GEAR UP
Leadership Awards
2022 Recipients
Jonathan Marquez-Carbajal, a rising senior at Campus High School in Wichita, Kansas, receives the 2022 Student of the Year Award.
Juan Faustino Arredondo from Lyndon B. Johnson High School in Laredo, Texas receives the 2022 Family Leader of the Year Award.
Carlos Bing, Director of College Access Programs at the Ohio Department of Higher Education, receives the 2022 Professional of the Year Award.
April Gung, GEAR UP Specialist at Maplewood High School with Metro Nashville Public Schools, receives the 2022 Professional of the Year Award.
Leslie Crudele, Government Relations Director, accepts the Community Partner of the Year Award on behalf of Virginia529.
2021 Recipients
Taylor Evans from GEAR UP 2 New Heights receives the 2021 Student of the Year Award.
Esperanza Casey from University of Texas at Austin receives the 2021 Family Leader of the Year Award.
Diane Griggs, Director of Vermont GEAR UP at Vermont Student Assistance Corp, receives the 2021 Professional of the Year Award.
Victor Rojas, Assistant Director of GEAR UP at Mount Wachusett Community College, receives the 2021 Professional of the Year Award.
Dr. Daniel Kain from Norther Arizona University receives the 2021 Community Partner of the Year Award
2020 Recipients
Nellie Ellis from Berea GEAR UP receives the 2020 Student of the Year Award.
Deltha Q. Colvin from Wichita State University GEAR UP receives the 2020 Professional of the Year Award.
Dr. Samantha Elliot Briggs from GEAR UP Alabama receives the 2020 Professional of the Year Award.
The Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges (VFIC) receives the 2020 Community Partner of the Year Award.
2019 Recipients
Victor Sanchez, from the Los Angeles Unified School District and GEAR UP 4 LA, receives the 2019 GEAR UP Youth of the Year Award.
Alma Vargas, from Chicago GEAR UP, receives the 2019 GEAR UP Family Leader of the Year Award.
Marcie Mills Sample, Associate Director at Washington State GEAR UP, receives the 2019 GEAR UP Professional of the Year Award.
Roderick Figgs, from California State University San Bernardino, receives the 2019 GEAR UP Professional of the Year Award.
Texas Instruments receives the 2019 GEAR UP Community Partner of the Year Award.
2018 Recipients
Chane’l Marie Giddens, a student from Rochester (NY) and New York GEAR UP, receives the 2018 GEAR UP Youth of the Year Award.
Alexandria Montrece Taylor, GEAR UP East St. Louis School District 189, receives the 2018 GEAR UP Family Leader of the Year Award.
Troy Grant, Associate Executive Director at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, receives the 2018 GEAR UP Professional of the Year Award.
The Harold K.L. Castle Foundation receives the 2018 GEAR UP Community Partner of the Year Award.
2017 Recipients
Belenda Torres from Oklahoma City receives the 2017 GEAR UP Student of the Year Award.
Alejandra Cruz Lopez receives the 2017 GEAR UP Parent of the Year Award.
Dr. Yvette Morgan, GEAR UP Director at St. John's University in New York, receives the 2017 GEAR UP Professional of the Year Award.
Willie Castrejon, GEAR UP College Preparation Advisor from Texas, receives the 2017 GEAR UP Professional of the Year Award.
Dr. Ambrosio Hernandez of Doctors Hospital at Renaissance receives the 2017 GEAR UP Community Partner of the Year Award
Paola Santana of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce receives the 2017 GEAR UP Community Partner of the Year Award .
2016 Recipients
Lucero Yamilet Castañeda, from Somerset High School in Texas, receives the award for the 2016 GEAR UP Youth of the Year.
Adriana Guerra, from South Texas, receives the award for the 2016 GEAR UP Parent Leader of the Year.
Adam Green, Ph.D, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at the WV Higher Education Policy Commission, receives the award for the 2016 GEAR UP Professional of the Year.
Martha Atencio, Assistant Director of the Bronx Institute at Lehman College (NY), receives the award for the 2016 GEAR UP Professional of the Year.
Sahar Mohammadzadeh accepts the 2016 GEAR UP Partner of the Year award on behalf of the Pritchard Committee Student Voice Team (KY).
2015 Recipients
William Brooks Van Buren, GEAR UP Wyoming, receives the award for the 2015 GEAR UP Youth of the Year.
Sheila Barragan de Guerrero, Region One ESC GEAR UP, receives the award for the 2015 GEAR UP Parent Leader of the Year.
Stephanie Carnahan of Oregon GEAR UP and Lillian Rivera of GEAR UP Philadelphia receive the 2015 GEAR UP Professionals of the Year Awards.
Concord University (WV) and Chris Carroll, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, receive the 2015 GEAR UP Partners of the Year Awards.