The Club provides local scholarships specifically to Joliet area female high school and community college students wishing to better their future by pursuing a college degree. 

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Scholarships for Senior High School Female Students
Three $1000 scholarships are awarded annually to female students in Joliet area high schools for college expenses via the Young Women Public Affairs Scholarship. Students must apply for the scholarships and are selected by the Zonta Joliet Club’s Scholarship Committee. Each applicant is evaluated based on academics, service and their future career plans. Winners of the local scholarships have the opportunity to be eligible for district scholarships as well. 
 

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Isabella Gourley is a senior at Joliet Township West who plans on majoring in public policy at American University in Washington, D.C. She plans on going to law school and hopes to become a legislator who specializes in gender-based economic inequality.
 

Maya McGrew (our first recipient to win two years in a row) is a freshman at Illinois Wesleyan University. She is majoring in secondary education and English literature with a minor in psychology, is a student senator and she hopes to work in educational leadership after teaching.
 

Inaya Gray is a senior at Bolingbrook High School where she is a member of the National Honor Society. She will attend Dillard University in New Orleans where she will major in nursing.

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2022 Awards

The recipients of the 2022 awards are: 

Maya McGrew, a December 2021 graduate of Minooka Community High School. Maya will be going to Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington to study psychology. She hopes to become a Physician's Assistant, with a speciality in psychiatry/addiction medicine and then work in law enforcement as a forensic psychologist. In high school she has been active in the Interact Club, Allies in Diversity, and the Pre-Med Club. She volunteers at the Northern Illinois Food Bank and Amita Health.

 

Amelia Dubs, who will graduate from Joliet West High School this spring. She plans to go to North Central College in Naperville and eventually get a Master's degree in either sociology or criminal justice. She currently works part-time at Alden Estates in Shorewood. At Joliet Township West, she is a drum major with the band. She is a member of the National Honor Society, tutors other students, and helps out in the library. She is active in her church and volunteers at Morningstar Mission, Northern Illinois Food Bank, and Riverwalk Homes.

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Joliet Junior College Endowed Scholarship
Endowed and established in 1996, the Zonta Club of the Joliet Area Scholarship annually awards two scholarships of $1000  to two young women seeking a career in the business or professional field attending Joliet Junior College. 

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In 2018, the Sue Bornhofen Culinary Arts Annual Scholarship began awarding  $500 to a female student in the culinary arts, who maintains a minimum 2.50 GPA.

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In 2020, Zonta Club of the Joliet Area held the inaugural LunaFest film festival in order to raise funds to support these scholarships at Joliet Junior College. Since then, each year,  ZCJA's LUNAFEST fundraiser has raised more than $15,000 to add to the endowment.