Katherinne Peraza, a foster youth from Child Advocates in Indianapolis, is the recipient of the first Akerman Academic Excellence Scholarship Award, established through an endowment by the law firm Akerman, LLP to help young adults achieve a post-secondary education.
The scholarship was awarded to Katherinne at the 35th annual National GAL/CASA conference in National Harbor, Maryland. Her GAL advocate, Mark Bass, of Child Advocates recommended her for the scholarship. In describing Katherinne’s dedication to her academics, Mark stated, “Katherinne is extremely hard-working; I have never seen someone study so hard!”
Despite her placement into foster care at the age of eight due to abuse and neglect, Katherinne has been an honor student, achieving a GPA of 4.0 for the past two years. She will be attending Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) this fall and plans to study nursing.