Key West NOW awards $4,000 to 2019 Connie Gilbert Scholarship Winners

Key West NOW awards $4,000 to 2019 Connie Gilbert Scholarship Winners

The Key West chapter of National Organization for Women (NOW) announces three 2019 Connie Gilbert Scholarship winners, awarding a total gift of $4,000.

The Connie Gilbert Scholarship celebrates the legacy of Connie Gilbert, former Key West NOW president and long-time human rights activist and co-founder of many Key West organizations, including NOW, the Florida Keys ACLU, Lower Keys League of Woman Voters, and the Keys Coalition Against Child Sex Trafficking. The scholarship is open to any Monroe County resident who identifies as a woman and is seeking support to further their education or professional career.

In an outstanding selection pool, three applicants stood out.

Zoe Jackson, a rising sophomore at Barnard College, was awarded the $2,000 scholarship. Majoring in political science and minoring in human rights, Ms. Jackson was born in Key West and co-organized the March For Our Lives in 2017 after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. She plans to pursue a career in foreign diplomacy on behalf of women and children.

Michelle Biron, a Key Largo resident currently completing her masters of science and mental health counseling from Capella University, was awarded a $1,000 scholarship. Ms. Biron works as a children’s case manager at the Guidance Care Center in Marathon, and interns at a women’s residential facility that specializes in trauma and PTSD and other mental health diagnoses.

Catt Posada, a Key West resident majoring in computer science at FKCC, was awarded a $1,000 scholarship. Planning to graduate in the fall of 2019, Ms. Posada was born in Vietnam and came to Key West almost six years ago. She has accepted a job at FKCC as an IT technician and plans to continue this work after she graduates. Ms. Posada is very grateful to the Key West community that has welcomed her with open arms and hopes to stay in Key West for a long time, supporting FKCC students with their technology needs.

The three scholarship winners received their awards at our well-attended monthly NOW meeting on July 24th.

Left to right: Connie Gilbert scholarship winners Catt Posada, Zoe Jackson, and Michelle Biron

NOW is the largest organization of feminist grass-roots activists in the US. NOW has hundreds of chapters and hundreds of thousands of members and activists in all 50 states.

Since its founding 1966, NOW’s purpose is to take action through intersectional grassroots activism, to promote feminist ideals, lead societal change, eliminate discrimination, and achieve and protect the equal rights of all women and girls in all aspects of social, political, and economic life.

Key West NOW was founded in 1994. Meetings are held the fourth Wednesday of the month at 5:30pm in the back room at Shanna Key and we welcome your presence.

The 2020 Connie Gilbert Scholarship details and timeline will be announced in the spring of 2020.

Key West NOW Members and 2019 Connie Gilbert Scholarship Winners

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