草榴社区

CHARLES WIDGER '73 LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP

Join our thriving community

Charles and Barbara Widger (center) and the Class of 2024 Widger Scholars.

Established by Barbara and Charles Widger '73, this three-year, full-tuition scholarship is awarded each year to a select group of students who have demonstrated strong leadership potential and an interest in making an impact in both law and business.

Program Highlights

  • Three-year full-tuition merit award
  • Mentorship and guidance from Charles Widger
  • Assistance in seeking a strategic and meaningful 1L externship and leadership
  • development coaching
  • Hone the skills necessary to become successful in a 鈥淲here Law Meets Business鈥 world
  • Finalists will be invited to 草榴社区 Law on April 3, 2025, for a special day-long leadership summit

Eligibility Criteria

  • Ideal recipients meet one or more of the following criteria:
  • Have a background/experience in law and business
  • Demonstrated leadership or leadership potential
  • Undergraduate major in business, finance, STEM or accounting
  • Interest or experience in intellectual property law

How to Apply

  • To apply for听this scholarship, please respond to the designated questions on the by January 31, 2025. 听

TESTIMONIALS

"Mr. Widger has such a diverse and expansive network. No matter your interest, he can connect you with a mentor. The focus was always on how he could help us succeed. In a world where everyone tells you what to do and how to feel, it鈥檚 truly unique when you find a group of people whose purpose is to help you be the best version of yourself. As a Widger Scholar, I learned to be a leader, which also means knowing when to lean on others for help. The other Widger Scholars were incredibly approachable and insightful. In addition, Mr. Widger invited us into his home, introduced us to his family, and brought us into his own business journey over the last few years. It's an experience that I will always treasure." 鈥Allie Romano 鈥23, Litigation Associate, Stradley Ronon Stevens &Young, LLP

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Current Widger Leadership Scholars

Ashley Andino is an alumna of the University of Connecticut , where she graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a double minor in crime and justice and human studies. As an undergraduate student, Andino听was the co-founder of the Student Government Cultural Awareness Sub-Committee, president of Sigma Lambda Upsilon (a Latina-based sorority), president of UConn鈥檚 Law Society and a legal/political Global Health Research Assistant. After earning her degree, Andino听worked as a business analyst and a contract negotiator with Lockheed Martin Aerospace and Defense Corporation, the number one global defense contractor. As a business analyst, she was charged with managing relationships with key customers/suppliers and provided solutions to business challenges as a subject matter expert. As a contract negotiator, Andino听managed 20+ multi-million-dollar military contracts through executing all aspects of contract lifecycle. She was the youngest negotiator on her team and charged with negotiating all contractual modifications and financial request for resolution of business matters pertaining to active contract agreements. Most recently, Andino听was the recipient of the PA Hispanic Bar Association Award and is the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Research Assistant.听

Kevin Hernandez is an alumnus of Florida International University, where he graduated with a BA in international relations. A proud Floridian and son of Colombian immigrants, he was born in New Jersey and grew up in Tampa, FL.听

Prior to law school, Hernandez most recently worked as the policy director at the LIBRE Initiative. His work focused on advancing liberty and freedom-minded policy solutions at the state and federal levels that break down barriers to opportunity and empower Hispanics to achieve their American Dream.听

Prior to joining LIBRE in 2017, Hernandez worked at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as their head of policy and government affairs. He was responsible for shaping and advancing the chamber鈥檚 policy agenda in DC to elevate the interests of our country鈥檚 4+ million Hispanic-owned businesses. His work primarily focused on access to capital,听energy,听taxes,听trade and workforce development.听Hernandez is a US fellow with the British-American Project and serves on the NextGen Chamber of Commerce鈥檚 advisory council.听

Vidhu B. Joshi is an alumnus of both the University of Western Ontario, where he graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in genetics, and Mayo Clinic Graduate School, from which he graduated in 2022 with a Master of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Before beginning law school at 草榴社区, Joshi听spent five years working at the Mayo Clinic in research. As a researcher, he has authored over 15 peer-reviewed scientific publications with a primary focus on therapeutic strategies in urological cancers. In addition, Joshi听is a Certified Clinical Research Professional (CCRP) and has used his expertise in clinical research and regulatory affairs to coordinate over 20 research studies and clinical trials by working directly with patients and providers. He later served as a research program coordinator supporting a multi-million-dollar research program in biomedical engineering that focused on artificial intelligence and biomedical imaging. Passionate about mentorship and innovation in all areas of STEM, Joshi听volunteers as the managing editor of the STEM Fellowship Journal wherein young researchers can publish their research in a peer-reviewed academic journal as well as seek mentorship through the several enrichment programs offered by STEM Fellowship, the largest student-run volunteer STEM organization in Canada.

