Career Center and Wakefield Seniors Receive $40,000 Scholarship and Internship Offer from Amazon to Pursue Undergraduate Degree in Computer Science or Engineering

Arlington Career Center senior Kimberly Montesflores Gonzalez.

Updated: Arlington Career Center senior Kimberly Montesflores Gonzalez and Wakefield High School senior Naomi Lindsay have been named an Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship recipient and will receive $40,000 over four years to pursue a degree in computer science or engineering at a college of their choice. The students join 400 peers from across the country to receive the award along with a paid internship offer at Amazon after their freshman year of college to gain hands-on, practical work experience with mentorship from Amazon leaders.

Recipients were chosen based on a variety of criteria, including their academic achievement, demonstrated leadership, participation in school and community activities, work experience, future goals, and financial need. Amazon partnered with Scholarship America to review the applications and select the 400 scholars.

Wakefield High School senior Naomi Lindsay.

Computer science is the fastest-growing profession within the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) field. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics projected the market for computer science occupations will grow 15% between 2021 and 2031, yet only 11% of STEM graduates earn a computer science degree, and only a small percentage of those come from underserved and historically underrepresented communities. Additionally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the median annual wage for computer and information technology occupations was $97,430 in May 2021, which is more than twice the median annual wage for all occupations.

Amazon Future Engineer, Amazon’s global philanthropic computer science education initiative, aims to increase student access to computer science education. The program funds high-quality computer science curriculum and educator professional learning to help school districts implement sustainable K–12 computer science initiatives. As part of this effort, Amazon funds the development of customized curriculum that accounts for the unique cultural perspectives, interests, and experiences of Black, Latino, Native American (BLNA) students. In addition to its Scholarship program, Amazon Future Engineer offers virtual class chats, career tours, and project-based learning modules that bring role models to classrooms to help students explore computer science through real-world experiences.

Amazon launched the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship program in 2019, awarding hundreds of students annually with $40,000 over four years to pursue an undergraduate degree in computer science and paid internship offers at Amazon. This year, Amazon committed a total of $16 million in paid tuition. Amazon Future Engineer has awarded $38 million in scholarships to 950 students from underserved and historically underrepresented communities across the U.S. since the program’s inception.

About Amazon Future Engineer
Amazon Future Engineer is a childhood-to-career computer science education program intended to inspire and educate millions of students from historically underrepresented communities globally, including millions of students in the U.S. each year. Students explore computer science through school curriculum and project-based learning, using code to make music, program robots, and solve problems. Additionally, each year Amazon Future Engineer awards hundreds of students with four-year, $40,000 scholarships and paid industry internships, as well as names 10 Teacher of the Year winners, awarding $30,000 prize packages for going above and beyond to inspire students in computer science and to promote diversity and inclusion in the field. The program is currently available in Canada, France, Germany, India, the UK and U.S. For more information, visit amazonfutureengineer.com.