Mateo Arteaga has worked in higher education access for the past 24 years. The most recent position he has held was as Director of the Educational Opportunity Center at Central Washington University. As a first-generation student with a migrant background, Arteaga has dedicated his professional life to helping students with backgrounds similar to his own. In addition to working with students, Mateo has also spent many years working with legislators to advocate for TRIO programs at both the state and federal level. Mateo has been a leader in the WSTA and NAEOP community and has supported the work that is done at the national level by creating a solid relationship with state legislators. He is well known throughout the TRIO Community from his years of hard work, passion and commitment to our programs and students. This scholarship is dedicated to the advocacy work that Mateo has done throughout the years. 

This scholarship will be awarded to one student from a pre-college program and “Active” TRIO program of WSTA. 

Requirements:

• Be a current HIGH SCHOOL Senior
• Intend to enroll in a Community College or University for the Fall of 2025
• Plan to major in something related to service (Political science, teaching, nursing, social work, etc). 
• Have a social justice and community-oriented background (Community Service, Volunteer work, etc).
• One letter of recommendation from TRIO advisor (within the last year)

Additional information:

• How were the scholarships named? Board/committee leads reached out to their networks in 2023 and were given the opportunity to submit a recommendation to submit a scholarship in someone’s honor. 

• How is the scholarship fund sustained? Part of the proceeds from the yearly Civic Leadership Conference (student conference) and the silent auction amount raised at the Professional Development conference go into the scholarship fund. We also take donations! To donate you can Venmo @wstatrio | (XXX) XXX-6728 and note in the donation description, “for scholarships”