Committee - Scholarship - Undergraduate
Mission
To sustain the scholarship program and encourage the development of lasting ties between the FWA and Murry Bergtraum High School, by supporting the education of young women and encouraging them to help others through continued involvement in the FWA.
Contact Co-chairs
  Denise Seegobin

Scholarship Recipients
  List of Recipients
  (password required)  

Get Connected
  Link to the Undergraduate Scholarship Group
  (password required)  

Committee Purpose

To forward the organization’s mission by giving financial assistance to promising and deserving young women pursuing business careers. In addition, formal and informal meetings, for both scholarship programs, enable us to offer career guidance and networking opportunities to the next generation of financial women, in keeping with our mission.

Upcoming Events

To be Announced

20th Anniversary of FWA MBHS Undergraduate Scholarships
The Undergraduate Scholarship Program 20th Anniversary Celebration

On January 9, 2008, the FWA was PROUD to celebrate 20 years of college scholarships to hard-working students at Murry Bergtraum High School (MBHS) for Business Careers. Deutsche Bank hosted this year’s reunion dinner at its Wall Street Conference Center. Themed “Cherish the Past: Invent the Future,” the evening was filled with laughter and hugs as former students shared their amazing success stories and their goals ahead. Posters lined the room with pictures collected over the 20 years.

Scholarship Committee Chair Denise Seegobin welcomed mentors, current students, former students, FWA Board members and the MBHS administration to this exciting networking event. FWA President Lily Klebanoff Blake was present to offer words of advice and applause for the continuing relationship between the FWA and MBHS students: several are now FWA members, some have participated in the Wall Street Exchange Program and others are now members of the Baruch mentoring program. Scholarship recipients from 1988-2007 had the opportunity to connect with each other as well as their mentors. Barbara Esmilla (Principal), Ada Colon (Coordinator of Student Activities) and Thomas Zarillo (Assistant Principal) of MBHS were pleased to reconnect with students during this memorable occasion.

Former scholarship recipients were provided with a book to read prior to the student gathering next summer. Mass Career Customization: Aligning the Workplace With Today's Nontraditional Workforce by Cathleen Benko and Anne Weisberg should help our former students navigate their careers in an ever-changing landscape. The event was immortalized through a journal signed by all who attended the event. It will remain in the FWA archives for years to follow.

Reunion Highlights


Mentor Jenene Karamon with our very first scholarship recipient and
Scholarship Co-chair Denise Seegobin


Elizabeth James, FWA President Lily Klebanoff Blake and Farhanna Balgahoom

MBHS is well represented by Ada Colon, Principal Barbara Esmilla with Thomas Zarillo

Jenene, Elizabeth and Farhanna
enjoying the festivities

3rd Annual Undergraduate Scholarship Committee Summer Event:
Cinema on Display
Part I

The Undergraduate Scholarship Committee, held its 3rd Annual Summer Event on Saturday, July 28th. This event brought the former and current scholarship recipients together for a day of cultural enrichment and networking.

This year’s event focused on the Cinema. Our first stop was at the Museum for Television and Radio, the Paley Center for Media. Located at 25 West 52nd Street, the Museum of Television & Radio, the Paley Center was founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, a pioneering innovator in the industry. It is designed to stimulate discussion about the cultural, creative, and social significance of television, radio, and emerging platforms for the professional community and media-interested public. Drawing upon its curatorial expertise, an international collection, and close relationships with the leaders of the media community, the Paley Center examines the intersections between media and society. While there, the FWA group attended the screening entitled “America’s Teenagers: Growing Up on Television.” This special examined how teenagers have been portrayed throughout television’s first fifty years. Celebrating fifty years of teenagers in television seemed like an excellent event for us, since the FWA just celebrated its 50th Anniversary last year.

Part II

The second stop of our summer event was to the Cinema Cafe. At this restaurant on East 45th Street, the decor is very modern, food portions are right for everyone to enjoy, and the service excellent. The restaurant fit in with our theme perfectly.

The Undergraduate Scholarship Committee Strike a Pose

2008 Scholarship Recipients
Scholarship recipients to be announced.


Accomplishments /Highlights
x Scholarships awarded exceed 100: Since 1987, we have awarded scholarships to 123 students and we continue to see strong interest in the program.
Creation of Googlegroup: This year we have created a “googlegroup” page for the current and former scholarship recipients to interact, post messages, and provide support to one another.
Where Are They Now: In celebrating the 20 years of the scholarship, the committee wrote a series of articles spotlighting some of the past recipients in a “Where are they Now” segment in the FWA newsletter. The pieces help to show the scholarships affected each young woman’s life.
Database: The Committee through its new database continued our efforts to reach out to former scholarship winners. The committee has been working aggressively to locate and strengthen our ties with former scholarship winners, with our goal being to have them return and join the FWA and get involved.

We researched and created a database for the Mentoring committee. This database will be used to track current and former mentees of the program.
x Sponsor SAT prep class : We continued to sponsor the Princeton Review scholarships for Murry Bergtraum High School mentees, to prepare them for the SAT examination.

Meeting Schedule
Meeting frequency is based on the projects underway. Most committee work is handed via email and telephone.

Special Thanks and Acknowledgements
Our thanks to the many individuals whose contributions are essential to the work of the scholarship committee.
FWA members and staff: Farhanna Balgahoon, Susan Becker, Cathleen Carroll, Feng Chen, Susan Ganz, Martha Goss, Mary Ann Grossman, Francoise Jeanpierre, Jenene Karamon, Kristin McDonough, Judith Mellars, Wendy Leibowitz, Dorothy O’Beirne.
Murry Bergtraum High School: Ada Colon, Barbara Esmilla, Principal & Tom Zarillo
x Participating Committee Members: Farhanna Balgahoon, Feng Chen, & Dorothy O’Beirne


Their contributions are important, unique and greatly valued.
  Last updated:
  July 10, 2008