Past Grant Awardees

Each year, Women for UMass Amherst supports bold projects that empower women and marginalized communities across campus. Past recipients have launched events, research, exhibitions, and mentorship programs that spark dialogue and create lasting impact.

Browse the initiatives that have shaped our community—and discover what’s possible when women support women.

BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ Women, and Women with Disabilities in STEM 

This mini-conference for women who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and/or women with disabilities in the Hampshire county area to connect with contemporary female role models in STEM that reflect their marginalized identities. This event will include inspiring keynote speakers, one-on-one student interviews, engaging panel discussions with Q&A sections, as well interactive workshops. Our goal is to give current UMass students the opportunity to interact with peers and community members to create lasting connections founded on women empowerment. 

BREACH: Art, Science, and Indigenous Knowledge 

This series of free public programs explores the intersection of art, science, and Indigenous knowledge in conjunction with the University Museum of Contemporary Art main exhibition BREACH: LOBGOOK 24 | STACCATO by artist Courtney M. Leonard (Shinnecock). The result of Leonard’s residency with UMCA and UMass College of Natural Sciences, BREACH explores the life and kinship ties of Staccato, a North Atlantic right whale killed by a ship strike in 1999 whose remains are housed in the UMass Natural History Collections. The goal of the series of public events hosted within this series is to deepen understanding of and make new connections to the many important themes within Leonard’s monumental exhibition. Additionally, the group hopes to build relationships with local Indigenous artists, youth, and tribal leaders and to bring people together from the (often assumed as) disparate fields of art and science to enhance the understanding of both. 

Bridge the Gap: Intergenerational Conversations on Racism and Health in Western Mass 

In lieu of the Health Equity Summit this year, the group will be conducting a film project intending to link our campus with the community on health equity issues. This film touches on current issues related to people of color and their health including suicide prevention, as well as older generations experiences in the region, and newer immigrant young women's experiences. In addition, students will learn about the local Indigenous community. The hope is to premiere the file both on and off campus with a panel discussion to follow. This film will serve as great support and opportunity to BIPOC students, faculty, and staff as it lifts voices of BIPOC members of our communities, and will offer many ways for continued relationships to form for internships, employment etc. 

Center for Research on Families (CRF) Student Research Awards Forum 

The Center for Research on Families (CRF) Student Research Forum project aims to develop a pipeline of new family researchers through the recognition, support, and mentoring of student researchers at UMass. Twenty CRF Student Family Researchers will be recognized for their excellence in Family Research and five will be selected to present their research at a Student Family Research Forum. Students will communicate their research to an audience that will include members of CRF’s network of 250+ family researchers, making the event an important networking opportunity as these students advance in family research. 

Centering our Writing in Community: Women, Non-Binary, and Present and Future 

This project will support mid-career tenure-stream faculty who are women, non-binary, and people of color in prioritizing their scholarly work through a mentoring program that places writing at the center of work life. The goal of this project is to help UMass women and non-binary faculty and librarians find company among others who also strive to center their writing and to create multidisciplinary collective that includes graduate students holding marginalized social identities for willing participants to seek and provide feedback on writing projects. 

Creative Women Leading Climate Action (CWLCA) 

CWLCA symposium provides access, support, and opportunity for UMass Amherst students and alumnae to connect with professionals, faculty, and staff in their field. The symposium focuses on engaging women—transgender, cisgender, gender non-conforming—in building a network towards the shared goal of creative climate action. The Symposium will empower students by providing the opportunity to learn from women in leadership, build awareness of the issues women face, and forge their own network of inspired leaders/peers as they pursue leadership in arts and activism fields. Funding is given for attendee scholarships and daycare, with the remaining funds supporting the keynote speaker and workshops.

CVSA's Cape Verdean Women's Day Celebration 

The Cape Verdean Student Alliance (CVSA) have been on campus for 37 years, hosting the annual Cabo Verdean Culture Awareness Week during the spring semester. CVSA is hosting multiple events in recognition of Women’s History Month and Cabo Verdean Women’s Day on March 8. 

The theme for the spring 2020 is “Celebrating Cabo Verdean Women’s Milestones” and will include a workshop on wellness and the Cabo Verdean Annual Culture Night to highlight cuisine, music, performances, and keynote speakers. Funding is given for a workshop and the cultural event. 

