Jo Ann Rodriguez Memorial Scholarship Will Be Offered in 2022

A new Zonta scholarship fund has been established by the Rodriguez family which will go to a young woman studying Business Accounting living in the Santa Clarita area. The name of Jo Ann Rodriguez will be remembered as a leader who was committed to the Zonta mission. She will be missed forever.

Jo Ann Rodriguez, a longtime member of Zonta Club of SCV, passed away on October 25, 2019 after a long battle with COPD. Jo Ann joined Zonta in 1999 and served as club president twice and held every leadership role in the club.  She also served as District 9 Treasurer for four years. She was also a volunteer and chair of the Healthy Kids Club for many years, and more. She had a passion for Zonta’s mission of improving and empowering the lives of women and girls, both locally and internationally. She was named Zontian of the Year in 2005.

Jo Ann was passionate about her chosen profession of accounting. She did not attend college, but she took advantage of invaluable opportunities after graduating high school which enabled her to learn through experience. From the earliest days, she demonstrated a natural gift with numbers and cash management, and coupled with her innate organizational skills, she quickly moved up the corporate ladder to become CFO, the only woman on the Klune Industries’ executive team.

Not every young woman with a talent for numbers has the resources or contacts to “learn through experience” as Jo Ann did. Her family has generously funded a Zonta scholarship for a deserving female student studying Business Accounting so that she might create a lucrative career for herself and achieve success despite her economic or social situation. Jo Ann’s name will be remembered for many years, and the recipients of her scholarship will flourish through its assistance.