THE Bonta California Progress Foundation is calling on high school seniors, entering college students or current first-year college students to submit an application for its scholarship opportunity.

The Foundation highly encourages applicants who are low-income and/or from disadvantaged backgrounds to apply.

In 2017, Filipino American Assemblymember Rob Bonta launched the Foundation with the purpose of supporting communities, organizations, and individuals that lift up the social, economic, educational, civic, and environmental well-being of Californians and advance progressive values in California and around the world.

To this end, the Foundation will provide a limited number of scholarships to students with a record of academic achievement, leadership, and service to their communities, who would benefit from additional support to realize a higher education.

Application and award overview:

• Application Deadline: 11:59 PM on March 27, 2020

• Award Announcement: May 15, 2020

• Awards: $5,000, $2,500, and $1,000 scholarships (one-time)

Eligibility requirements:

• High school senior, or

• Entering first-year college student, or

• Current first-year college student

• California resident; residents of 18th Assembly District will be given preference — Oakland, Alameda, and San Leandro

Application components:

• Completed cover sheet

• One-page resume

• Official transcript

• 500-word essay responding to the following theme: “Overcoming adversity, giving back, and promoting opportunity, equity, justice, and/or inclusion”

•  Two letters of recommendation that speak to the applicant’s character, integrity, and/or uniqueness (these may be from teachers, counselors, supervisors, coaches, and/or mentors)

Letters of recommendation must be received by email, at [email protected], no later than 11:59 PM on March 27, 2020. The online application can be found here.