GWIS Speaker Series 

The UMass Graduate Women in STEM (GWIS) plan to host a three-part speaker series to educate GWIS members and the UMass community on the topics of social justice and anti-racism with a specific focus on women of color in STEM fields. The goal of this speaker series is to provide GWIS members and the UMass community at large with the tools to be effective and proactive allies in the social justice movement. 

iSpeak @ Isenberg 

The project aims to inaugurate a flagship annual public speaking event at the Isenberg School of Management, designed to empower and inspire the business student community. This initiative will bring together both graduate students and undergraduate students, fostering a platform for dialogue, innovation, and leadership development. The event will feature a keynote speech from a distinguished woman entrepreneur who has made significant strides in the business world. Following the keynote, we will host a public speaking competition open to all business students. 

Maximizing Alumni Networks for Micro-mentoring PhD Women in STEM During a Global Pandemic: The Covid Effect 

Women are underrepresented in STEM and need support during their academic journey to help them persist and thrive. The goal of this project is to connect women in PhD STEM programs with alumni women in STEM through micro-mentoring on a digital platform. This micro-mentorship will support participants’ sense of belonging, self-confidence, and progress toward short-term academic and professional goals in the midst of a global pandemic. WFUM funds will be used for creation of a digital platform, advertising and branding, kickoff and closing social events, and funding for the research. 

METAMORPHOSES:  A Literary Arts Workshop & Initiative 

This literary-arts workshop and initiative is designed to create space for a blended group of UMass students and women incarcerated in the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center (WCC), a women’s jail in Chicopee. The goal of this project is to collaborate in a 10-week literary arts workshop, leading to the production of METAMORHOSES, a literary arts magazine, and a public reading by contributors. This initiative in magazine production, editing, and writing will lead to the creation of a replicable workshop model and literary-arts publication that will be continued on. This initiative is also designed to inspire student interest in reading and writing literature and poetry; enable them to acquire and develop their skills as poets, writers, and editors; and to connect campus and incarcerated students to an international community of educators and arts practitioners who are committed to dialogue and learning inside prisons and jails. 

Multiplicity, a Symposium on the State of Contemporary Architecture 

Multiplicity, an international symposium on the state of contemporary architecture, is a sequel to Exactitude. The symposium will host 10 established scholars and practitioners in the field to give focused talks on issues of the built environment and the climate, race, ethnicity and power, and local and global forces that shape architecture. This event aspires to engage conversations on the current state of architecture and, specifically, how it is shaped by three factors: a created environment that needs as much reconfiguring as do new buildings; novel and complex construction techniques that must be absorbed and mastered by architects; and an array of digital media that have dramatically shifted established norms of thought and action. Multiplicity is especially focused on how a host of issues such as codes, regulations, climatic considerations, technological tropes transform and shape the larger context of the architecture project. 

National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Student Chapter 

The goal of launching this organization is to create a student-organized community where queer, trans, and nonbinary students can network and support each other, contribute to their own professional development, learn about how to better represent the communities they cover through their journalism, and strategically improve the Journalism Department's culture and climate. By supporting the professional development of people interested in journalism across all identity groups, this organization would create opportunities for trying to counteract those barriers to entry between higher education and industry. 

She Got G.R.I.T. (Gifted, Resilient, Intense, Tenacious) 

This project focuses on positively impacting, uplifting, and empowering female student-athletes to become the next generation of women leaders, in and outside of the sports world. A leadership seminar will offer workshops and networking time with fellow female student-athletes. Former female student-athlete professionals will speak at the workshops. 

Smart Women Securities 

The goal of this project is to empower women investors and build a network consisting of professionals and alumni in the industry as well as with other chapter members across the nation. Members can visit leading investment banks and asset management firms to gain exposure to real-world work environments and obtain insight into many careers in the financial services industry. By attending networking events and conferences, we can gain the insight needed to launch a successful career and then go on to spread this knowledge. 

The Good Friday Agreement @ 25: An Art of Conflict Transformation Event Series 

The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) 25th Anniversary project will provide six events directly tied to classes in several departments including the course taken by women in the UMass Women into Leadership program. The events offer co-curricular opportunities for students to engage with international scholars and conflict resolvers about the challenges of negotiating and implementing the Good Friday Agreement, particularly for populations who were marginalized by gender, class, religion, and political status. The events will examine GFA negotiations, specifically by Northern Ireland’s Women Coalition (NIWC), its impact on societal transformation and the challenges that remain. The goal of these events is to positively impact UMass women by bringing a former elected official from a women’s political party that made substantial contributions to a successful peacebuilding process. The keynote speaker, Anne Carr, will look at the GFA from the perspective of the first woman elected to a women’s political party who helped negotiate the agreement. Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy will re-dedicate a restored mural painted by an Irish republican, a British loyalist, and the UMass community in 2010, which since then has been hanging in the Campus Center. 

