Scholarship Information:

Scholarships will be awarded from the Women Lawyers Association of San Luis Obispo County. The number of scholarships and the amount of funds per scholarship will be determined upon review of the applications received and funds available. Award recipients will be notified and invited to attend the annual judicial reception to be held in October of 2025.

Eligibility:

You must be presently enrolled or accepted for enrollment in law school and demonstrate a connection to San Luis Obispo County.  Your application must be postmarked or received by 5:00 p.m. on July 1, 2025.

Terms:

The scholarship award can be used to assist with living expenses, tuition, books, bar exam courses or as otherwise needed to further your legal education.

To Apply:

1. Please complete and submit the application on this page or download the Scholarship Application here.

2. Return the completed application via email to maren@huftonlaw.com, or postmarked by the date listed above to the following address:   

Maren Hufton
Women Lawyers Association, Scholarship Chair
PO Box 14508
San Luis Obispo, CA 93406

3. You may include a resume and up to three letters of recommendation from non-relatives with your application.  The resume and letters of recommendation may be mailed or emailed separately but must be postmarked by the due date to be considered.

4. If you need any assistance, please email maren@huftonlaw.com or womenlawyersslo@gmail.com.  

* By submitting this application, you are certifying that all the information provided is true and correct.

* WLASLO reserves the right to change eligibility, selection criteria and award amounts without notice. Submitted applications will not be returned to the applicant.

Past Recipients of the WLA Scholarship Awards

2024 Scholarship Recipients: Bernice Alcantar, Natalie Foad, Anahi Garcia, Olivia McKenna, Alexander Wood

2023 Scholarship Recipients: Ashlie Andrade, Alexandra Bernal, Audrey Hall, Vanessa Ibara, Mikayla Regier, and Haley Sprague

2022 Scholarship Recipients: Kaylinn Charnley,  Ashley Miller, and Elisa Rivas

2021 Scholarship Recipients: Kelsey Anderson, Chelsea Barkley, Addy Brown, Lauren Davis

2020 Scholarship Recipients: Kelly Barrett, Stephanie Ray, Hannah Stone, Allison Wick

2019 Scholarship Recipients: Sarah Salvini, Dana Allen, Isabella Perello, Selene Estrada-Villela

2018 Scholarship Recipients:  Nicole Beaudoin, Kaitlyn Enticknap, Emily Osgood, Kendra Rivas

2017 Scholarship Recipients:  Betzy-Yadiana Bras-Gonzalez, Sara Feldman, Sara-Catherine Rose Gerdes, Chelsea Kuhns, and Ayesha Karim Rasheed

2016 Scholarship Recipients:  Leesa Andrade, Kayla Clark, Alexi Jenkins, Olivia Molodanof and Jennifer Thompson

2015 Scholarship Recipients: Traci Kessler, Brooke Murphy, Ling-Ching (Lulu) Tseng and Jillian Ventura

2014 Scholarship Recipients: Ekaterina Barron, Tabatha Smith, Sadie Weller, Berit Elam and Melissa Newman

2013 Scholarship Recipients: Annakarina De La Torre-Fennell, Brooke Romero, Khouloud Elmasri and Janee Manirquez

2012 Scholarship Recipients: Brian O'Neill, Amy Belsher and Alexandra Andreen

2011 Scholarship Recipients: Erica Bashaw, Courtney Taylor and Daniel McElhinney

2010 Scholarship Recipients: Elizabeth Bingham, Sarah Joller, Noura Kawar and Sarah Pazdan

2008 Scholarship Recipients: Elizabeth Alquist, Shannon Bio, Bryanna Fissori and Kathy Lachowsky

2007 Scholarship Recipients: Benjamin Ebert, Lisa Mendez and Kara Stein-Conaway

WLASLO SCHOLARSHIP FUND

You can donate to the WLASLO Scholarship Fund directly from our website!  100% of all donations go directly to the scholarship recipients.  DONATE NOW!

WLASLO Scholarship Program

Our Scholarship Program has a long history of providing monetary support to local female residents in their journey through law school. We have been fortunate to have a tireless Committee Chair, Lisa Sperow, for the last six years working hard to pay it forward to SLO natives attending law school.

She shared the following. “I truly enjoy my role as scholarship chair because it gives me a chance to meet and learn about all of these amazing law students with connections to our county. Each year I am so impressed by the high caliber of applicants. We tend to have applicants from all backgrounds, ages, and experiences who are dedicated to improving the lives of others through volunteer work, their studies and their professional lives. The hardest part for the scholarship committee is having to pick only 3 or 4 to award with scholarships each year when we'd like to recognize more.”

Lisa explains more, “I also enjoy meeting the recipients at the Judicial Reception and hearing how much receiving the scholarship meant to them. One recipient informed me that she was going through a tough time financially and emotionally and was starting to doubt her decision to attend law school because of the sacrifices she and her family were making when our scholarship award letter arrived! She said it felt like a validation and a sign from God that she was doing the right thing. It is also rewarding when recipients, such as Kara Stein-Conaway and Shannon Bio, graduate from law school, become lawyers and eventually join the board of WLA! ”

Some of our scholarship recipients had to say the following about receiving scholarships from WLASLO.

“As a San Luis Obispo County native, I appreciate that the scholarship was designed to advance women in the legal field who have connections to San Luis Obispo County. At the time I applied, I was in my first year of school at the Santa Barbara College of Law, working full time, traveling 4 at night to Santa Barbara for class, and paying for everything with private loans. In addition to the relief the scholarship funds provided, I was also very grateful for the chance to meet local judges and attorneys at the award ceremony, an opportunity which later came to my advantage as it made me feel more comfortable as an attorney myself working with the same people as colleagues.” - Shannon Bio

“Law school was hard. Learning to process information in an entirely new way, sometimes felt overwhelming. Knowing that other women who had been where I was, had made it through law school, and had become practicing attorneys, were selecting me as a scholarship recipient, felt like they were telling me that they had confidence in my abilities and were cheering me on.” – Kara Stein-Conaway.

"Embarking on the journey to attend law school is certainly not something I could have accomplished on my own. As a Central Coast native, it has been a privilege and honor to receive the support and scholarship from the Women Lawyers Association of San Luis Obispo County." -Selene Estrada-Villela

“I have been so honored to receive the WLA scholarship. This scholarship has supported me not only financially, but emotionally. It means the world to me to know that I have a group of women, from my hometown, believing in me and aiding my future. I am forever grateful for being chosen as the WLA scholarship recipient.”- Kaitlyn Enticknap

“I am so incredibly grateful for the financial support from the Women Lawyers Association scholarship. Not only was the money well spent on my education at San Luis Obispo College of Law, but their vote of confidence in me has also been very empowering. Meeting this successful and dynamic group of women at the Judicial Reception was most inspiring. As I near the end of my second year at San Luis Obispo College of Law, I look forward to one day becoming a part of our San Luis Obispo legal community.” - Nicole Mullikin