Jessica Mason Awarded Catherine B. Reynolds Scholarship
Award Marks Third Consecutive Year of Reynolds Awards for SSSW
Social work undergraduate Jessica Ann Mason ('10) has been awarded the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship in Social Entrepreneurship. The announcement marks the third consecutive year that a social work/bachelor of science candidate has been granted this prestigious scholarship. Reynolds
Undergraduate Scholars are granted up to $20,000 in tuition funding each year for their final two years of study, a stipend for a summer internship between junior and senior years, and an intensive two-year curricular and co-curricular program.
Mason has a strong interest in child welfare and social justice, a concern that she put into action during her high school years in suburban Danville, CA. As a high school student, she performed volunteer work with children in the foster care system, and held a particular interest in the children “aging out” of the system.
She had heard about NYU from friends who were students at the main campus. When she came to visit as a prospective student, “the first time I stepped on campus, I felt it was perfect for me,” Mason said.
Forming a Non-Profit Shelter for Homeless Teen Mothers
As an undergraduate, double-majoring in social work and history, she is also involved in helping children and families in New York. Teaming with undergraduates Amanda Raposo (SSSW) and Fiorella Alania (LaGuardia Community College), Mason is planning to form a non-profit organization called Baby’s First Home. The
organization will run a shelter for homeless teen mothers in a building donated by Raposo’s father. The idea was also submitted as a proposal to the non-profit organization Youth Venture, which awarded Mason and her partners the “Be a Changemaker Challenge” prize of $10,000. Readers who are interested in finding out more about this effort can send e-mail to: ProjectBFH@gmail.com.
During her freshman year at NYU, Mason volunteered with Peer Health Exchange, teaching health education to teens in underserved schools. During her time as a volunteer, she found that the teens were interested in higher education, but lacked access to resources about college. To address this, Mason founded Undergraduate Pathways, a student-led organization designed to raise college awareness, build mentoring relationships, and provide service learning.
After her freshman year, Mason worked for Walter R. McDonald & Associates, a nationally recognized company that provides managerial and technical consulting in the education, juvenile justice, and human services fields. She focused on a project to evaluate a variety of children’s services in Sacramento. This experience allowed Mason to interact with different community organizations and leaders across a spectrum of human service fields.
Mason currently holds leadership roles at the Silver School of Social Work Student Government and the NYU chapter of Youth Venture.