Club Awards 19-Year-Old Conservative Activist with Annual Betty Jo Neils Scholarship

At Lakewood Republican Women's June Scholarship Luncheon, 19-year-old conservative activist Gillyan Christensen was awarded the annual Betty Jo Neils Scholarship.

The Betty Jo Neils Scholarship is funded by Lakewood Republican Women fundraisers and is awarded each Spring to a female student in her continuing education in the Fall. To be eligible, she must be currently enrolled in a college or university (which can include Running Start), have a minimum 2.5 GPA, and exhibit strong career goals, community and political involvement and beliefs reflecting the advancement of traditional values along with fiscal and personal responsibility.

As journalism major, “Gilly” will be attending Palm Beach Atlantic University to pursue her goals to work for Newsmax, be actively involved in re-election campaigns, and ultimately run for Congress in 2026. She has been asked to be editor of the PBA University paper and will also be Chapter President for Turning Point USA on campus. Her favorite organization has been Project Veritas because of its stand for American freedom.  Lakewood Republican Women say Gilly truly epitomizes the young Republican woman Betty Jo Neils had in mind.

The scholarship was named after Betty Jo Neils, co-founder of Lakewood Republican Women in Washington state in 1971. She was a Republican activist for over 50 years – “a professional volunteer” who had a goal to recruit, organize, motivate, educate, and involve women in Republican politics.

Learn more about the Lakewood Republican Women in Washington state and the Betty Jo Neils scholarship at https://www.lakewoodrepublicanwomen.org/.