Amanda Martinez is an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania 鈥 The Wharton School of Business, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in economics in 2017. Before law school, Martinez听was a managing consultant at Guidehouse Inc based in Washington DC, where she delivered data management, data analytics, and emerging technology solutions to a large public utility client. She served as the technical lead for a financial portfolio & optimization data analytics project and delivered many winning business development efforts. In 2021, Martinez听received two Guidehouse Energy Summit Awards, the 鈥淗ighly Collaborative Award鈥 and the 鈥淨uality Obsessed Award鈥. Shealso worked as a data migration consultant at a boutique technical consulting firm, Data Migration Resources Inc. (DMR), where she traveled to the client site听weekly听to deliver technical data solutions focused on large-scale SAP implementations. Clients included retail companies such as Costco Wholesale Corporation, ALDO Group, Tapestry Inc. and Wakefern Food Corporation. In 2019,听Martinez听 received DMR鈥檚 鈥淎bove and Beyond Award鈥 and in 2020, received DMR鈥檚 鈥淕o-To Award鈥. While an undergraduate student at Penn, Martinez听was also a data analyst intern at Under Armour Global Headquarters where she supported master data management and data quality activities, and a program analyst intern for Lockheed Martin, where she supported the Program Manager for the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services (CMS) contract while providing customer service support to CMS employees. On campus, Martinez听was an office coordinator assistant in the Pan Asian-American Community House, a student ceramist and chair for the Pan Asian-American Community House ASPIRE (Asian Students Promoting Identify Race & Education) Program.

Marina Campo is an alumna of Ursinus College, where she earned a BA with double majors in international relations and business/economics. At Ursinus, she was secretary of UCEA Environmental Action Club, a volunteer for St. Christopher鈥檚 Children Hospital and studied abroad in Firenze, Italy. Campo听also earned a Master of Business Administration from Rowan University in New Jersey. After earning her bachelor鈥檚 degree, Campo听worked at TD Bank in a variety of roles in retail banking as a customer service representative, an executive assistant with loan operations and as a project specialist with the Credit Card Operations/Governance Team. Campo听has also worked for Turnberry Solutions/AmeriHealth Administrators in Philadelphia as a business analyst/project consultant for client implementation, where she conducted analysis and data mining for business migration and client implementations, facilitated account setup, served as a SME and assisted in training for new team members. Before starting law school,听Campo was employed by Santander Consumer in Dallas as an associate vendor manager for partner relations. In this role she was responsible for performing risk assessments, assisting with contract execution and conducting SLA and performance monitoring for Santander vendors.

Michael Lambert comes to the 草榴社区 Law from Washington, DC, where he worked across a variety of political, public policy, and non-profit areas. Most recently, Lambert worked for Americans for Prosperity as a federal and state policy analyst. In that role, he developed several policy issue initiatives, including public infrastructure financing, export-import bank reform and agriculture spending. He also represented AFP before members of Congress and staff, executive branch agencies and policy coalitions. Prior to that, Lambert听served as a legislative aide for the office of Congressman Ed Whitfield in the United States House of Representatives and interned in the offices of Senator Mitch McConnell and Congressman Steve Scalise. Additionally, he has assisted a number of House and Senate election campaigns. Originally from Louisville, KY, Lambert听received his Bachelor of Music Performance from the University of Louisville and his Master of Professional Studies in political management from The George Washington University.

Samantha Thompson received her Bachelor of Science Degree in marketing: public relations & advertising from Stephens College and received her Master of Business Administration from the University of Missouri- Kansas City. She is currently the manager of business operations & chief of staff to the vice-president at Lumen Technologies where she has worked since August 2022. In this role, Thompson has an operational and strategic position supporting the customer success marketing team including chief of staff responsibilities for VP, customer success marketing & data intelligence and cross-functional work to support a range of initiatives across the organization. She has also worked at Lumen Technologies as the lead marketing manager, where she was responsible for leading small business strategy & go-to-market planning for new and complex products across all of Lumen鈥檚 brands. This included the execution of various trials, in collaboration with agency partners. Thompson has also had stints with Global Prairie as a senior associate for insight and strategy as well as project manager, fellow and growth strategy at Barkley in Kansas City, MO. Thompson's current volunteer activity includes participating as a CASA volunteer of Cook County and deputy registrar with Chicago Votes.

