SUN Scholars Inc.

01/28/2026

The Robert & Anthony Dudchik SUN Memorial Fund honors the lives of Robert & Anthony Dudchik by providing foster and adopted youth meaningful opportunities to give back to their communities and travel to U.S. National Parks. We're now accepting 2026 applications! Apply by going to sunscholarsinc.org, and clicking on the "Robert & Anthony Dudchik SUN Memorial Fund' to apply!

01/16/2026

The 2026 Robert & Anthony Dudchik Memorial Fund Year of Compassion Application is now open!!! The program supports young adults in creating a community service project, followed by a trip to a U.S. National Park! Young adults age 18-24 with lived experience in foster care are eligible to apply - you can submit your application with the QR code or by visiting https://sunscholarsinc.org/robert-anthony-dudchik-sun-memorial-fund-program

07/26/2025

It was a joy for us at SUN to join CAFAF and DCF to present at the Wilderness school today to an incredible group of students!

06/27/2025

Thank you to everyone who attended our first in person fundraiser and 5th year celebration, and a special thank you to our students and keynote who helped run this event! With the support of the Town Fair Tire Foundation, of whom matched 100% of all donations raised, we were able to bring in $22,000 which goes to supporting our Program Manager position & our long-term goals of establishing a Connecticut Community Center. Thank you as well to our community honorees - The Center of Children's Advocacy, Paul Gressly, and Ray Hernandez!

06/04/2025

When we think about the time we knew Robert Dudchik, his trip across the United States to National Parks immediately comes to mind. More so, Robert & Anthony personified giving for the sake of giving - When volunteers were needed, Robert was always the first to show up at SUN, even when he was no longer attending college.

As we look to honor the lives of Robert & Anthony Dudchik, it became important for us at SUN to truly open up this program to as many people as possible to apply. This year, for the first time, we are opening up the program to students both in and out of SUN's College and Career Program cohort to be as open and fair as possible. Applicants are only required to reside in Connecticut, be ages 18-24, and have lived experience in either foster care or adoption.

This year, applicants can submit ideas regarding a community giving project, which will be supported by the team at SUN and culminate into a trip to a National Park in 2026. We feel that this fusion of giving, the love of volunteering, and National Parks truly honors the Dudchik brothers and sets a great next step for the growth of this humble but mighty program.

We look forward to seeing your applications!

05/21/2025

Please also join us in also welcoming Maria Aoki-Chavez to the SUN Scholars Inc. team, of whom is filling the new position of program manager for the Robert & Anthony Dudchik SUN Memorial Fund! Maria will be working part-time this year and next to help coordinate the R.A.D. Memorial Fund's "Year of Compassion" initiative, in which several students will be selected to take on community giving projects across Connecticut and then take part in a national parks tour in 2026. This work aims to honor the lives of Robert & Anthony Dudchik - Robert traveled across many U.S. national parks several years ago prior to his passing, and it's our goal to combine the spirit of community giving with the love of nature and the United States' sacred land.

Maria is a passionate public servant and systems change catalyst. Maria’s journey began at the University of Connecticut, where she founded the first student-led organization by and for youth with homelessness and foster care experience. As a UConn BOLD Fellow, her gift for cultivating cross-systems partnerships shone as she orchestrated a professional development summit for Connecticut’s opportunity youth, sponsored by the Department of Labor, Department of Children and Families, and Marissa Cardona.

Holding a Master's in Public Administration and an unwavering commitment to youth voice, Maria has served as a Policy Fellow with the CWCSEO Children's Sub Commission and intern to the U.S. House of Representatives. As a CCAI 2023 Foster Youth Intern, she presented her research on Interstate Sibling Connections to Congress, the White House, and DHHS, turning lived experience into policy impact.

Today, Maria channels her servant leadership spirit as she leads the Youth Catalyst Team, a collective of systems-impacted young adult consultants, while shaping national conversations on systems change through her training and technical assistance work with OJJDP, RHYTTAC, Chapin Hall, Youth Collaboratory, and Annie E. Casey Foundation's "Ending the Need for Group Placements" committee. Her dynamic voice resonates across three national councils: the National Foster Care Youth & Alumni Policy Council, Opioid Affected Youth Initiative YAB, and the National Youth Employment Coalition. She's bringing that same energy to the R.A.D. Fund Program's "Year of Compassion"—where she's committed to help young people create meaningful learning and giving experiences that reveal the transformative power of service that changes both communities and themselves.

05/20/2025

Please join us in welcoming our new College and Career Success Manager, Dr. Annabelle Hicks!

