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Ashley Clark
Ashley has long been a pillar of strength for her entire family seeing them through illnesses and providing other support and hope for the future. Ashley is seeking to get her Masters Degree in community development which will help her to better understand the causes of social, economic and environmental issues and injustices in developing countries and thus allow her to better serve those who have not been given an equal opportunity to succeed. Ashley has extensive experience helping communities in need. She has dedicated her life so far to serving underprivileged communities in the US and abroad. Her experience and passion for community development began with a semester in Belize City during her junior year where she did research and worked with the Department of Women’s affairs. After returning from Belize she also received a grant from SUNY Geneseo to investigate the efficacy of federal and local refugee resettlement policies. After her undergraduate graduation she began to work with non-profit, conservation organizations where she volunteered her time and developed bilingual presentations for Hispanic visitors and organized community environmental education programs. She is currently employed at the Catalina Island Marine Institute, a non-profit organization, where she teaches and develops environmental education programs for children in the greater Los Angeles area. Earning her Masters degree in community development will help her to better understand the causes of social, economic and environmental issues and injustices in developing countries and thus allow her to better serve those who have not been given an equal opportunity to succeed. |
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Johnnie Lynn Decker
Johnnie Lynn's husband died suddenly in 2008 after a 20 year marriage. At some point, as she worked through the shock, disbelief and grief, she discovered who she was and who he was not. She is using education as a way to turn her ignorance into literacy both in educational and in life. She left college 22 yrs ago to support her husband's career goals and to be a "good wife." From that day forward Johnnie Lynn lived under her husband's rule and abuse. She thought it would get better with the birth of her son but when he was 4 yrs old (now 15 yrs old) she ran away for the first of many times to a domestic violence shelter. Each time her husband found them and she returned. She started school in 2008 and it has changed her life. She learned that she is not stupid, incapable or "wasted space on this earth." In fact, she has now learned that she is just the opposite. She plans to get her BA degree in Psychology and Counseling and wants to work for a non-profit organization dedicated to combating domestic violence and addiction as well as work on a "safe at home" project. After her son goes to college Johnnie Lynn plans to pursue a master’s degree. Johnnie Lynn volunteers her time by being an advocate for "those without a voice". She volunteers at Interlink Counseling Services and teaches a class on addiction and its impact on families. |
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Alonya Knight
Alonya’s objective is to complete her studies and achieve her lifetime goal of becoming an elementary school teacher and then an elementary school principal. After receiving her undergraduate degree, Alonya plans to apply to the DC Teaching Fellows Program where she will pursue her non-renewable 3-year teaching license allowing her to teach full time in the District of Columbia Public School System while simultaneously working to receive her Professional Teaching Certification.
As the daughter of a crack addict for most of her childhood, Alonya has faced many obstacles in her life. She found the pursuit of an education to be emotionally draining and often dissatisfying. It was Alonya’s love of books and reading that saved her life. Books were her companions, her comfort and her dearest friends. They “helped her temporarily escape her black existence.” It was her love of reading that lead to her passions in life of teaching and literacy. She also had a haunting experience in her freshman year of junior high school that forever altered her perception of teaching that resulted in her desire to be an educator. She was offered extra credit by her music teacher (in front of the entire class) if she would soak in bleach over the weekend to see if it would lighten her skin. From that moment, Alonya developed a distrust of teachers and went from being an A & B student to being a D student. Alonya later became an abused and emotionally battered wife who believed her husband’s constant taunt that she “would never amount to anything.” Because of her own bad experiences Alonya wants to be the type of teacher she wishes she had. She wants to make a difference in the lives of children in her community, passing on her love of reading and her thirst for knowledge. In addition to her current volunteer activity of tutoring 2nd and 3rd graders in English and Mathematics, Alonya plans to volunteer her time as an adult literacy leader to encourage and help adults learn to read in Washington, DC (40% of the city’s population can only read at a 3rd grade level). |
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Annette Lee
Annette got pregnant and married at 15 years old as a high school freshman and had to drop out in her sophomore year. As the years passed Annette would go through several bad marriages and divorces. Her second husband subjected her to intense physical abuse. Without a high school diploma she was only able to find very low paying jobs. Over the years she worked at many different things to support her daughter the best way she could, spending many years on state financial assistance and food stamps. Results of testing done while she was on assistance through the State of Ohio raised Annette’s self esteem and showed her that, she had the intelligence, capability and drive to attain a higher level of achievement. This motivated Annette to obtain her GED in 1993 and sparked a dream of continuing her education by attending college.
Annette's first public job (age 16) was as a waitress, she made $1.00 an hour. At age 19 she became a heavy equipment operator in the coal fields of Ohio. In the early 80’s,(age 21) when few women dared she enter the trucking industry, seventeen years later, she founded her own trucking business. In 2002 wanting to help others, Annette founded a non-profit, Feed My People, Inc a food bank and thrift store dedicated to helping the hurting, hungry and homeless. She received several community awards for her efforts.