Regan Anderson is a 2023 alumna from the University of Minnesota Curtis L. Carlson School of Management graduating with a bachelor of science in business in supply chain operations management, a bachelor of arts in Spanish language and a minor in business law. Since September of 2023, Anderson has worked as a legal assistant at Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP, where she is responsible for drafting and proofreading legal documents, including agreements, board minutes, contracts, and correspondence, ensuring accuracy and adherence to firm and legal standards. Coordinating communication between legal teams, clients and external parties, managing calendars, scheduling meetings and handling confidential information with discretion and assisting in billing and timekeeping activities by monitoring and tracking billable hours and expenses, ensuring accurate invoicing for multiple clients and client matters. Prior to her employment at Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP, Anderson worked as a law clerk at Tomsche, Sonneyson & Tomsche, P.A. and was a legal intern in Toledo, Spain at Las Cortes de Castilla-La Mancha. While at the University of Minnesota, she was a member of Alpha Kappa Psi Alpha Eta Chapter where she served as the vice president of pledge education, assistant pledge educator and pledge class historian and recipient of the AKPsi Enterprise Scholarship 2020-2023 for outstanding academic achievement and involvement.听

Lauren Lauletta is a 2024 alumna of the The Pennsylvania State University Smeal College of Business with a bachelor of science in corporate innovation and entrepreneurship and a minor in international business. Lauletta has worked as a marketing intern at Incutate Workplace in Philadelphia, PA where she implemented social media efforts including marketing, member highlights, website updates, and SEO software along with sharing available property listings, negotiating with potential tenants, and provides communication to 150 current tenants. In the Smeal College of Business under the Smeal Management and Organization Department, Lauletta served as an administrative teaching assistant. She led a teaching team of 10 other assistants who are responsible for overseeing over 1,000 students and coordinates with three professors to determine best methods for enhancing student learning experience while organizing weekly teaching plans and performed quality assurance audits to ensure consistency of grading by assistants. Lauletta was a member of the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority where she served as a member of the Alternative Fundraising Committee participating in THON, a 46-hour Dance Marathon and year-long fundraising campaign to benefit pediatric cancer and arranged fundraising opportunities in State College, including dinners, bake sales, raffles and more, raising a yearly average of $200,00 to benefit THON.

Robert听Rodriguez is an alumnus of Southern New Hampshire University, where he graduated cum laude with a bachelor of science in business administration and a concentration in entrepreneurship. Since October of 2023,听Rodriguez has worked as a program manager and small business advisor at Lehman College. There, he relaunched the business incubator program to better serve small businesses, implemented a revenue generating business model and engineered a membership tier system overseeing all aspects of admissions criteria, including screening, onboarding and servicing.听Rodriguez has also worked as an account manager for the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, where he was the primary consultant for marketing, startup, financing assistance, growth and strategy. He has volunteered as a community assistant for the Office of State Senator Nathalia Fernandez, where he assisted the deputy chief of staff with event coordination and consults the district office regarding business programs and grants available to constituents. Additionally,听Rodriguez was a logistics embarkation specialist for the United States Marine Corps Reserves, where he secured cargo for land, sea and air transport while utilizing automated information systems and provided briefing to officers and senior enlisted personnel on cargo loads.听听

鈥湶萘裆缜 Law has created a transformative paradigm shift in legal education by intentionally preparing law students to practice at the intersection of law and business. This Where Law Meets Business philosophy provides a holistic educational experience that empowers future attorneys with the skills and entrepreneurial mindset that will help them serve clients and ultimately foster a freer, more just and prosperous society.鈥

Charles Widger '73

Charles Widger is the founding partner of East Bay Merchant Partners, a family investment firm. Previously Mr. Widger founded Brinker Capital Investments, now an Orion company. Earlier in his career, he practiced law in Pennsylvania and worked as an assistant attorney general for the Pennsylvania Department of Justice. He is the co-author of The New York Times behavioral finance bestseller Personal Benchmark and is chair emeritus of the Money Management Institute, the $7 trillion managed account industry鈥檚 association. Mr. Widger is a member and past chair of 草榴社区 Law鈥檚 Board of Consultors and a past chairman of the Gettysburg College Board of Trustees. He graduated from Gettysburg College and 草榴社区 Law and holds an LLM in taxation from the Boston University School of Law. Mr. Widger also served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy.

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Office of Admissions
草榴社区 Charles Widger School of Law
299 N. Spring Mill Road
草榴社区, PA 19085


草榴社区 Charles Widger
School of Law
299 N. Spring Mill Rd.
草榴社区, PA 19085
610-519-7000听 听Contact Law

草榴社区 Charles Widger School of Law is approved by the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the American Bar Association, 321 North Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60654, (312) 988-6738