Commitment to Social Change Scholarship Recipients

In spring 2010, Walden University awarded several incoming graduate students the Commitment to Social Change Scholarship. The scholarship recognizes the social change contributions the recipients have already made in their respective fields and ensures they will continue to do more of the same as they work toward their Walden degree.

The next application deadline is Oct. 1, 2010. Read the application criteria.

These doctoral students received $5,000 each:

Recipient: Prisca Regis-Andrew
Hometown: Gros Islet, St. Lucia, West Indies
Title: Principal nursing officer at the St. Lucia National Mental Wellness Centre
Program: PhD in Health Services

Social Change Achievement: Prepared and taught a 50-hour training course on home care for seniors, which expanded into a national council and St. Lucia-wide training program. Served as the principal nursing officer at Golden Hope hospital implementing strategies for upgrading care, construction of policies and protocols for practice, research for best practices to improve the level of care and staff training, as well as recruitment for the new St. Lucia National Mental Wellness Centre.

Social Change Goal: Improve mental healthcare throughout St. Lucia.

Recipient: Roberto Cruz
Hometown: Hartford, Conn.
Title: Intern and research assistant for the Connecticut Department of Public Health and the State of Connecticut Office of Healthcare Access. Graduate assistant and research technician for the University of Connecticut’s Center for Elimination of Health Disparities Among Latinos
Program: PhD in Public Health

Social Change Achievement: Researched social justice public health, including the uninsured Hispanic population in greater Hartford, Conn., the management of Type 2 diabetes among inner-city Latinos and statewide sexually transmitted disease prevention. Volunteered for the Hispanic Health Council’s Latino Policy department, the University of Connecticut Health Center’s emergency room and the “This is Public Health” national awareness campaign.

Social Change Goal: Develop a broader sense of public health issues to manage and improve Hartford’s emerging needs. 

Three master’s students received $2,500 each: 

Recipient: Karen Agrait
Hometown: Orlando, Fla.
Title: Training specialist at Family Services of Metro Orlando
Program: MS in Instructional Design and Technology

Social Change Achievement: Worked in the child welfare field for the past 12 years as an educator and advocate for children’s educational rights.

Social Change Goal: Prevent trauma and abuse to children by creating community awareness and offering support so that people who struggle with parenting may find success and maintain their family structure, or find new homes for children so they can thrive in a safe and loving environment.

Recipient: Amanda J. Allalunis
Hometown: Tres Piedras, N.M.
Title: Executive director of Tres Piedras Community Enhancement, Inc.
Program: Master of Public Administration (MPA) 

Social Change Achievement: Co-founded and serves as executive director and primary grant writer of the nonprofit organization Tres Piedras Community Enhancement, Inc., which improves the educational, social, professional, health and recreational opportunities of this impoverished New Mexican community.

Social Change Goal: Become an influential and inspiring member of the Tres Piedras, and make the community a better place for her family and hundreds of others to live. 

Recipient: Hollis Easter
Hometown: Potsdam, N.Y.
Title: Hotline coordinator, Reachout of SLC, Inc.
Program: MS in Instructional Design and Technology 

Social Change Achievement: Runs a crisis hotline, developed national standards for hotlines and teaches suicide prevention to give a voice to those who are silenced. 

Social Change Goal: Offer sustainable, relevant and meaningful crisis assistance to people in the United States. Teach “ordinary people” how to help save a life by making hotline training accessible and affordable to volunteers throughout the country.