Congratulations to our 2026 Scholarship Winner, Gavin Gnecco!

Every year, the college-bound children and stepchildren of Rhea staff can earn a $1,000 scholarship by submitting a brief essay on that year’s theme. A panel of our staff members reviews the essays and selects their favorite, which wins an additional $500 prize.

This year, the winning essay was written by Gavin Gnecco, the stepson of Rhea archaeologist and environmental scientist Nadia Johnson. Gavin graduated from Woodland Hills High School in June and is preparing to start at the State University of New York at Albany, where he will study accounting and financial regulation. It’s appropriate, then, that this year’s essay prompt deals with one of the most important financial institutions in the country: the Export-Import Bank of the United States!

The 2026 essay prompt asked, “Is the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of the United States (US) doing enough or not enough to help Africa reach its potential?”

Gavin’s essay takes a balanced approach, addressing the need for international development projects to actively benefit the people living in affected regions and some of the unique challenges to development in a global lending market.