UMass Amherst Asian American Student Associations 39th Annual Asian Night 

Our goals with this event are to provide a memorable experience for all members that helps promote their culture on campus. Asian Night is one of the largest cultural showcases at UMass Amherst. Asian and Asian American representation and culture will be presented throughout this event. The UMass Amherst Asian American Student Association (UMAAASA) plans to do this by having diverse cultural groups perform as a part of this event, such as Chinese yo-yo, singers, and dance teams ranging from K-Pop to South Asian fusion. There will be food, giveaways, and guest appearances by Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) “celebrities”. 

UMass Student Cancer Survivors 

The UMass Student Cancer Survivors aim to support those affected by cancer through raising funds and awareness for local and national organizations. This project will allow a deeper form of support within UMass and make a difference by physically bringing cancer survivors together. WFUM funds will be used to fund materials needed for bonding activities for these students. 

UMass Women into Leadership (UWiL) 

UWil addresses the gender gap in politics. Public leadership sits at the foundation of our democracy and influences every sector of society, but current leadership does not reflect the full range of its citizenry often leaving women “without a seat at the table”. Funding will be used for semester workshops for the cohort of 20-25 UWiL students to discuss challenges and opportunities in the public sector as well as for the keynote speaker at the annual symposium—an event that brings together UWiL students with elected officials and public sector leading experts.

We Are For Freedoms 

We Are For Freedoms is a student-led interdisciplinary exhibition and public program series at the University Museum of Contemporary Art (UMCA) during spring 2021. The project is in partnership with For Freedoms, a national arts platform for creative civic engagement and direct action. For Freedoms exhibitions and public programs use art to deepen public discussions on social justice issues and core values; and to advocate for equality, dialogue, and civic participation. The project will respond to our current social and political moment to cultivate inspiration, center experiences of women and people of color, focus on social justice, build community, and spur civic participation and action.

Women and BIPOC Communities in Local, State, and International Affairs 

In conjunction with the Women of Color Leadership Network, UMass School of Public Policy and UMass Women into Leadership, Women and BIPOC Communities in Local, State, and International Affairs aims to inspire college-aged women and BIPOC to consider public service as a career and to learn about the many career paths available to them in public policy and public service. Funds will be used to for two field trips, one to Boston and one to New York City, where women and BIPOC can interact with people in those fields and eventually envision themselves in positions of political importance. 

Women Empowerment & The Hijab 

The Muslim Student Association (MSA) plans to bring a woman speaker to campus to talk about her experiences as an entrepreneur and to discuss the challenges that women, who wear a hijab, face in the world today and primarily the work place. The goal of the MSA is for attendees to leave the discussion with the following: “that the wearing of a hijab should not hold back any woman in any way”. Attendees will also have the opportunity to learn more about the Islamic culture. The WFUM funded speaker will empower and inspire all women to be strong and confident individuals who have the potential to accomplish whatever they set their mind to.  

Women in Sports 

The Muslim Students Association plans to host a speaker who will inspire women to pursue their dreams despite the obstacles they may face. This project will empower women, especially those interested in sports, to achieve their dreams regardless of the gender norms common in our society. Most women experience some level of intersectionality and this speaker will help shed a light on ways to embrace it. 

Women in Theatrical Design: Master Class Series and Public Lecture 

This project will bring to campus some of the nation’s leading women Designers in lighting, scenic, and sound design, to offer students tools for dealing with hurdles of working in a male-dominated sphere, as well as provide inspirational role models and concrete professional connections that can lead to future successes. The project is comprised of a public lecture and two master classes (one in lighting design and one in sound design).

60 Years of Collecting   

Our 60th anniversary exhibition will celebrate the founding of the University Museum of Contemporary Art’s (UMCA) permanent collection of over 4,000 artworks including prints, drawings, and photographs by contemporary artists. The exhibition will be organized chronologically highlighting works by women and artists of color. Through the perspective of past and current UMCA directors, donors, and artists, it will reveal the museum’s outstanding collection, introduce innovative ways the collection is used as a teaching tool, and focus on initiatives to diversify the collection with work by under-recognized artists. 

Women of Isenberg Conference 2023 

The Women of Isenberg Conference is a full-day event in March that promotes professional development, fosters women's empowerment, and develops student and alumni connections. Our programming includes a keynote speech, panels, and workshops run by UMass Amherst alumni as well as networking opportunities for all attendees. This year's themes are exploring passion and designing success—topics we believe are essential for all to utilize throughout their professional journey, no matter what stage of life they are in. Women of Isenberg (WoI) is passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion and seeks to inspire a culture of belonging by providing resources to learn about being inclusive leaders and encouraging an environment for attendees of diverse backgrounds to share their experiences. Fostering this space every year creates an empowering community for women and allies as they continue to grow.