Giving Thanks by Giving Back

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2023 Luncheon Recap

Our Featured Speaker

José M. Hernández is the recipient of the 2016 National Hispanic Hero Award and a former NASA astronaut on which a new Netflix movie, A Million Miles Away is based.

As a child, Hernández worked alongside his family and other farmworkers throughout the fields of California, harvesting crops and moving from one town to another. He attended many schools and didn’t learn to speak English until he was 12. His first memory of space is when he learned about adjusting the television in order to watch the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

José currently serves as a Regent of the University of California. He also served as chief of the Materials and Processes branch of Johnson Space Center.

Complete bio for José

José M. Hernández

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Bay Scholars Raise $1.1 Million for High School Scholarships

Feature article from the Nob Hill Gazette

Kick-starting the holiday season, the ninth Giving Thanks by Giving Back luncheon on November 18, benefiting Bay Scholars, is always a heartfelt fete. The 350 guests at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in the Merchants Exchange Building raised more than $1.1 million for merit-based scholarships granted by this organization, founded by Nob Hill Gazette owners Janet and Clint Reilly.

Since inception, Bay Scholars has provided more than a thousand low-income students with full-ride scholarships — totaling more than $10 million — to attend 13 Bay Area Catholic schools, from Saint Francis High School in Mountain View to Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco to Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward. And thanks to a multiyear, million-dollar pledge by John M. Sobrato (son of philanthropists Sue and John A. Sobrato), Bay Scholars will add four San Jose high schools to its roster (Archbishop Mitty, Bellarmine College Preparatory, Notre Dame and Presentation).

Read the full article here.

Thank You

Bay Scholars is pleased to acknowledge the following key donors for their generous sponsorship of the 2023 Bay Scholars Luncheon.”

Co-chairs

Annie Eagan*
Arlene Inch*
Armanino, LLP
Beth O’Callahan* and Wilson Rosario
Carol and Ned Spieker
Connie & Robert A. Lurie
Cynthia & Gary Bengier
Dianne and Tad Taube
Erin Jaeb and Kevin Kelly*
Farah* and Victor Makras
First Republic Bank
Gina Longmire*
Gretchen Kimball*
Isabel and BJ Cassin
Janet and Clint Reilly Family Foundation
Joan and Bob McGrath
Joanne Murphy

Jocelyn and Rodney Pierre-Antoine*
John A. Sobrato and Susan Sobrato
John Osterweis
Julie LaNasa and John Kunzweiler*
Kathy and Jeffrey Congdon
Kimball Foundation
Mark Molumphy*
Marla Moresi-Valdez
Michelle and Dean Quiambao*
NetApp
Nikki and Ron Lewis*
O’Brien Family Foundation
Outrageous Foundation
Patricia and Michael Kelly*
Peter Muscat*
Rev. Charlie Gagan*

Rev. Paul Fitzgerald*
Robert S & Helen P. Odell Fund
Sheeva and Arie Van Gemeren*
Sobrato Philanthropies
Sotheby’s International Realty
Taube Philanthropies
The Bengier Foundation
Timi & John Michael Sobrato

*Bay Scholars Board member