Obtaining a degree would allow Annette to compete for a job that will allow her to contribute more to the finances of her family; to help her husband who had a heart transplant and her daughter who suffers from a rare spinal disorder. Annette is seeking to obtain a degree in the area of Social Services because of her deep desire to help others. She especially wants to help women better themselves and grow into all they can be. She wants to be an example to other women of what is possible. Annette's deepest desire is to help abused women learn how to avoid abusive relationships, raise their children not to repeat the pattern of abuse and to help them be all God intended them to be. |
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Tonya Morgan
Despite owning her own business as an adult (professional singer and writer), Tonya suffered from a severe lack of confidence. She grew up in an environment of severe poverty and abuse. Her lack of education was a source of extreme embarrassment for her and a subject of ridicule and jokes from her foster family, even as an adult. What Tonya eventually found out was that she was (and had been since she was born) legally blind and could not read much on the chalkboard, which impacted her ability to follow along in class. A high school counselor told her that she was not cut out of college and should just get married or become a secretary.
Tonya’s lack of confidence overshadowed how she approached everything in her life. While she tried to go to college early on and was able to “catch up” in English and other subjects, she just could not understand math or science (despite extra studying and the help of tutors). It was the death of Tonya’s favorite sister due to a drunk driver that motivated her to seize the moment, overcome her fear and go to college.
But her dreams were not to be realized at that time because Tonya was involved in an accident, had to relearn her ability to walk and would in later years require surgery requiring her to be put on disability. Despite all of her life’s issues, Tonya met a counselor who encouraged her to pursue a college degree. She began attending Hartnell College in the fall of 2007. Tonya will receive her AA in Psychology in June 2009, earning a 4.0.
Tonya hopes to transfer to Yale or UCSC to obtain her BA in Psychology and then continue until she earns a PhD, at which point, she hopes to positively impact the treatment for individuals who have been diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder (psychopaths).
While she knows there is currently no “cure” for psychopaths, she plans to continue her focus and her search for a more effective treatment. From a very young age, despite her own problems, Tonya has worked to help others in her community. At the age of 17 Tonya was actively involved with the United Way with which ran two Wisconsin campaigns. She also worked closely with the Make a Wish Foundation and the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association. She most recently organized a Christmas party for children and families (over 150 people) who are living in squalid conditions in a tent city in Soledad California. She also wrote a Christmas book that was translated to Spanish and read to the families at the event. |
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Snezana Radnovic
In 1999, at 15 years old after her mother passed away and war erupted in Serbia, Snezana came to the US and was one of the 14,000 people who are trafficked in the United States each year. For six years she was exploited, manipulated, mentally and physically abused. She was a victim of human slavery. The worst part of her situation and victimization was that it was her Aunt who was her captor. She was only permitted to attend high school for a short time until she was pulled out to work full time (9am – 11pm) every day. October 10, 2005 was the day she took her life into her own hands and ran away. She went to the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center (FIAC) and told them her story setting off an FBI investigation. She began therapy was able to establish contact with her father and brother in Serbia to get additional support and help. Through the financial aid she was able to obtain form the Florida Freedom Partnership she was able to start college as a full time student to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse. While going to college Snezana also volunteers in the community as a part of PATH (Positive Alternative Therapies in Health Care, serving as the newsletter editor. She is also an active community volunteer as part of her membership in the National Student Nurses Association and the American Holistic Nurses Association. |
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Ausra West
Ausra's objective is to achieve a long time goal of completing her studies to attain her nursing degree after being a teacher for many years. Ausra came to this country as an immigrant child. Her mother and father fled communism in Lithuania and she and her older brother were born in a displaced persons camp in Germany. When her family arrived in the United States her parents did not speak English and her father only had a quarter in his pocket. But her family believed in hard work and quickly became successful citizens of the United States. After volunteering for a number of years as a third, sixth, seventh and eighth grade private school teacher (which allowed her to have the same hours as her children as they were growing up) Ausra took an evening class to become an Emergency Medical Technician, volunteered at her local Quick Response Unit and worked as a Personal Care Attendant for several neighbors all positions contributing further to her interest in the medical field. Caring for her disabled, widowed father-in-law in her home, twenty-four hours a day with the help of hospice until he died made her love the hospice program and increased her determination to become a nurse. After the passing of her father-in-law Ausra’s husband became disabled and her youngest son became a diabetic. In spite of difficult financial circumstances, Ausra was more committed than ever to fulfill her dream of becoming a nurse. She returned to school and has maintained a 3.73 average. Despite working and going to school, Ausra still finds time to volunteer at a local hospice and working as a part of her community Town Council Advisory Board. After receiving her Associates Degree Ausra will continue on to receive her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing. As a nurse, Ausra is looking forward to many years of being able to help her family and others in her workplace and her community. |
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PWFI is a 501(c) 3 non-profit foundation that gives scholarships to women and is funded solely through contributions. Although both organizations were founded by Linda Wind, The Possible Woman Foundation International and Wind Enterprises, which conducts the Possible Woman Leadership Conferences, are separate entities with no financial or legal affiliation.
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