Annual Scholarship Celebration honored recipients, donors and volunteers whose collective investment expands educational opportunity across San Diego County
July 25, 2026 – San Diego, CA – Today, San Diego Foundation (SDF) celebrated a record $5,670,832 in scholarships awarded to 1,057 students during its annual Scholarship Celebration at the San Diego Zoo. The event brought together scholarship recipients, their families and donors recognize student achievement and the collective investment expanding access to higher education across San Diego County. The scholarships will help students pursue college, trade school, graduate and professional education through San Diego Foundation’s (SDF) Community Scholarship Program.
Among this year’s scholarship recipients:
- Three out of four identify as first-generation college students
- 94% reported low- to middle-income status as part of the scholarship application process
- More than half participated in a college-access and readiness program, such as AVID, Reality Changers and TRIO/Upward Bound
The event recognized the collective investment of donors and volunteer scholarship evaluators in students pursuing their educational goals and featured keynote remarks from Dr. Ashanti Hands, president of San Diego Mesa College, along with scholarship recipient and incoming UC Irvine student Obidullah Mahmoodi, as well as San Diego Foundation leadership…