SHATTER GLASS CEILINGS, SHATTER STEREOTYPES
Empowering young women to chase their educational dreams
Supporting the Next Generation of Female Leaders
2026 Women's Empowerment Scholarship Gala
We are excited to expand our reach, take the next step as a foundation and continue to empower young women as we host the 2026 Women's Empowerment Scholarship Gala on Saturday, February 28, 2026. Since 2018, we have donated more than $110,000 in academic grants to women pursuing careers in fields typically dominated by men. We are proud of that fact, and ready to raise the bar by raising $100,000 this year to further support our efforts.
Join your hosts Bailey & Jake Bailey, along with Tom Leyden, as we celebrate eight years of success and philanthropy with our annual Women's Empowerment Scholarship Gala. We're hosting the 2026 Gala at Caveau, one of Boston's hottest night spots, so join tons of your friends for delicious food, live entertainment from KISS 108's Mikey V and giveaways.
Each admission ticket includes access to two complimentary drinks, with heavy strolling appetizers available to our guests throughout the night. Join us on the red carpet for photos, participate in our Empowerment Raffle and bid on some of our special auction items.
All proceeds from the Women's Empowerment Scholarship Gala will benefit The Women's Empowerment Scholarship, founded by Bailey Bailey. As part of our celebration, we will be honoring the 2025 recipients of financial grants from The Women's Empowerment Scholarship.
Welcome To The Family, Sarahluna and Sasha
Westwood High School Graduates Earn Women's Empowerment Scholarships
It is with great pleasure we announce Sarahluna Sassine and Sasha Marino, 2025 graduates of Westwood High School, have been named recipients of $1,000 academic grants, made possible by The Women’s Empowerment Scholarship and The Rotary Club of Westwood. Sarahluna and Sasha were honored and learned the news during Westwood High School’s Senior Class Night ceremony on May 30, 2025.
This year, The Rotary Club of Westwood made a $2,000 donation to The Women’s Empowerment Scholarship, and the WES Board of Directors made the commitment to award that money to a single recipient who resides in Westwood, or a combination of multiple recipients who reside in Westwood.
After careful consideration of the applications that were submitted by Westwood residents, Bailey Bailey, founder and president of The Women’s Empowerment Scholarship, determined Sarahluna and Sasha had set themselves apart from the field. We are happy to offer these grants as Sarahluna pursues her degree at Harvard College and Sasha pursues her degree at Assumption University.
Sarahluna, who plans to major in integrative biology while minoring in government, was involved in many extra-curricular activities and clubs during her time at Westwood High School, including the Legislative Council and the French Honor Society. She was also co-author of the Westwood High School yearbook and competed on the Track & Field team. Sarahluna received multiple National Art and Writing Awards, a Massachusetts Student Achievement Award, the George Eastman Young Leaders Award, and a Bronze Presidential Volunteer Service Award.
In her essay to the review board, Sarahluna noted, “The medical field has struggled with adapting to recognize women’s needs in healthcare. Many doctors continue to shrug off female symptoms that lead to life-changing diagnoses like endometriosis, because they think women are being dramatic. In a future career serving public health, I would look to prioritize women in research studies, advocating for often-overlooked symptoms in order to bring justice to diagnoses, and increase the quality of life for thousands of women, which could push them toward historically male-dominated fields without fear of ostracization for their health.”
Sasha is a gifted student and athlete who has succeeded in the classroom, on the ice and on the diamond. Splitting time during her junior and senior years between Westwood High School and the North American Hockey Academy, Sasha earned a scholarship to play hockey at Assumption and will follow a pre-law track while competing on the ice. Sasha’s positive nature and unending drive has endeared her to teammates, coaches, teachers and parents.
In her essay, Sasha wrote, “As a future criminal prosecutor, positivity isn’t quite listed in the job description, however, with positivity comes many other traits. Competitiveness, confidence and consistency all flourish under a positive attitude. My goal is to inspire other young women to keep their heads held high, stay positive, and persevere through anything, because if I can become a Division 1 athlete and an impressive lawyer, then other young women can follow their dreams, too.”
