SACRAMENTO -- The Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce announced today that it will once again partner with Drexel University to award a full tuition grant for a Master's Degree to an up-and-coming leader from the Hispanic community.

Drexel and the Chamber established the Hispanic Leadership Master’s Grant in the Fall of 2008 and the first two award winners are currently pursuing graduate degrees at Drexel. The first, Wells Fargo manager Gloria Mirazo, will be graduating from Drexel with her MBA this December. The Chamber is currently accepting applications for the annual scholarship from students who will begin their graduate studies in September. The Master’s Grant applies to any of the six nationally-ranked master’s programs Drexel offers at its Center for Graduate Studies in Sacramento

This year, in response to the region’s depressed economy, Drexel decided to increase its support to the Chamber, to help it achieve its key objective of developing its next generation of leaders, and will provide a $10,000 scholarship to each candidate for the Master’s Grant who is a finalist.

“This is an incredibly generous offer and an amazing opportunity for our members,” said Rosa Escutia, Chair of the Hispanic Chamber’s Board of Directors and Community Relations Manager for PG&E. “We continue to be impressed by Drexel’s commitment to growing the region’s economic leadership in all sectors of the community. Its focus on diversity is impressive.”

“By providing more scholarships to more of our emerging leaders, Drexel is really stepping up its commitment to the Greater Sacramento Region,” said Steve Gándola, President and CEO of the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “Drexel recognizes the central role that this Chamber plays in supporting the development and aspirations of the Latino community, and we are proud that Drexel is so willing to partner with us in the development of our leaders. That will make for long-term benefits.”

The Hispanic Leadership Master’s Grant is awarded through a competitive process to a student admitted to Drexel whom the Hispanic Chamber’s selection committee believes holds excellent promise for future leadership in Greater Sacramento’s Hispanic community. It is expected, and a condition of the Award, that the winners will continue to be active in the Chamber and give back to their communities as they pursue their graduate degrees at Drexel.

A panel of leading Hispanic business and community leaders will review grant applications, meet with finalists, and award the grant. This year, the Master’s Grant selection committee will be chaired by Larry Garcia, Principal with the Diepenbrock, Harrison law firm. Also on the selection committee with Garcia and Gándola are Co-Chair Norma Andrade with Wells Fargo Advisors; Stella Premo with Vanir Construction; and Victoria Rosario, Associate Vice Chancellor of the Los Rios Community College District, who was the 2009 Hispanic Leadership Masters Grant recipient.

“We are pleased and excited to be expanding our partnership with the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber and helping it make the investments that will benefit the Sacramento region for decades to come,” said Carl “Tobey” Oxholm III, Senior Vice President of Drexel and Dean of its Center for Graduate Studies. “In a very short period of time, we have developed strong partnerships with the region, with our students and with their employers. Our faculty have done a tremendous job in structuring innovative, dynamic programs that meet the needs of working professionals and deliver great value to our students while they are working.”

Drexel opened its doors in Sacramento in January 2009, and by the start of classes in September expects to have had more than 400 students enroll in its programs. All of the academic programs Drexel offers are focused at the heart of Greater Sacramento’s growth and economic development initiatives – health, entrepreneurial business, human resources, education, knowledge management and information science. Drexel has created scholarship and grant programs exclusively for the Sacramento region to help its business and civic organizations and its people press ahead with their development initiatives through the current tough economic climate.

Drexel’s 20,000 square foot Graduate Center at One Capitol Mall is widely regarded as one of the region’s premier, high-tech educational centers. Equipped with state-of-the-art, fully integrated high-technology learning systems for its programs for working professionals pursuing master’s degrees in the evenings, it is also used by businesses and non-profits during the day. The university invested over $1 million dollars in cutting edge audiovisual/ collaboration technology to revolutionize how higher education can be delivered. It routinely donates its space and technology for use by not-for-profit institutions.

All materials related to the application process must be received by August 30.

Applications are open to qualified candidates living in Sacramento, Yolo, San Joaquin, Sutter, Placer, El Dorado, and Yuba counties.

For more information or to apply for the Master’s Grant, please visit the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce website at www.sachcc.org or call Celia Cortez at (916) 486-7700.

For more information on the fellowships and Drexel’s programs in Sacramento, visit www.drexel.edu/sacramento or call (888) 389-3781 or (916) 325-4600.

The next Information Sessions for Drexel’s graduate programs in California will be held at the Center, One Capitol Mall in Sacramento, on Thursday, July 29 at 6 p.m., Saturday, August 7 at 10 a.m., and Thursday, August 12 at 6 p.m.