W. Bill Williams Trailblazer Scholarship
2026 Scholarship Winners
Trinity Vernonpye
Tennessee State University
Goals – Psychology
Shanel Brown
Malcolm X Community College
(with plans to transfer to a four-year university)
Goals – Pediatric Nursing / Healthcare
Eulanda Scales
University of Illinois at Chicago
Goals – Management, College of Business Administration
Jayana Moore
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
Goals – STEM / Healthcare
2025 Scholarship Winners
Camila Rosales
Loyola University
Goals – Finance; passionate about comic art, painting, and music.
Morgan Ellis
Siena Heights University
Goals – Nursing and culinary arts
Rihanna Thomas
University of Illinois at Chicago, Fall 2025
Goals – Architecture and visual arts
2024 Scholarship Winners
Mikayla Butler
University of Louisville
Goals- Biology Pre-Medical track, minor in Women & Gender studies
Nathan DeLoach
Howard University
Goals – Studying Psychology; hopes to attend medical school to become a psychiatrist
Jim Reilly Awards
2026 Scholarship Winners
Samantha Ambrose
Olive Harvey College
Goals – Business Management
2025 Scholarship Winners
Ozivell (Oz) Eckford
Northwestern University, 2nd-year PhD student
Goals -Transformative arts education, learning sciences, and the role of interdisciplinary arts in community healing and empowerment
Yetunde Oluwu
Malcolm X College
Goals- Nursing and healthcare
Aanicia Sutton
Chicago State University
Goals – Accounting, leadership, and mentoring through the Army Reserve and ROTC
2024 Scholarship Winners
Chaitanya Kumar Vepareddygar
Governor’s State University
Goals- Master of Science in Business Analytics
Jermal Ray
Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT)
Goals- Business Administration & Management, Architecture/Psychology
