for Undergrad. Alice will be attending Stanford’s Graduate School of Business this fall.   

Undergraduate Scholarship Recipients

Shubhi Badjatiya

Saint Mary's College of California

Shubhi Badjatiya grew up in Pleasanton, California. She attends Saint Mary's College of California and is majoring in business/finance. Shubhi actively sought out internships to supplement her theoretical education with practical application. She interned with Vista Point Advisors, a boutique investment bank specializing in mergers and acquisitions; Apex Capital, a hedge fund, and interned twice at BlackRock. On campus, she follows her passion for education equity and works to inspire and mentor at-risk youths. In the future, Shubhi hopes to continue a career in financial services and wants to focus on data analytics and business intelligence to drive either financial strategy or corporate strategy. She also hopes to continue her passion for service and education equity.

Kristen Cepriano

Dominican University of California

Kristen Cepriano is an undergraduate business administration major with a dual concentration in accounting and finance. Accepted into the 4+1 Program at the Dominican University Barowsky School of Business, she is concurrently pursuing her MBA in strategic leadership. A Dean’s List honor student for five consecutive semesters and three-year Presidential Scholarship recipient, Kristen is also an ambassador for the Institute for Leadership Studies, member of the Dominican Accounting and Finance Association, and a volunteer for Tax-Aid. Since the age of 16, she has devoted her time to youth mentorship, retreat facilitation, and community outreach as a youth ministry leader at her local church. Upon graduation, Kristen plans to launch her career in financial planning, inspired by her passion to teach low-income individuals how to achieve financial success.   

Nkeiruka Medani

University of San Francisco

Nkeiruka is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of San Francisco, pursuing a major in accounting while minoring in public relations. Her hometown is Federal Way, Washington, and she works three jobs at school while taking 18 credits each semester since her freshman year. As a college freshman, she secured an internship at KPMG, one of the Big Four global accounting firms, and the summer of 2016 will be Nkeiruka’s third summer at the firm. Taking pride in being a leader, she has large aspirations to match. Nkeiruka plans to obtain her CPA, work at a Big Four accounting firm for a few years, become a CFO of a technology or consumer products company, and ultimately start her own non-profit benefitting underrepresented children.

Aliaksandra (Sasha) Tsiatsera

UC Berkeley Haas School of Business

Aliaksandra Tsiatsera is an undergraduate at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, majoring in business administration and minoring in industrial engineering and operations research. Aliaksandra immigrated to the U.S. at the age of nineteen to pursue a fair opportunity as a woman. Being a first-generation student, she self-financed her educational expenses while managing multiple jobs. Prior to UC Berkeley, Aliaksandra attended community college, where she was Vice President of Kiva Microfinance Club. Now, Aliaksandra is consulting a startup with Venture Strategy Solutions Consulting, further solidifying her intention to help clients manage their finances. Aliaksandra earned an internship with KPMG Advisory to learn about internal audit and compliance services. Aliaksandra hopes to start her own financial advisory firm to aid small business growth.   

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