The Live Your Dream Awards program is a unique education award for women who provide the primary financial support for their families. The award supports their efforts to improve their education, skills, and employment prospects.
Since 1972, Soroptimists have distributed over $41 million in education awards to 41,000 women making a better life for themselves and their families.
Meet our 2025-2026 Awardees!
Marisa Jasmine Arellano
Marisa became a mother when she was fourteen years old, but she continued her schooling. She also took care of her mother who was extremely ill. Three months before she was to graduate, her mother died. She walked the stage in cap and gown in honor of her mother. She started college and then her son was diagnosed with Autism, so she took a break to see to his needs. It was during this time of her son’s therapy that she developed her understanding of education and how it benefits children. This is why she wants to pursue becoming a teacher. Marisa is back on track attending East Los Angeles College taking Child Development classes which will move her towards her goal of becoming a teacher.
DaJana‘s hope is to one day have her own daycare and that is why she is pursuing her AA at Cerritos College in Early Childhood Education. She is putting into practice what she is learning with her own seven children. DaJana is a single mother as her husband left an does not provide any support. She has lived out of her car making use of services provided by various shelters. It took 5 months to find a program for housing along with counseling to help with her children. She has the determination to change her circumstances and the lives of her children.
DaJana Crouch
Keosha Maiden
Keosha’s return to school is a powerful step toward purpose and growth. Inspired by her mother’s compassionate care, she is now pursuing nursing, building on a foundation of service that has always been part of her life. Although returning to school later in life can be intimidating, it is also empowering—especially as she shows her son that growth has no age limit.
After overcoming alcohol addiction, Keosha made the life-changing decision to join Alcoholics Anonymous. Now 10 years sober, she is proud of how far she has come. As a student at Los Angeles City College, she is embracing her second chance, guided by motherhood and driven by a commitment to becoming a nurse. Her journey proves that change is possible and that a meaningful future is always within reach.
Kevisha is a single mother of three children. Her goal is to become an Electrician and staring her own business for women. While attending training for her certification as an Electrician, she is also working on her GED. Kevisha and her children have been Homeless living out of her car. She now volunteers helping to feed the Homeless knowing first hand that life. She is grateful for the little things she can do in life and still hold her head up high.
Kevisha Mathews
Tanyah Rodriguez
Tanyah’s educational pursuit of a degree in Business Education has been put on pause because of a diagnosis of Stage 3 Cervical Cancer. Add the loss of almost everything due to the wild fire, she and her three children are in a real interruption of life as they knew it. Once her cancer treatments are complete, Tanyah will once again resume her educational goals. She is described as a survivor with a positive attitude who wants to show the world no matter what we can make our dreams come true.