Lighthouse Guild Awards $162,500 in Scholarships to 16 Blind and Low Vision Students Headed to Yale, UMBC, Slippery Rock, and More

Scholarship awards — totaling more than $3 million since 2005 — have launched alumni careers as engineers, attorneys, neuroscientists, and beyond

NEW YORK, June 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Lighthouse Guild, the organization empowering people who are blind or have vision loss to live independent lives, today announced $162,500 in scholarships. These were awarded to 16 students who are blind or have low vision — 15 entering college and one pursuing graduate study — at some of the nation's most competitive institutions.

The awards, drawn from named scholarship funds honoring donors and community members, reflect Lighthouse Guild's conviction that vision loss is not a ceiling on ambition. Since 2005, the scholarship program has awarded more than $3 million to students who have gone on to careers as nurses, attorneys, engineers, chemists, composers, and neuroscientists.

"These are exactly the people who will shape what comes next — in medicine, technology, law, the arts, and fields we haven't imagined yet. Lighthouse Guild exists to make sure vision loss is never what holds these students back. Supporting them is one of the smartest investments we can make in the future," said Thomas Panek, President and CEO of Lighthouse Guild.

"I hope to empower others to find their own voices and make a difference in their communities. Most importantly, I want to build on what I've learned during the first steps of my advocacy journey to help people better understand one another and create a more welcoming, inclusive world," said college-bound scholar Drake Becker. "The Lighthouse Guild Scholarship will help me take the next steps on that journey, giving me the support and opportunity to continue to grow as an advocate and leader." Becker, 18, will be attending the University of Utah this fall, where he plans to major in Marketing and Communications.

Awards are based on academic merit. Recipients were selected from a competitive national pool.

Individual Awards

Recipient of The Ring Family Scholarship – $10,000
Ashanti Gillis, Owings Mills, MD – Attending the University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Recipient of the Daniel M. Callahan Memorial Scholarship – $10,000
Batya Sperling-Milner, New York, NY – Attending Yale College

Recipient of the Dr. Neil S. Patel Memorial Scholarship – $12,500
Waseem Aljanazreh, Philadelphia, PA – Attending Slippery Rock University

Lighthouse Guild College Bound $10,000 Scholarship Recipients

• Amelia Laing, Seattle, WA – Wellesley College
• Bennett Lehman, Jefferson, WI – University of Wisconsin–Whitewater
• Claire Schultz, Firestone, CO – University of Northern Colorado
• Drake Becker, Salt Lake City, UT – University of Utah
• Elaine Chao, Chicago, IL – Northwestern University
• Grace Finnegan, Middle Village, NY – Baruch College
• Hugh Feeney, Concord, MA – Villanova University
• Jenna Sheetz, Arlington, VA – Tufts University
• Kymani Stephen, Oshkosh, WI – Western Michigan University
• Mackenzie Karbash, Delavan, WI – Carroll University
• Madison Ingram, Owasso, OK – University of Oklahoma
• Milo Sherman, Brooklyn, NY – Fordham University
• Sophia Salehi, Cambridge, MA – University of Massachusetts Amherst

About Lighthouse Guild
Lighthouse Guild is committed to providing exceptional services that inspire people who are blind or have low vision to reach their goals. Through vision rehabilitation, assistive technology, mental health services, and innovative programming, Lighthouse Guild is dedicated to breaking barriers and enhancing lives. For more information, visit lighthouseguild.org.

Media Contact
Civic PR for Lighthouse Guild [email protected]

SOURCE Lighthouse Guild