SEO Scholars Awarded Prestigious Fulbright Scholarship

We are incredibly proud of SEO Scholars Emmanuel D. and Carolina M. for receiving the U.S. Fulbright Scholarship Award for the 2019-2020 year! The prestigious U.S. Fulbright Scholar Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. It is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and the people of other countries.

Emmanuel and Carolina are among 1,900+ U.S. citizens to receive this high honor. Fulbright Fellows will conduct research, teach English, and provide expertise abroad for the 2019-2020 academic year. During their time abroad, Fulbright Fellows work, live with, and learn from locals in their host country. Recipients of the Fulbright Scholarship Award are selected based on academic and professional achievement, as well as their record of service and leadership potential in their respective fields.

Emmanuel, who is a senior at Middlebury College, will be teaching at a university in Morocco starting summer 2019. Carolina, who is a senior at Adelphi University, will teach English and conduct environmental work in Costa Rica.

Carolina joined SEO Scholars in 9th grade, while Emmanuel joined in his senior year of high school through a partnership program between UBS and SEO. UBS launched UBS NextGen Leaders, a 5-year commitment aligned with President Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative, in its dedication to serving low-income and first-generation male students of color.

Both Carolina and Emmanuel knew they were smart and highly motivated, but they also understood that the New York public high schools they were attending were not providing them with quality, college preparatory education, and the skill sets they needed to thrive in college. SEO provided supplemental education, training, and guidance to ensure they would be prepared to attend and graduate college. SEO Scholars is an eight-year academic program that successfully educates and mentors low-income public high school students in New York City and San Francisco to get to and through college – with a 100% college acceptance rate and a 90% college graduation rate.

SEO Scholars Alumni who are also Fulbright Fellows include Mildred G. (Lafayette College, Class of ’11) and Kimberley W. (Dartmouth College, Class of ’11).

Congratulations Emmanuel and Carolina! You make us proud!