Grants or Gifts Relating to Women in Higher Education

Here is this week’s news of grants and gifts that may be of particular interest to women in higher education.

Jackson State University, a historically Black educational institution in Mississippi, received a $75,000 grant that will fund a symposium aimed at increasing the interest of women from underrepresented groups in STEM disciplines. Barbara Howard, an assistant professor of educational leadership at Jackson State University, will direct the grant program.

The ENRICH Carolinas program at the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina has received a $5 million grant from the Duke Endowment to expanded the project across North and South Carolina. The program provides technical assistance and training for hospitals, prenatal clinics, and childcare facilities on how to create a friendlier and safer environment for all infants that supports breastfeeding.

The Idaho Hispanic Foundation, in partnership with the University of Idaho, has received a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration to reopen the Idaho Women’s Business Center. The organization will provide resources, education, and service to women entrepreneurs and small business owners across the state of Idaho.

Barnard College, the highly rated liberal arts educational institution for women in New York City, has received a $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to launch the Public Engagement Initiative, which, over six years, will foster 12 long-term collaborations between Barnard faculty members and partner organizations in New York City that focus on three thematic areas: immigration, poverty, and labor rights. Through these partnerships, Barnard faculty and student will work with partner organizations to co-create solutions appropriate to the communities served by the organizations.

The Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Musem of Art at Indiana University has received a $4 million estate gift from the late Jane Fortune, an Indiana philanthropist, advocate for women in the arts, and founder of the Florence, Italy-based nonprofit Advancing Women Artists. The gift includes 61 works of fine art as well as funds to establish the Dr. Jane Fortune Endowment for Women Artists and the Dr. Jane Fortune Fund for Virtual Advancement of Women Artists. Additionally, the museum will name the first-floor gallery of American and European Art from Medieval to 1900 the “Jane Fortune Gallery.”

The School of Social Work at Simmons University has received a $1.95 million grant from the Health Services Resources and Services Administration to extend the school’s ongoing work in training clinical social workers in substance use disorder treatment for individuals and families in Massachusetts. The funds will support the Simmons Integrated Mental Health Primary Care and Clinical Training program and work with partner health centers to expand and strengthen their substance use disorder training infrastructure. Additionally, the grant will provide $10,000 stipends to 18 Simmons master of social work students.