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Bay Federal Credit Union awards $7,500 in scholarships to local students

CAPITOLA, CA (April 3, 2019) — Bay Federal Credit Union honored the winners of its 2019 Education Scholarship and 2019 Mac McCormack Employee Scholarship at its annual meeting Tuesday, March 26.

Bay Federal President and CEO Carrie Birkhofer and Chair of the Board of Directors Jim Phillips presented the scholarships.

“I am so inspired by the potential of each of these outstanding winners,” Birkhofer said. “My hope that their educational opportunities will lead them to make a real difference in our communities and our world.”

Education Scholarship awards of $1,500 each went to Hannah Levy, Leslie Lopez Ezqueda, and Spenser Burke. Mac McCormac Employee Scholarship awards of $1,000 each went to Camila Martinez and Raelene Rodriguez.

Applicants were required to submit essays describing the most important financial issue facing their community, and applications were reviewed by a group of Bay Federal employees. Since 2008, Bay Federal has awarded 58 scholarships totaling $52,500 to students who are pursuing higher education goals. The Mac McCormac Employee Scholarship is named for the credit union’s first employee.

Who are the Education Scholarship winners?

  • Hannah Levy: Levy is pursuing her master’s degree in education at the University of Washington in Seattle. She is an alumna of Scotts Valley High School.
  • Leslie Lopez-Ezqueda: Lopez-Ezqueda is junior at California State University, Sacramento, where she is majoring in political science and minoring in sociology. She is an alumna of Watsonville High School.
  • Spenser Burke: As a senior at California Polytechnic University, Pomona, Burke is in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering.

Who are the Mac McCormac Scholarship winners?

  • Camila Martinez: Martinez, who currently works at Bay Federal Credit Union’s River Street Branch, is studying business administration at Cabrillo College.
  • Raelene Rodriguez: Rodriguez, an employee at the Watsonville Branch, is studying collaborate health and human services with a concentration in public administration and nonprofit management at California State University, Monterey Bay.

From left to right, Jim Phillips, Chair of Bay Federal’s Board of Directors; Leslie Lopez-Ezqueda, Education Scholarship Winner; Hannah Levy, Education Scholarship Winner; and Carrie Birkhofer, Bay Federal Credit Union President and CEO, celebrate at the Credit Union’s headquarters in Capitola, Calif. on Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Not pictured: Spenser Burke, Camila Martinez, and Raelene Rodriguez.


About Bay Federal Credit Union

Bay Federal Credit Union is a full-service, not-for-profit financial institution that serves over 86,000 members and 2,400 local businesses throughout Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Monterey counties. With more than $1.6 billion in assets, Bay Federal is the largest member-owned financial institution in the region. The organization has been proudly serving its members and the community since 1957. Bay Federal is a certified Community Development Financial Institution, with a primary mission of promoting community development alongside their financial activities. Bay Federal has an award-winning employee volunteer program in which employees have given their own money and volunteer for numerous local schools, nonprofit organizations, and community events each year.

Contacts

Amy Ivey,
SVP, Chief Marketing Officer
Bay Federal Credit Union
831.477.8409
aivey@bayfed.com

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