Recipients for Fall 2024 Mary Gates Award
Congrats to Jack, Liliana, and Sabrina for receiving the 2024 Mary Gates Endowment for Students in autumn quarter. This scholarship provides $5,000 disbursed over two quarters and is intended to enhance the educational experiences of undergraduates while they are engaged in research guided by faculty.
Liliana Elizabeth Flores
Award: Mary Gates Research Scholarship
Major: Physics (Bothell)
Mentor: Dr. Paola Rodriguez Hidalgo, Physical Sciences Division, STEM
Jack McFarland
Award: Mary Gates Research Scholarship
Major: Computer Science & Software Engineering
Mentor: Dr. Afra Mashhadi, Computing Software and Systems
Sabrina Prestes Oliveira
LETI participants toured their new community/event center in Everett, where they plan on launching a variety of new initiatives and expanding their capacity to serve the Latino community.
Award: Mary Gates Leadership Scholarship
Major: Data Visualization
Mentor: Sarina Barrett
Visualizing Latino Demographics, Entrepreneurship, and Developing Outreach Strategies for Community Empowerment in WA
Latinos in the United States, while a fundamental part of its history, often face barriers in education, employment, and healthcare. Nonetheless, research has shown that despite limited access to financing, Latino immigrants over-index among entrepreneurs and business owners nationwide, playing a key role in driving economic growth. Latino Educational Training Institute (LETI), founded in Lynnwood, Washington, in 1998 to provide language classes, career training, and cultural events for Latino residents, is a key organization in the region. As LETI expands its reach with a new location in Everett, it seeks to expand avenues for prospective small business owners and vendors, especially women, to develop as leaders and entrepreneurs. Building on the data analysis started during UW-Bothell’s Data for Public Good program in Summer 2024, this project will further assess and visualize the needs of the Everett Latino community, working with local stakeholders to access diverse data sets and evaluate the state of Latino entrepreneurship in Washington and the Puget Sound region. This will provide LETI with not only insights to guide future outreach and program development initiatives but motivational data stories for the community at large. We face a climate of unprecedented fear, misinformation, and discrimination against Latino immigrants. Through community-based geography and strengths-focused demographic analysis, this project will serve as a counterpoint to popular narratives of marginalization and validate LETI’s mission for collective, local empowerment.