30 Years of the Warren Christopher Scholarship

September 20, 2022

On August 11, 2022, the California Community Foundation (CCF) and O’Melveny & Myers LLP gathered to celebrate 30 years of the Warren Christopher Scholarship. The Warren Christopher Scholarship Fund was established in 1992 with a gift by the partners of O’Melveny & Myers LLP to honor Warren Christopher, its former chairman and senior partner, when he was appointed U.S. Secretary of State. Secretary Christopher was an alumnus of Hollywood High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), and the fund provides scholarships every year to 10 to 15 outstanding LAUSD high school sophomores. The $20,000 scholarship award is meant to inspire students to complete high school, college, and post-graduate school, and focuses on high school sophomores as this group of students has less access to scholarship opportunities.

“This scholarship is life-changing for me not only in terms of it being a monetary award, but it is also validating my hard work, sacrifices and determination,” says Diamond Monique Luna, 2022 Scholarship Recipient.

The luncheon gave current scholars and alumni the opportunity to gather with staff from CCF and O’Melveny & Myers LLP at the W Hotel in Hollywood to celebrate the achievements of scholarship alumni and send off new scholars to college. “It is an honor to support our Scholars who have achieved remarkable academic and personal success despite facing numerous obstacles, especially during the past two years. We hope that this endorsement of their future will make a lasting impact and help them attain the lifelong success they deserve,” said O’Melveny partner and Warren Christopher Scholarship Committee Chair Matt Kline.

The program goes far beyond just financial assistance for college, which is one reason why so many of the Christopher Scholars succeed and why the program has such a dedicated group of scholars who work to support one another. The advisory board and a committee of volunteers from O’Melveny & Myers LLP and outside the firm take a personal interest in each scholar, giving mentorship and career advice, providing job and internship opportunities and helping scholars find the resources and services they need to succeed.

Nearly all Warren Christopher Scholars have graduated high school and gone on to four-year universities, with more than 90% of scholars receiving their degrees. Since the fund’s inception over $6 million in scholarships have been granted to scholars. CCF looks forward to seeing the wonderful accomplishments from the Warren Christopher Scholars in the coming years.

For more information, please contact Jacey Dapper, Grants Manager, at jdapper@calfund.org.

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