About Us
Sampaguita Group is an independent 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization committed to raising funds and awarding partial scholarships to Filipino American women matriculated in colleges and universities in the United States.
In 2015, the call to establish an organization to financially assist Filipino American college women came after a report in the Harvard Asian American Policy Review identified a phenomenon called Educational Downward Mobility affecting U.S.-born Filipino Americans. Studies showed that, when it comes to succeeding in college, U.S.-born Filipino Americans lagged behind their immigrant Filipino American counterparts. In several studies, this discrepancy was attributed to a number of issues—including socioeconomic challenges. Furthermore, because of possible cultural biases, females may be experiencing fewer opportunities to attend college than their male counterparts; thus our scholarship focus.
Our mission is to increase public awareness about Educational Downward Mobility affecting second-generation Filipino Americans; award partial scholarships to Filipino American women matriculated in colleges and universities in the United States; and encourage corporations and organizations to establish their own U.S.-based collegiate scholarship programs for Filipino American students matriculated in colleges and universities in the United States.
In an effort to further the goal of increasing public awareness about the the issue, we select annual scholars based on scores from a written essay about the topic of Educational Downward Mobility and a presentation of that essay at The Sampaguita Ball—our premier annual fundraising gala. By investing in higher education we hope to increase the opportunity for Filipino American women to experience long-term academic and lifelong success.
EXECUTIVE BOARD
Flerida Antonov | President and CEO | Co-Founder
Cynthia Flores | Treasurer and CFO
Rose Tibayan | Immediate Past President and CEO (2015-2022), Co-Founder