Grants or Gifts Relating to Women in Higher Education

The Center for Women Entrepreneurs at Texas Woman’s University has awarded $1 million in grants to women-owned small businesses in Texas that suffered financial losses associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The $10,000 AssistHER grants were awarded this month to 100 businesses across the state and are being used for operating expenses, technology upgrades, and for help adapting to new business models. Business owners had to demonstrate that they were adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic to be eligible for the grants. The program was developed by Shannon Mantaro, director of the Center for Women Entrepreneurs.

Albany Law School in New York announced that it has received a gift of $175,000 from trustee Kimberly C. Petillo-Décossard and her husband, Sakis Décossard, to establish the Women’s Leadership Initiative. The initiative will arrange leadership training opportunities for students and alumnae, organize networking events and integration with the law school’s Alumni Initiative in Mentoring program, and develop a fellowship program. “This is a program that will empower our women lawyers to lean in, make connections, and be the best they can be. We are deeply grateful to K.C. and Sakis for making it possible,” said Alicia Ouellette, dean of the law school.

A new research project at the University of Southern California funded by the Pew Scholars Program aims to learn more about why female mammals, including humans, age differently than males. The project is led by Bérénice Benayoun, an assistant professor in the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. Her project will examine the links between chromosomal sex, hormone profiles, and the function of immune cells called macrophages, which play major roles in inflammation and damage repair in the body.