Three High School Girls Awarded Scholarships to D.C. Political Summit

PG&E and the nonprofit Running Start have awarded scholarships to three San Francisco Bay Area high school girls to attend a political summit for young women in Washington, D.C., this weekend.

The scholarship winners will join 300 young women, ages 14 to 35, from around the country for the organization’s Young Women’s Political Summit from July 12-14. The summit is an opportunity for attendees to hone their leadership skills and strengthen their connections in the political world.

The winners are Kelsey Wong of Fremont, Getssiva Giselle Hernandez of East Palo Alto and Tatiana Wallace of East Palo Alto.

Scholarships were awarded based on need and cover costs for travel, lodging and conference registration fees. In addition, a chaperone will help the girls navigate the conference, which will provide training that includes personal branding, social media, fundraising and campaigning. In addition, the girls will get to meet with their congressional representatives.

Rep. Mike Honda (D-San Jose) said he was excited about the partnership of PG&E and Running Start to send Wong, who lives in his district.

“Public-private scholarships such as this serve as a true model of how to empower high school students as they strive to establish their careers and serve their community in politics,” the congressman said.

PG&E also collaborated with Running Start to offer need-based scholarships for five young women to attend the nonprofit’s political leadership program in Los Angeles in February. The three girls awarded scholarships to attend the Washington summit were chosen from the Los Angeles group.

“These scholarship winners are young political leaders in their own right, who have done incredible things to help others, and we have given each of them the benefit of Running Start’s Young Women’s Political Summit to help them do more,” said Jessica Hogle, director of federal affairs for PG&E and a Running Start board member. “By supporting these deserving high school girls, we can help them realize their full potential.”

Running Start is a non-partisan group dedicated to educating young women about politics and inspiring them to run for elected office. Running Start was created because young women remain only a small fraction of the elected officials and candidates for public office.