Dr. Annabelle Hicks holds a PhD and MA from the University of Connecticut, where she also earned Graduate Certificates in College Instruction and in Digital Humanities & Media Studies. She has completed the Associate, Practitioner, and Scholar levels with the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL). With over a decade of teaching experience—six years in private boarding schools and five at the university level—Annabelle is deeply committed to student-centered learning and inclusive pedagogy.

Annabelle’s scholarship focuses on festival studies, cultural resilience, and innovative approaches to teaching and learning. She contributed to Keeping Us Engaged (Christine Harrington, ed., 2025) and has two forthcoming publications: her doctoral monograph, Festivals and Identity: A Comparative Study of Cultural Resilience in Wales, Brittany, and Nova Scotia (2025), and the article “(In)Security in Academia and Pedagogy: Navigating Challenges and Transformative Practices,” which will appear in the 2026 special issue of the South Atlantic Review.
Annabelle began her role as College and Career Success Program Manager at Sun Scholars Inc. in May 2025. This September, she will also join the faculty at Connecticut College as an adjunct professor, balancing both roles in support of youth empowerment and higher education.

Annabelle lives in Connecticut, with her fiancé, Russell, and their three dogs—Heidi, Leo, and Coda.

04/21/2025

SUN 5th Year Celebration - Keynote Speaker Announced!

We are thrilled to welcome Lino Peña-Martinez as our Keynote Speaker for the 5th Year SUN Scholars Inc. Celebration and Graduation ceremony!

If you haven't already, consider purchasing your ticket soon! We have roughly 20 tickets remaining.

Lino is a national advocate currently working with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) living in Washington, DC focused on state, local, and federal policy issues including: community development, disaster mitigation, sustainable climate-conscious solutions, and affordable diverse housing options to help build safer and more resilient communities. Lino served as an advisor to the Biden-Harris administration, at the Department of Energy (DOE) focusing on industrial manufacturing policy, labor market economics, job creation and quality, worker’s rights, and energy supply chains in today's economy. All the while he has continued to be a champion of vulnerable populations, children, and families to ensure they aren’t left out of our nation’s focus in re-shoring our industrial supply chains. Lino also serves as the Board President of SUN Scholars Inc., and has spent time growing up in the California foster care system. You can read more about Lino's Bio and story at

Lino is a national advocate currently working with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) living in Washington, DC focused on state, local, and federal policy issues including: community development, disaster mitigation, sustainable climate-conscious solutions, and affordable diverse housing opt...

03/04/2025

We at SUN recently hit the incredible milestone of having served our community of foster and adopted youth in the state of Connecticut for 5 whole years! Join us to celebrate this milestone at our first annual banquet, hosted at the Workspace Art Gallery in Manchester CT on June 13th from 5-7pm! We will be hearing from alumni, staff, students, and celebrating memories from the past 5 years as we work toward building an endowment to ensure our work can continue for many years to come.

We hope to see you there!!

Register here:

Join us to Celebrate the incredible milestone of SUN Scholars Inc. hitting 5 years of service at the Work Space Art Gallery in Manchester Connecticut! 100% of all funds raised at our 5th Year Celebratory Banquet will be matched by the Town Fair Tire Foundation up to $100,000. All additional donation...

09/19/2024

09/18/2024

SUN Scholars Inc. had the priviledge to provide a keynote address at the Youth Villages Summit in Chicago this evening! Our Director, Chris Scott, and alumni + founder of the Conrad Group, Ilya Sulakov, shared the importance of lifting up lived experience and sharing power with those who grew up in child welfare through their own experiences as former foster youth, the power of generative AI, and officially launched our SUN Pathways Program! Pathways was funded in major part by the Youth Villages Lived Experience Grant - Pathways will serve as an AI tool for guidance counselors, social workers, and high school foster and adopted youth across the United States.

We will be sharing more on Pathways in the upcoming weeks! Thank you Youth Villages for your incredible support.

06/12/2024

☀️☀️☀️

Our 2024 Official Charities are already off and running toward goals at the Eversource Hartford Marathon in October! Please consider joining their efforts or donating to a cause that moves you:
For All Ages - Premier Charity
Achilles International- CT Chapter - Gold Charity
Silver Charities:
Alzheimer's Association Connecticut Chapter
Anchor Health
Chrysalis Center, Inc.
Connecticut Children's Foundation
CT Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Donate Life Connecticut
Girls on the Run Greater Connecticut
Habitat for Humanity North Central CT
Hospital for Special Care
Joe Andruzzi Foundation
Jordan Porco Foundation
Megan Schulman Foundation
Postpartum Support International Connecticut Chapter
Ron Foley Foundation
The Salvation Army - Greater Hartford Area Services
SUN Scholars Inc.
The Riley Farm Rescue
Tighed Together
Urban League of Greater Hartford
Learn more at https://bit.ly/3KGjFSk