Workforce Scholarship Recipient Set to Shape and Inform Local Education

Tags: Economic Opportunity, Education, Workforce Scholarship Recipients 2025, Workforce Scholarships, Youth Development

In Tahoe-Truckee, the barriers to higher education are steep: tuition costs that feel overwhelming, a cost of living 73% higher than the national average, and the added pressures of housing, work, and family. For many, the path to a career in healthcare, education, or the skilled trades seems out of reach. Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation (TTCF) is working to change that. 

Since 2022, local donors, businesses, and foundations have joined forces to invest more than $350,000 in Workforce Scholarships, building a pipeline of essential professionals. In 2025 alone, TTCF awarded $520,100 to 27 students, including 17 first-generation college students, with an average scholarship of $19,263. These investments don’t just ease financial burdens—they open doors to careers that keep our community strong. For many students, they are the difference between a dream deferred and a future within reach.

A Scholarship That Sparked An Educational Journey

For Denisse Vega Zarate, education has always been more than personal achievement; it is a calling rooted in her own journey and the stories of others. 

In 2018, Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation awarded Denisse the Jackson Ferree Scholarship, created by the Ferree family to honor Jackson’s memory and character. Unlike many scholarships that focus on grades or accolades, this award celebrates qualities of kindness, independence, and generosity of spirit—traits that Jackson embodied and that the Ferree family wanted to lift up in others. The $20,000 award provided her the opportunity to pursue her undergraduate degree and affirmed that qualities like compassion and authenticity are just as worthy of celebration as academic or athletic achievements.

Winning the Jackson Ferree Scholarship gave Denisse both the financial support to continue her studies and the confidence to lean fully into her academic passions. With the freedom to pursue her degree without the constant weight of financial stress, she was able to explore courses that spoke to her lived experiences and her growing interest in issues of justice and equity. That exploration became the foundation for the research and advocacy work she would embrace at UC Davis.

Through my Sociology and Human Rights classes in college, I learned about education inequality and the challenges to education as a human right around the world. During my senior year at UC Davis, I conducted interviews with college students from immigrant families for my honors thesis. Listening to their stories and recognizing some of their struggles in my own journey as an immigrant student navigating higher education inspired me to pursue education as a field of study. 

Housing Advocate to Education Policy Setter 

After college, Denisse Vega Zarate returned to North Tahoe – Truckee. She is currently the housing coordinator at Sierra Community House. Nonprofits in our region have difficulty attracting and retaining skilled staff due to the high cost of living for a sector that has historically offered lower wages. Scholarships can lessen the financial burden for students. 

When Denisse thought about graduate school, she dared to dream big — Harvard University. But as an immigrant from Paredones, Mexico, and the first in her family to attend college, the financial realities loomed like an impossible climb.

Her hard work had already carried her far: she earned two associate’s degrees from Sierra College and graduated summa cum laude from UC Davis in Sociology with a minor in Human Rights. But the cost of a Master’s in Education Policy and Analysis was out of reach.

In 2025, Denisse received $60,000 in scholarships — $50,000 from TTCF’s Workforce Scholarship fund and $10,000 from the S.H.E. Foundation. 

Named in honor of Sylvia Hathaway Eisenberg, the S.H.E. Foundation scholarship celebrates her legacy as a trailblazer, notably becoming the first woman elected to the Board of Directors at the historic Los Angeles Athletic Club, and dedicating decades of service to her community. Designed to support aspiring educators, the scholarship offers two distinct awards for California residents maintaining a GPA of 3.70 or higher: a $15,000 scholarship for high school seniors entering college, and a $20,000 award for young adults pursuing careers in teaching or education.

Without this scholarship, I would have not been able to enroll in my program. This award truly alleviates so much financial stress and allows me to pursue graduate study debt-free! Attending Harvard University and completing my master’s in Education and Policy Analysis will allow me to pursue my long-term goal of conducting education research.

Denisse is set to begin her Harvard journey, diving into her research on how immigrant students navigate the U.S. education system. Her once-distant goal of shaping education policy is within arm’s reach. Denisse plans to return to the Tahoe-Truckee area upon graduating to bring her expertise home. “In five years, I see myself conducting education research and, through my work, influencing change in education policy. I am especially interested in the intersection of migration and education, and I want my work to create more pathways for immigrant students to succeed academically.”

Stories of 2025 Workforce Scholarship Recipients

Natalie Diaz: After struggling to find stable housing while pursuing her associate’s degree in Construction Management at Sierra College, Natalie chose to study civil engineering to be part of the solution. In 2025, she was awarded $25,000 in workforce scholarships to continue her education. Natalie is now pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering with a minor in Construction Management, with the dream of designing and building affordable housing so working families can thrive in Tahoe for generations. Here is her story.

Pablo Guerrero: Inspired by his cousins who worked as linemen, Pablo dreamed of training at Northern Lineman College but worried the cost was out of reach. In 2025, he received $21,000 in scholarships from the Steve Shippy Vocational Scholarship, the TDPUD Lineman Award, and the Martis Camp Foundation. With this support, Pablo is pursuing his lineman training, carrying forward the values of service and resilience. Here is his story. 

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Since the inception of TTCF’s workforce scholarship fund in 2022, TTCF has awarded $1,253,100 to 67 people looking to advance their career with higher education. This life-changing support is possible thanks to the generosity of many donors and longtime local philanthropists including Gina Vadnais, Richard and Theresa Crocker, Owens and Nancy Wallis, Earl and Georgia Smith, Peek Family Foundation, S.H.E. Foundation, Haas Family Fund at Marin CF, Baird Family Foundation, Martis Camp Foundation, Truckee Tahoe Airport District (TTAD), and Truckee Donner Public Utility District (TDPUD). Together, these partners are investing not just in individuals, but in the future strength and resilience of our region.