Meet the 2025 DREAM Scholars

Every year, thousands of community college leaders, educators, and advocates gather at DREAM to exchange ideas and share in a collective vision for the future of higher education. That future includes the DREAM Scholars, eight outstanding students selected through a rigorous application process to attend an immersive learning experience at the conference. 

The 2025 DREAM Scholars are resilient, compassionate, and courageous, each with unique stories that highlight the limitless ways community colleges can play a role in transforming lives. Their pasts have shaped who they are, but their hopes for the future have motivated them to join ATD for a week of learning, professional development, and personal growth. This February, they’ll take center stage at DREAM to share their experiences.  

Get to know these eight remarkable students — and, if you’re attending DREAM 2025, get excited to hear their stories in their own words. 

Bradley Gawie

Central University of Technology (South Africa) 

Bradley’s story begins in Mitchells Plain, a suburb of Cape Town created by the apartheid government in the early 1970s. Bradley’s parents, a sales representative and a nurse, were committed to his education. With their help and his own unwavering resolve, he transformed obstacles into opportunities and embraced every chance to learn. 

His academic path has been anything but linear, but he eventually found his calling in agricultural studies and is now pursuing a postgraduate diploma in agricultural management at the Central University of Technology. Bradley is also a leader and mentor, serving as a supplemental instruction leader, a Writing Center advisor, and chairperson of the Agricultural Student Organisation (AgriSo). He was sponsored to present at the 2024 Siyaphumelela Conference in Johannesburg, where he was proud to showcase the power of student agency and co-creation.  

“Coming from a background of financial hardship and personal loss, I have experienced many challenges. However, these have instilled in me a strong sense of resilience as well as a passion for empowering others.” 
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Destinee Britto

Tallahassee State College (Florida)

At a young age, Destinee had to overcome financial hurdles and cultural barriers to pursue her goals and has been inspired by her mother’s battle with cancer to find strength not in avoiding fear but in moving forward despite it.

Today, she uses her voice as government president at Tallahassee State College to advocate for inclusivity and student empowerment. She has also transformed personal loss into purpose through her role as ambassador for the Royal Bank of the Caribbean’s Race for Kids, where she advocates for children battling serious illness. Destinee aspires to become a sports lawyer focused on immigration law, providing pro bono services to people like her who have encountered barriers between them and their dreams simply because of where they come from. Committed to service, Destinee believes that authenticity and compassion are the most powerful tools for transformation.

“This program embodies values that I hold close to my heart: leadership, service, resilience, and the drive to make a positive impact.”
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Diego Perez Lopez

San Jacinto College (Texas)

An Army veteran, Diego’s experiences have shaped his mission to empower young people from underserved backgrounds. Whether by volunteering with JROTC programs or quietly donating a laptop to a struggling classmate, he believes in creating opportunities for others.

Now he is pursuing his own opportunities as a first-generation college student working toward a business administration degree at San Jacinto College. His goal is to establish a nonprofit center to teach financial literacy and life skills to young people. Diego finds inspiration all around him: in his wife’s courage battling cancer, his parents’ selfless love, and his own belief that with the right support, anyone can rewrite their story.

“I am not afraid of the unknown, because my parents taught me at a very young age that the only thing that comes from the unknown is opportunity.”
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Heidi Counelis

Gateway to College Program at Mott Community College (Michigan)

Heidi once believed that college was an impossible dream. However, enrolling in the Gateway to College program marked a pivotal moment where she reclaimed her academic goals and started to see the dream of higher education as not just possible, but achievable. With the help of therapy, she has learned to manage ADHD and turn personal healing into a catalyst for growth and motivation.

For Heidi, college is more than just an academic pursuit: It’s an opportunity to become a support system for others who have faced similar challenges to her own. She works as a community leader and is a passionate advocate for neurodivergent students, and this advocacy motivates her to achieve her goals so that she can develop her voice and create meaningful change. Heidi hopes to help build a future where compassion and advocacy intersect.

“Helping myself, and being proud of the person I am becoming, is one of the first steps for me to help others in the future.”
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Isaac Njoroge

Community College of Baltimore County (Maryland)

Isaac has navigated a new culture, a busy schedule, and complex financial pressures on his educational journey. On the way, he has developed a passion for computer science — technology has acted as a bridge between worlds as well as a powerful tool for creating opportunity.

He currently balances multiple leadership roles at Community College of Baltimore County: His involvement in the Honors Program, Phi Theta Kappa, the Men’s Basketball Team, and the Male Student Success Initiative has given him a strong sense of belonging and support. Isaac believes that success is not just personal, but collective, and his experiences have informed his deep commitment to bridging divides and creating pathways for others, one line of code at a time.

“My culture and background push me to bridge the digital divide, bringing technology to communities that might otherwise be left behind.” 
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Rashiadah Weaver

Cuyahoga Community College (Ohio)

To Rashiadah, her educational journey represents far more than an academic achievement: It’s a radical reimagining of possibility. She has experienced chronic homelessness, cared for two children after severe medical emergencies, survived personal trauma, and is determined to tell a new story. She is not just a student at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) but a leader as well. She is active in Phi Theta Kappa, is a student representative on the Board of Trustees, and has earned numerous awards and scholarships for her hard work — all while navigating motherhood, mental health challenges, and persistent systemic barriers.

After Tri-C, Rashiadah will attend Cleveland State University, where she has been accepted to the Jack, Joseph & Morton Mandel Honors College as a Mandel Continuing Scholar. She intends to major in organizational leadership and then go on to transform communities. As a mother, grandmother, scholar, and community leader, Rashiadah understands that resilience is about more than survival: It’s about creating pathways where none existed before.

“If breath is in your body, there is always an opportunity to become a better version of you.”
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Sonny Alaniz

Odessa College (Texas)

Sonny is a sophomore honors student at Odessa College pursuing associate degrees in mechanical engineering, physics, mathematics, and business administration. His educational journey began with aspirations in the Navy Nuclear Program, but after a health disqualification, he shifted focus to his passions for tech and engineering. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he discovered a love for education while working as a substitute teacher, which led to a full-time position teaching engineering and robotics at Odessa High School.

Alongside his studies, Sonny has revitalized the school’s robotics and engineering programs, mentors students in the NASA Texas High School Aerospace Scholars program, and has been president of the Student Government Association, Students in Philanthropy, and the STEM Club. Upon completing his studies, Sonny plans to transfer to Texas A&M University to pursue double degrees in nuclear engineering and physics with an Astrophysics track. With aspirations of becoming a research and development engineer at Los Alamos National Laboratory, he aims to advance thermonuclear propulsion technologies to shape the future of space exploration.

“I aspire to continue empowering others through education and innovation, just as I have been inspired and supported throughout my journey.”  
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Warren Miller

College of Menominee Nation (Wisconsin)

Warren graduated as the valedictorian of his high school class, an experience that launched him with confidence into higher education at a private college. However, financial barriers kept him from returning to school after his first year, and he spent the next few years working manual labor jobs. His desire to give back to his community led him indirectly back to higher education: He began coaching middle school football, and the students encouraged him to give college another try.

Now, as a student at the College of Menominee Nation, Warren is one step closer to his next ambition — to serve as a tribal legislator and create meaningful change for his community. Passionate about renewable energy, sustainable business practices, and affordable housing, Warren knows that he’s pursuing not just an education for himself, but transformation for his community and his people.

“I do not know the future, but I will no longer settle in life and will continue working hard to achieve my goals.”
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