Scholars and their families came together on a sunny Sunday morning in San Diego to celebrate the accomplishments of the 2025 Carson Scholars.  Grace Fogel, a 3-time Carson Scholar alumna and current CSF Associate Leadership Council member, lead the event as Mistress of Ceremonies for the second year.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Mr. Jose Fernandez, co-founder and co-COO and Partner of StepStone Group, a global private markets investment firm. He was awarded for his positive impact on society through innovative ideas, accomplishments and philosophy of encouraging others and giving back.

This year’s banquet theme was Soaring to New Heights, a concept that perfectly summarizes not only this year’s Carson Scholars, but the thousands of alumni before them. We aimed to focus on scholars’ amazing contributions to their schools, local communities and the world, while continuing to set new goals for themselves.  Three videos highlighting scholars’ work were shown at the banquet and were introduced by Jacy Zanotelli, Emelia Lagousis and Elise Chen.

Additional scholar participants were:

Evan Masanis – led the Pledge of Allegiance

Quentin Sloan – delivered the blessing

Sophia Plache – musical performance

Emmalee Clemetson, Addison Humphreys, Leo Meng, Isaac Olvera and Zoe Colling – asked questions during the Q&A

Zoe Tran – introduced Dr. Carson for his keynote address

Students set up tables at the banquet’s Scholar Showcase to present their small businesses, nonprofits and/or service projects to attendees. 

Scholars were invited to submit questions to be asked of Mr. Fernandez and Dr. Carson during a special Q&A segment.  Guests learned that family is of the utmost importance to Mr. Fernandez and that one should always lean on family in times of difficulty.  He also shared advice found along his journey that could also benefit young scholars: “Studying is the foundation for everything. Learn and be curious. Give back. And as you build the foundation and study and learn, ask how you can help others and constantly think about how to help others.”  Dr. Carson spoke to scholars about the importance of learning from mistakes and fostering the humanitarian qualities that they’ve already developed.

View photos from the event HERE!