Liberty, Kinesis mark milestone with 1st scholars
The Liberty Foundation and Kinesis Foundation announced that the first students supported by the Liberty Foundation Scholarship Fund are on track to graduate in May 2026.
Launched in September 2022, the program provides student athletes with annual scholarships of $6,250 for four years. Kinesis recruited the four recipients, who also received mentoring and guidance throughout their academic journey.
“Talented students should not miss out on academic opportunities because they don’t have the resources to pursue them,” said Yadira Valdivia, executive director of Liberty Foundation. “With this scholarship, in partnership with Kinesis, we are giving them the opportunity to complete their bachelor’s degree without the worry of finding sufficient funds to reach this important goal.”
“We’re also supporting education, which is one of our main pillars at Liberty Foundation because it promotes the socioeconomic development of Puerto Rico,” she said.
The four scholars are Denisse Garay-López, of the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón (Sacred Heart University) in Santurce; Karol Heredia-Rolón, of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico (Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico), Mayagüez; Larielys Nieves-Rivera, of the University of California, Berkeley; and Ariana Rivera-Rivera, of Boston University.
“At Kinesis, we know that young people who overcome financial hurdles to fulfill their academic goals become a spark of change for Puerto Rico,” said José Cruz, executive director of Kinesis. “Thanks to Liberty Foundation, these students were not only able to obtain a quality education, but they were also able to find their purpose and help build the country that we dream of.”
Since 2017, Liberty Foundation has awarded $7.7 million in donations to more than 90 nonprofit organizations across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Its next fundraising event, the 28th annual Liberty Foundation Golf Invitational, will be held in November in Río Grande.
