2024 Scholarship Recipients
Jesus “Chuey” Martinez
Dean’s List Scholarship ($5,000)
Chuey is a life-long skateboarder from Oxnard, CA currently based in San Diego. A world traveler, because of our global skateboarding community, he found himself in Ghana on a skatepark build with Wonders Around The World. On this trip, a bad knee injury befell Chuey, which eventually inspired him to study to become a physical therapist. Currently at San Diego City College, Chuey is pursuing his Doctorate in Physical Therapy, when he’s not skating or working with concrete!
Wyatt Lindberg
Dean’s List Scholarship ($5,000)
Many skateboarders are involved in their communities, but Wyatt is a role model for those coming after him. He actively organizes the skaters in his local region, helps elementary schools plan their skate camp programs, pursues skate initiatives and worked for his local shop, to name a few. He plans to continue the good work by studying Social Work, with the end goal of earning his MSW (Master of Social Work) at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Congrats Wyatt!
Izzi Cooper
Dean’s List Scholarship ($5,000)
Izzi is our latest repeat scholarship recipient! You may know her from last year’s scholarship class, where she earned an Exposure CSEF Scholarship. She has continued her work at Bastyr University on her Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology. Her goal is to become a therapist, and this scholarship will help her complete the program and graduate in May of 2025! An OG of the Skate Like A Girl (SLAG) Seattle community, Izzi has done a lot for the people around her and will continue to do so through her concentration on therapy. Congrats again, Izzi.
Ben Koppl
Dean’s List Scholarship ($5,000)
Ben is a student and used to be a teacher. He has been on our radar for quite some time as @rollersurfer, but now he gets to shine with a scholarship to support his endeavors at Cal State East Bay in Hayward, CA. There he will be earning his Masters in Speech and Language Pathology. After years of traveling and skateboarding, speaking Spanish and Japanese (and English) fluently, Ben has decided to return to CA (originally from Morro Bay) from his SLAG family in the Seattle area. Can’t wait to follow the academic journey!
Eduardo Badal
Emerald Peace Scholarship ($5,000)
Eduardo is a Miami native who is endlessly dedicated to skateboarding and his local skate community. He teaches lessons at LOT 11 when he’s not studying or managing Undocuskate, a resource he helped create for undocumented immigrants within our skateboarding family. Eduardo is, himself a D.A.C.A. (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipient, and represents that community well while studying Graphic Design. With this scholarship, he will more easily be able to finish his program and graduate from Florida International University in May of 2025!
Rebecca “Rebe” Taylor
Emerald Peace Scholarship ($5,000)
A fan of skating since the 80’s, Rebe reemerged into her passion for skateboarding when her 11 year old son picked it up. Not only did it bring her closer to him, but it helped her mentally as she worked to beat cancer! In her local community of Sandy Valley, Nevada, Rebe is on committees with an Electric Co-op, her HOA, and an org called Look Beyond Cancer, just to name about half of her accolades. As if she doesn’t do enough, she was partially responsible for bringing the first public skatepark to her town! She will be going into her junior year at the College of Southern Nevada, majoring in Psychology, minoring in Business!
Luciana Lazo
Emerald Peace Scholarship ($5,000)
Luciana is a skateboarder from Peru who now studies in Florida. With support from the Peruvian Skateboarding Federation, she began her studies at the Broward College International Center in Peru. Now, she is a student at the University of Central Florida, where we have had a handful of CSEF recipients over the years. She is pursuing her Bachelors in Marketing with a minor in Coding. She aims to bring this skillset to the video game industry. Luciana is a huge role model for young skaters back in Peru and for skateboarders everywhere.
Luis Morales
RFTH Ian “Poods” Barry Memorial Scholarship ($3,000)
Luis is originally from Southeast San Diego. Through skateboarding, he was able to break down class barriers and better understand people. Now, Luis is studying at Oregon State University in Corvallis. Through his Masters in Natural Resource Stewardship, he is an advocate for the conservation of coastal grasslands. Through his science, research and teaching, he will be able to make his mark on our natural environment. When he isn’t skating or working toward his degree, Luis actively serves on a grant selection board for the Coastal Conservancy’s Explore The Coast program. Congrats, Luis!
Spencer Krauss
RFTH Zane Timpson Memorial Scholarship ($5,000)
At a young age while living in Scottsdale, AZ, Spencer found skateboarding. It was through skateboarding the he was able to find his people. It wasn’t until he realized his love of film and storytelling that he decided to focus on his studies of the subject. Film can help us all escape our immediate reality and express an artistic side of ourselves, much like skateboarding can. Spencer is now at American Film Institute (AFI) in Los Angeles, where he will focus on his MFA in Screenwriting. It may not too long until you see one of his films in theater!
Corbin Rouette
Atiba Jefferson Photography & Film Scholarship ($4,000)
Corbin is from Prescott, AZ and now studies in Tucson at the University of Arizona. Skateboarding entered his life at an early age, and he never turned away from it. However, one bad injury forced hi to stay off the board for months, at which point he uncovered his love for art. What started with drawing developed into working with a camera, and the rest is history. Through love and loss, he’s documented those around him and aims to continue to do so. Especially for those in his life that might not have the opportunity to do so for themselves. He will be completing his BFA with an emphasis on Photo, Video and Imaging in the spring of 2026.
Mara Lei Monteiro
Atiba Jefferson Photography & Film Scholarship ($4,000)
Mara is a Hawaii native now living, working and studying in Portland, OR. After experiencing life challenges on the island, she decided to make a change and relocate to the PNW, where she found a community she identified more strongly with - Skate Like A Girl. As time went on, she became more involved behind the lens of the video camera, shooting editing and producing multiple local skate videos, working on video for friends and skate nonprofits. Now, she is pursuing her Bachelors in Film at Portland State University and chipping away at next skate video projects. Mara, doing it for the culture!
Augustine Alafita
Skullcandy Scholarship for Engineers ($5,000)
Augustine is from Chelsea, Michigan and is studying at Michigan State University, College of Engineering. As one of our few incoming freshmen, he was inspired to follow this path from his time abroad, admiring European architecture and also being called to public space advocacy. Through the Civil Engineering major he is pursuing, Augustine aims to lobby for and design public spaces are better to share (with skateboarders in mind, of course). At home in MI, he has worked (and continues to work) hard to get the first public skatepark built in his town.
Joshua Rowe
Board’s Choice Scholarship ($2,000)
The decision to nominate Joshua for a scholarship may have been a little unconventional. But that is nothing compared to his work ethic. Joshua has worked tirelessly to not only pay his personal expenses, but to help others in his life and also those less fortunate. His work with Rollin From The Heart has led to many at-risk youth finding purpose and safety through skateboarding in after-school programming. He’s a delight to work with, as Creative Director at CSEF. And the list goes on and on… Josh is studying education at CSU San Marcos and will go on to become a teacher, adding to his impressive resume of community-forward work. We love you Josh!
No-Comply x ACC Scholarships ($2,150)
Just in this past year, No-Comply Skateshop has gone above and beyond with helping CSEF raise money and gain awareness in their local (and online) orbit. The skate shop and House Skatepark are on Austin Community College’s campus, and they have a working relationship. We are stoked to work with No-Comply and also to offer scholarships specifically for Austin Community College student skaters. Thanks to Elias and everyone at the shop who made this possible!
