Meet ESTACI's 2026 Young Leaders Scholarship Recipients

Meet ESTACI's 2026 Young Leaders Scholarship Recipients

ESTACI (Eastern Shore Training And Consulting, Inc.) is proud to announce the 2026 recipients of the Young Leaders Scholarship Award, sponsored by ESTACI's Empowering Women & Girls Initiative: Joyniah Gaskins, Armonie Reid, and Karma Robinson. Each will receive $2,500 toward their post-secondary education — bringing ESTACI's total scholarship investment in Eastern Shore students to $57,500 across 23 awards since 2016.

This scholarship recognizes graduating seniors from Accomack and Northampton County high schools who have shown real leadership and academic drive while navigating the added weight of racism, sexism, and/or economic hardship. These are students who kept showing up — for their families, their communities, and their own futures.

Each young woman will be formally honored at ESTACI's Awards Luncheon at the Impact Center in Cape Charles on Saturday, August 1.

Armonie Reid — Northampton High School → Virginia Commonwealth University

Armonie is headed to VCU to study Biology on a Pre-Med track, with her sights set on nursing. Money has been tight for her family, especially with her mother between jobs, but Armonie channeled that pressure into purpose. Over the past four years she's volunteered consistently across her community — supporting the Love Run, Oktoberfest, her church, school events, and Eastern Shore Cancer Awareness, where she helped run parades and holiday celebrations and was known for showing up early and pitching in wherever needed.

Volunteering also changed her. By her own account, she started out reserved and reluctant to interact with people she didn't know — but four years of community work pushed her out of her shell and built confidence she now carries into the next chapter of her life. Armonie's long-term goal is to come back to the Eastern Shore and work in one of its medical facilities, helping patients who struggle to afford care get the treatment they need.

Joyniah Gaskins — Nandua High School → Old Dominion University

Joyniah earned acceptances to more than 15 colleges and universities before choosing Old Dominion, where she'll study Psychology with her eyes on a future in neuroscience and criminology. She wants to understand what shapes behavior at a biological level and use that knowledge to support fairer, more effective approaches to rehabilitation in the justice system.

Alongside her schoolwork, Joyniah has logged over 45 hours of community service, volunteered at her local food bank, helped with childcare for family members, and stayed active in FCCLA — all while working a part-time job. Her teachers and mentors describe her as someone who leads through consistency: showing up, doing the work, and treating people well without needing recognition for it.

Karma Robinson — Nandua High School → Hampton University

Karma graduates with a 3.9852 GPA and Principal's List honors every year of high school, ranking 14th in a class of 145. She's headed to Hampton University to study Biology on a Pre-Med path toward a career as a pathologist. Karma has served as Secretary for her church's Young People's Department and for the broader Mille E. Baker Area YPD, coordinating communication and event planning across multiple congregations.

Her community service has centered on health equity — volunteering with Healing Measures Breast Health, Walk for Alzheimer's, Relay for Life, and March of Dimes. Working alongside healthcare professionals at those events exposed her to real disparities in how Black patients and women are treated in medicine, and it sharpened her resolve. Karma describes herself as naturally quiet, someone who used to believe she'd need to be the loudest person in the room to matter — until she found that steady, behind-the-scenes service was its own form of leadership. She hopes her career in pathology will help close gaps in care for underserved and rural communities like her own.