AY 2026-27 Yohan Abraham Scholarship Recipients - MTSU

This year we are delighted to announce we have awarded the Yohan Abraham Memorial scholarship to two very promising candidates: Our junior candidate who is new to the program is Ms.Mary Figuera. Mary is an Accounting sophomore at Middle Tennessee State University and the proud recipient of the Yohan Abraham Memorial Scholarship for the 2026–2027 academic year. Originally from Venezuela, Mary moved to the U.S. 13 years ago and has maintained a fierce work ethic ever since, balancing her studies with a part-time job at Darrell Waltrip Honda and church volunteer work. Highly involved on campus, she is a member of the Economics Club, a winning Investment Challenge competitor, and a rising Student Orientation Assistant, dedicated to making her family proud. Our returning candidate is Mr.DylanWatson who was in the US Marines and now in the National Guard. Elizabeth Abraham and Mandy Beaty from the foundation attended the award ceremony and were fortunate to meet and learn about our scholars.

AY 2025-26 Yohan Abraham Scholarship Recipients - Hinsdale South

This year we are on a trial basis opening up a new scholarship on the same terms as the MTSU scholarship at Hinsdale South High School where Yohan attended high school. This scholarship is open to Hinsdale South graduating seniors who will attend a STEM major in a state university in the US and will be given for the first year when scholarships are hard to come by. This year the school selected Mr. Amari Alexander who will be attending Clemson University for Automobile engineering. Here is an excerpt from his application

“Attending Hinsdale South High School, I was a multi-sport athlete running track and playing football while also participating in the step team. From a young age, I was captivated by the mechanics and design of automobiles, which eventually led me to enroll in the automotive technology program at the Technology Center of DuPage during my junior and senior years. There, I gained hands-on experience in diagnosing and repairing vehicles, further motivating me to pursue a career in the automotive field. After discovering Clemson University's automotive engineering program and touring the facility, I was immediately drawn to the program, and I instantly knew that Clemson was the perfect place for me to pursue my dreams. My ultimate goal is to contribute to the advancement of automotive safety and designing and improving safety systems for automobiles”

We start a new journey with fifteen young children from Children International

We have started a new program where we sponsor children from different countries in the world through Children International. Growing up in poverty, children face tough challenges: hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and medical services, social discrimination and isolation. But with this program, we can help children get the health care, education, life skills, job-readiness training and confidence they need to create lasting change in their lives and communities. Together, we can end poverty and continue our YAF mission of being a force for good. Our sponsored children (click on name for more information) are:

  1. Alex Edgardo from Honduras

  2. Almer Caleb from Honduras

  3. Anderson Joshua of Ecuador

  4. Danna Dairis of Ecuador

  5. Esteban Rosario of the Dominican Republic

  6. Hessa Loraine of the Philippines

  7. Jaze Hueseff of the Philippines

  8. Juan Pablo from Mexico

  9. Lia Issabella of Guatemala

  10. Miho Maximo from Philippines

  11. Nataly Maytte from Guatemala

  12. Norely Esmeralda from the Dominican Republic

  13. Riberia Nakazwe from Zambia

  14. Sarah Jacqueline from Mexico

  15. Sofia Noemi from Honduras

AY 2025-26 Yohan Abraham Scholarship Recipients - MTSU

This year we announce we have awarded the Yohan Abraham Memorial scholarship to two very promising candidates both of whom have served in the US armed forces: Our returning scholarship awardee is Joshua Pham who as you remember served as an army medic with many tours of duty. Based on his outstanding academic performance he was awarded the scholarship for the senior year. The junior scholarship was awarded to Dylan Watson. Dylan served in the Marines where he drove/controlled aquatic vehicles which he jokingly calls water tanks. He was at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and spent some time at a base in California. He is taking summer classes and contemplating future internship opportunities.. This year Mandy Beaty (Yohan’s love) from our foundation was on hand at the award ceremony and had the pleasure of meeting our scholarship holders and was able to learn from them first hand their stories and where they are now both career wise and in life.

AY 2024-25 Yohan Abraham Scholarship Recipients

This year we are delighted to announce we have awarded the Yohan Abraham Memorial scholarship to two very promising candidates: One serves in the National Guard and the other is an Army Veteran. Jack Clark who won the same award during his junior year again won the award for the senior year. The junior scholarship was awarded to Joshua Pham who served as an army medic in multiple tours of duty and like Yohan is on an eight year rotation serving his seventh year currently. This year our treasurer was on hand at the award ceremony and had the pleasure of meeting many of our past scholarship holders and was able to learn from them first hand their stories and where they are now both career wise and in life.

Meanwhile, the STEAM bus chugs along at Smith County School district

This picture is a page from the New Middleton Elementary School yearbook. The teachers were talking about how much the kids enjoyed the bus and how they hope it gets to stay for a while again next year. The bus is a shared platform for STEM education for the ten schools in the SCSD. Thought our donors might like to hear that it is being loved despite its late entry due to the pandemic!

We have our 2023 scholarship winners and they are Jack (junior) and Shelbi (senior).

Our junior scholar for AY 2023-24 is Mr. Jack Clark. Jack is a member of the ROTC and a junior in accounting. He is seen with his mother and stepdad along with Mandy and from YAF. Jack has a very similar career path to Yohan and plans to serve in the armed forces before embarking on a career in business and accounting.

Our senior scholar is Ms. Shelbi Brewer who was our junior scholar last year. Shelbi has shown exemplary performance and is graduating in accounting along with courses in business law. She hopes to be a dual major hoping to make a career in company and business law areas. Shelbi appears in the next photograph with her mother and Mandy and Diane from YAF