Thank you to The Rotary Club of Westwood for its support and congratulations to Sarahluna and Sasha, our 2025 Westwood recipients of Women’s Empowerment Scholarships.
Sixth Annual Kick Off The Holidays Party - December 7, 2024
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US
The Sixth Annual Kick Off The Holidays Party, held at Mariel Underground in Boston on Saturday, December 7, 2024, was a success. Thanks to your support of our mission, we have awarded more than $110,000 in academic grants, so that was reason enough to celebrate. We were so excited to honor our Scholarship Recipients of 2024 and build a foundation for our contiuned growth in 2025.
About Us
Our Mission
As a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, The Women's Empowerment Scholarship serves to empower females by encouraging and enabling them to pursue higher education. Our foundation provides educational grants to women throughout New England while paying special attention to women entering into one of many male-dominated career paths, including, but not limited to, science, technology, engineering, finance, and law. In aiding women financially, the Women's Empowerment Scholarship team aims to propel their careers and allow them to shatter any and all glass ceilings and stereotypes.
Get To Know Our Founder - Bailey Medeiros
Bailey is the President and Founder of The Women's Empowerment Scholarship. After graduating as Salutatorian from Monson High School in 2015, Bailey went on to study Finance, Communication, and Legal Studies at Bryant University. In 2019, she finished 9th in her class with Summa Cum Laude honors. In 2022, Bailey obtained her Juris Doctor at Boston University School of Law. Bailey was Miss Massachusetts Teen USA in 2014, placing in the Top 15 at the national Miss Teen USA competition. Additionally, she was an NFL Cheerleader for the New England Patriots from 2016-2018, representing the Patriots at Super Bowl LI in Houston, Texas and Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Currently, Bailey owns and operates her own estate planning law firm, Bailey Legacy Law. Learn more about Bailey by visiting the "My Story" tab.
2024 Women's Empowerment Scholarship Recipients
Amanda Irvine
Amanda Irvine is currently attending Babson College in pursuit of her MBA. Prior to her time at Babson, Amanda was involved in the sports industry, working with ESPN as a production assistant and overseeing marketing initiatives for the Boston Bruins. She has experience managing off-field business affairs and growing the brands of 25+ NFL players.
Janet Liu
Janet Liu graduated from Lexington High School and is attending Northeastern University where she is pursuing a major in Psychology and a minor in Spanish. While at Lexington High, Janet co-founded her high school’s barbell power lifting team, was a volunteer English teacher, a member of mock trial and the Editor-in-Chief of the school newspaper. Following her time at Northeastern, Janet plans to attend law school and use her language skills to specialize in immigration law.
Madeline Uretsky Resnick
Madeline is a PHD candidate at the University of Connecticut. At age 15, Madeline suffered a severe concussion and brain injury playing soccer. This experience inspired and lead her to devote much of her time to CTE and concussion related matters.
Emerson Duval
Emerson is studying Neuroscience with plans to apply to medical school at the completion of her undergraduate degree. In high school, she served as Vice President of the local Health Occupation Students of America chapter, where she competed in state competitions and planned community-based events to benefit the National Marrow Donor Program.
Taylor McAndrew
Taylor is attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study Finance. In high school she balanced earning a 4.67 GPA with founding and leading her school's Economics Club, being President of the Student Council, participating in DECA and the Wharton Investment Competition, and serving as captain of multiple varsity sports.
Oluwatumise Ogunyankin
In high school, Tumi was a church volunteer, a member of the robotics club and took college level courses through MIT. Currently, she is attending Princeton University where she is pursuing mechanical engineering. Following graduation, Tumi hopes to pursue a Masters in electrical engineering with a focus on circuit design. Women currently represent around 10% of electrical engineers in the U.S.
Emily Yedam Yang
Emily is enrolled in the M.D. of Health Sciences and Technology Program at Harvard Medical School. She previously earned a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering with honors at the University of Texas Austin. She completed the program with a perfect 4.0 and received UT's Women in Engineering Award as a result of her drive to recruit other female engineers to the program.
