Download the application for the 2007 Scholarships here!

Congratulations to our 2006 Scholarship Recipients!

Congratulations to our 2005 Scholarship Recipients!

Each year the Santa Barbara Chapter of the American Society of Women Accountants awards scholarships to students pursuing a major course in accounting and attending a college, university or professional school of accounting in Santa Barbara County. The Chapter first awarded scholarships in 1983.  Since that date, 146 awards totaling $79,500 have been awarded. Click here to download the application for our 2006 scholarship awards.

The criteria for applying are as follows: 

1.   Santa Barbara residents and persons attending colleges, universities or professional schools of accounting in Santa Barbara County and be pursuing a major course in accounting.

2.    Applicants must have taken at least basic courses of accounting to show aptitude and intention to pursue an accounting career.

3.   Applicants are given consideration based on either financial need and/or academic achievement.

Applications must be signed by an accounting instructor (school sponsor), and include an unofficial transcript or grade report, and a resume.  We encourage, but do not require letters of recommendation and a cover letter describing needs and ambitions. 

The American Society of Women Accountants was organized by the American Women's Society of CPA's to further the advancement of women in accounting.  As part of this effort, scholarships are awarded annually at the local and national levels.  Individual scholarships given by the Santa Barbara Chapter have ranged from $100 to $1,000.  The organization has several membership categories and admits members who are accounting students, bookkeepers, CPA's, and anyone else interested in the field of accounting as a career.

MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIPS

Three of the scholarships awarded are made in memory of women who provided strong leadership and initiative in the development of the Santa Barbara Chapter of ASWA:

Wendy Bradley Kwiatkowski (February 18, 1946 to June 28, 1994)

A native Californian, Wendy moved to Santa Barbara before her first birthday and attended the Howard School and graduated from Santa Barbara High School in 1964, where she excelled as a student body leader and one of the top swimmers in the country. Her adult life had been devoted to her family, selfless community service and the development of a successful accounting business.

Wendy married Michael Kwiatkowski in 1965 and had two children, Peter and Ashley. Soon after her second pregnancy, she was diagnosed with diabetes, which would later evolve into dedicated volunteer service with the American Diabetes Association. She was one of the founding members of the Santa Barbara Chapter of the ADA; she was honored as "Volunteer of the Year" in 1991 and 1992. In addition to her work with the ADA, she was a founding member of the Simi Valley Doctor’s Hospital Auxiliary in the early 1970’s; she was a director of the Thursday morning Leads Group; she served as an integral member of the Community Health Forums at Cottage Hospital and was an active participant in support groups sponsored by Hospice and the Institute of Behavior Medicine.

Wendy started a bookkeeping business in the early 1970’s and successfully expanded it to the point where she merged with a local accounting firm Walpole and Company (formerly IFR Services), and was one of the original members of the Santa Barbara Chapter of the American Society of Women Accountants .

Kristi M. Johnson (March 30, 1939 to October 4, 1995)

Kristi was born in Tallinn, Estonia and came to the United States in 1951; she subsequently graduated from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting. She Married Walter Johnson and they settled into Santa Barbara County in 1966.

Kristi went to work for the County as a staff auditor in 1968 and later served with distinction as County Auditor/Controller from 1978 to 1991; she was a charter member of the Santa Barbara chapter of the American Society of Women Accountants.

Active in numerous other professional organizations, Kristi provided valuable leadership as President of the State Association of County Auditors, Soroptimist International of Santa Barbara, past director of Santa Barbara Associates, Santa Barbara County Executive Association, Treasurer and a member of the board of the University Club, and as a member of the California Elected Women’s Association for Education and Research. She was also active in Girls, Inc. of Santa Barbara, R.I.T.A., Republican Women’s Club and SCORE.

Throughout her years of professional public service she became renowned as a highly competent, professional and caring administrator; she served as a fine model for other women in business.

Donna Valle (May 16, 1951 to July 29, 1991)

Donna was born and raised in San Diego, California. Her family relocated to Pennsylvania and Donna briefly attended Penn State College before moving back to California. She completed her studies at UC San Diego where she received her bachelor’s degree & later her master’s degree in social services. Donna was a brilliant, naturally gifted student who was a National Merit Scholar recipient.

With her social services background, Donna became involved in social work & grant writing with the National Network in Washington, D.C., until the program was dissolved in the early 1980’s. The National Network provided services for unwed mothers, alcoholics, and youth (including runaways). It was during this time that Donna picked up her valuable computer skills that would serve her well when she returned to Santa Barbara.

She later moved to Utah and worked with her mother for a year to run the Valle Trading Post outside of the Navaho reservation there. During this time, she learned accounting & taxes from her mother as she took over the business of the Trading Post. When she moved back to Santa Barbara, she started her own computer consulting firm called Expert Computer Services, which she continued until her death.

Donna was fond of saying ‘I owe all my success in computer consulting to my mother who could get into more trouble on a computer than any other person I ever met. I never ran into a problem with a client that my mother had not encountered first’!

She was affiliated with the Santa Barbara Rotary group and also with Klein Bottle Associates (serving youth), where she was the President of the Board for many years. Due to her success in the organization and her fundraising abilities for Klein Bottle, she has had a youth house dedicated in her name here in Santa Barbara.

Throughout her years of professional public service she became renowned as a highly competent, professional and caring individual; she served as a fine model for other women in business.

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