EmpowerU's 2026 scholarship recipients — five Caribbean students pursuing neuroscience, business, mental health counseling, AI, and medicine. Meet them here.

If you grew up on Sint Maarten, you know exactly what it sounds like when someone is really from there. It's not just an accent. It's a rhythm. A set of phrases that carry whole histories in them.

The internet was not designed with Caribbean people in mind. Neither were most of the AI tools sitting on top of it.

EmpowerU has extended the Rising Tide Scholars Fund application deadline to August 28, 2026. The program provides free, fully funded CXC Mathematics tutoring to Sint Maarten secondary school students at St. Maarten Academy, Charlotte Brookson Academy, St. Dominic High School, and MAC High. 25 seats available. Applications at empoweru.online.

When Tavania Mathew walked across the graduation stage at Florida State University with her Finance degree, she did it knowing she'd already lined up what came next. That's the kind of student EmpowerU bets on.