Kendall Toth
Kendall is attending Coastal Carolina University and is dedicated to becoming an Officer in the Marines. Women currently account for only 4% of Marine Officers. Kendall is dedicated to serving her country and as such, aspires not only to fulfill her own dreams but also to inspire young girls and women to believe in their own potential.
Ciara Monaghan
Ciara is studying accounting in the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst. Sheplans on getting a Masters Degree at UMass for accounting and would love to work for one of the Big 4 Firms in Boston post-graduation. Her plan has changed quite a lot throughout these past months as she has continued to explore what she enjoys and inspires her.
Maria Kougiomtzidis
Maria is a Psychology major within the pre-law track at Quinnipiac University. In addition to her strong academic record, Maria is extremely active on campus as a student employee at the University Library, an active member of Alpha Phi Omega (a co-ed community service-based fraternity), Treasurer of the Hellenic Society, and Resident Assistant.
Catherine Brown
Catherine is a five-year Marine Corps veteran trained in leadership, field communications, range safety, and public affairs. After military life, she dedicated herself to her family and furthering her education in culinary arts. She has earned degrees in dietetics and culinary arts, interned at award-winning bakeries and cafes, and has been featured on numerous baking and cooking shows for her work.
Kyle Thibodeau
Kylie is currently attending Columbia University. In high school, Kylie was the Vice President of her class and the Managing Editor of her school newspaper. When she was 10 years old, she went with her mother to live in Vietnam, where she learned about her grandfather being a refugee and young soldier fleeing a lost war. This inspired Kylie to study immigration and other complex global issues. Ultimately, she wants to be a diplomat focused on economics and under-represented communities.
Jessica Wang
Jessica is a graduate of Westwood High School and is enrolled at Columbia University. She received numerous awards during her time at Westwood, while leading the Academic Decathalon team to the national competition two consecutive years. She also participated in the American Math Competition and the American Individual Mathematics Examination – scoring in the top 2.5% nationwide.
Sophie Kudler
Sophie is driven by her interest in rarity and rare diseases, which has fueled her work over the past four summers performing Tuberous Sclerosis research at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Now at the University of Pennsylvania studying Biology, American Public Policy and Chemistry on the pre-med track, Sophie advocates for the disabled and epilepsy communities, serving as Co-President of the Penn Epilepsy Awareness Club.
Maya Caine
Maya is attending Yale University’s School of the Environment, specializing in Industrial Ecology and Green Chemistry. Her goal is to advance the circular economy and eliminate organizational wastes. Maya is also a full-time Strategy Analyst at Nike. Notably, she spearheaded a contract amendment with the NBA to enable the up-cycling and recycling of over 9 million units of unsold merchandise.
Ashley Dawn
Ashley is currently attending Harvard University in pursuit of a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Science and Public Policy. Ashley aspires to protect humans and the environment and to attend law school to study environmental law.
She has conducted plant biology and wetland ecology research, interned with sustainability organizations, and presented to the White House Council on Native American Affairs regarding tribal land and water rights.
Christina Eldamaa
Christina Eldamaa
Christina is attending Northeastern University. She aspires to enter the male-dominated field of Orthopedic Surgery, with a specialty in Sports Medicine. In high school, Christina earned a 3.94 GPA, served as President of the Westwood High Medical Club, Captain of Varsity Cheerleading, Student Council officer, and Secretary of Cancer Kids First Westwood. As a Lebanese woman, it is important to Christina to inspire other women to rewrite the narratives surrounding male-dominance and male education in her culture. She has represented Lebanon in international competitions as a Rhythmic Gymnast and volunteered to empower young gymnasts through coaching.
Previous Scholarship Recipients
2023
Celebrated in December, 2023 at Mariel Underground
2022
Celebrated in December, 2022 at Mariel Underground
2020 & 2021
Celebrated in December, 2021 at Davio's Seaport
2019
Celebrated in December, 2019 at Davio's Back Bay
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