2020 Scholarship Recipients

The goal of the HCCNC Scholarship Program is to support student leaders as role models for the Hawai‘i community. The Scholarship Program is aimed at strengthening the pipeline of Bay Area college-bound students and ensuring retention so that more students obtain their degrees. We seek to support qualified kama‘āina, and assist them in making the transition from high school to college, and from Hawai‘i to the mainland.

This year we are pleased to support three outstanding students!  Congratulations to Isabella Francisco, Teiana Gonsalves, and Alyssa Landis, recipients of the 2020 HCCNC Scholarship!

Isabella francisco

Isabella Francisco is a 2020 graduate of Sacred Hearts Academy, located in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, and will be attending the University of San Francisco in the fall. Throughout high school, Isabella was an active member of her school’s division council, L.I.F.E. (Living In Faith Experience) Team, Girls Got GRIT Program, and canoe paddling team. She was also a volunteer at the Kahala Toddler Program throughout the summer. Participating in all these activities allowed her to realize her true passion in life. Being able to help out, meet new people, have fun, and participate in making a change was what she loved doing. Throughout her whole life, all she has ever wanted to do was help take care of those who needed it, and she made sure to do what she could. She did this by reading and supervising the children at the toddler program to spending the day taking care and listening to the lovely stories of the elderly. She hopes to use her studies as a nurse and provide care for those in her community that is in need. Isabella wants to one day come back to Hawaiʻi as a registered nurse to help the keiki and kupuna in anyway way possible.

Teiana Gonsalves

Teiana Gonsalves is from Kailua, Oʻahu and is a recent high school graduate of Kamehameha Schools Kapālama. She will be attending Stanford University in the Fall and plans to major in Political Science with a minor in Environmental Studies. Teiana hopes to attend law school and pursue a career advocating for environmental justice and Native Hawaiian rights. Throughout high school, Teiana was heavily involved in the Ambassadors of Aloha ʻĀina Club, studying the diplomatic travels of Hawaiian royalty and students and its impact on Native Hawaiian culture, life, and learning. She had the life-changing opportunity to travel to these places including Italy, France, and the United Kingdom, witnessing firsthand the networks her aliʻi built and strengthened. Teiana also spent her high school years in Varsity Outrigger Canoe Paddling and Kayaking, the Poʻokula Ambassador program, the National Honor Society, National History Day, and conducting beach clean-ups and recycling efforts. Her upbringing on Native Hawaiian values and passion for canoe paddling has inspired a deep-seeded love and appreciation for the ocean and ʻāina and desire to come back home to continue her stewardship through a legal platform.

ALYSSA LANDIS

Alyssa Landis is originally from Alaska, but Hawaiʻi has been her home ever since she moved there in 2013. She is a 2020 graduate of Punahou School, and will be attending UC Davis in the Fall. Some things she loves to do in my free time are karate and hula. She has always been interested in the inner workings of the mind, and how the brain connects to one’s perspective on the world. This has also led to her passion for mental health. After participating in an international program called the Student Global Leadership Institute, she was shocked to learn about the differences in mental health departments at high schools across the world. Back at school, she utilized this new information by helping to initiate several events focused on erasing the uncomfortable stigma around mental health. She will continue to pursue this passion by majoring in Cognitive Science and learning about the brain and all of its importance. After college, she hopes to give back to her community in Hawaiʻi by continuing to destigmatize mental health in schools, workplaces, and more.