Avys Hathaway Scholarship Award Winners

2025 Award

Congratulations to our 2025 Avys Hathway Award recipient, a 46 year old who is the primary support for herself and her two children, ages 11 and 15. She is attending Seattle University Law School and is expected to graduate in December of 2025.  She is a full time state government employee while attending law school. Our recipient is a domestic abuse survivor who decided to become an attorney so that she could help other women and children escape abuse, obtain safety and legal protection, and ultimately gain freedom so they can contribute their talents and passions to society, and to have a happy life. To quote our recipient: “Sometimes our only option is to just keep going and never give up.”   A Seattle University Law School visiting professor had this to say about our recipient:  “(She) really embodies the characteristics of what this scholarship is about. She is achieving things that many are unable to do without other obligations. My class is very demanding, requiring the students to draft a motion brief and an appellate brief as well as prepare for and participate in three oral arguments. (She) did not require much guidance and produced high-quality work in a timely manner. As a partner at a firm, I would be beyond pleased to have a new associate as talented and hard-working as her.”

2024 Awards

SISM is proud to announce two winners for 2024:
 Weina is pursuing a Masters of Communication in Digital Media at the University of Washington. She is supporting her husband and an 16 month old, while working on her degree. She plans to graduate at the end of spring quarter of 2026.

 Amy lives in Shoreline and is attending Santa Clara University. She is supporting 3 children while working towards her Master’s Degree in Pastoral Ministry: Restorative Justice and Chaplaincy. She will be receiving her degree in 2026.

2022 Award

Our 2022 Avys Hathaway Award winner is in the final quarter of her two-year graduate program at Bastyr University, in Counseling Psychology, maintaining a 4.0 GPA.  She is a Certified Trauma Professional and has her own clients through her practicum.  She also volunteers at Crisis Connections.  Her professional goals are to continue to work in the mental health field and to volunteer her services to help reduce the barriers to accessing mental health resources in Seattle. 
She unexpectedly became a single parent of a now 14-year-old in 2018 after discovering her husband had been living a double life.  She lost the family business and associated income, requiring her and her child to start over in significantly reduced financial circumstances.  She is described by one of her references as “approaching the world with patience and an open heart”… “is a top student and a dedicated mental health professional”.

SISM is honored and proud to support these amazing woman. Thanks to our partners and supporters for being part of this journey to improve women's lives.