Barbara Keomany, a senior pharmaceutical science major at Fresno Pacific University, was awarded a MALA Scholarship from Central California Asian Pacific Women (CCAPW). The scholarship banquet took place Wednesday, June 6, 2019.
Keomany is a Laotian American, born in Woodland, CA, raised in Sacramento and now living in Fresno. She intends to become an emergency room physician. Keomany calls basketball a gateway to service through coaching, mentoring and teaching. A member of the Sunbirds women’s basketball team, she was captain of her squads at Sierra Community College and West Campus High School. Understanding being a first-generation college student is not easy, she desires to be a role model for students in the community, especially those facing hardships, according to her CCAPW information.
Kizzy Lopez, Ed.D., assistant professor of social work at FPU, is a CCAPW board member. The organization has been empowering generations of Asian/Pacific women in the Central Valley for over 35 years (more at ccapw.org).