Career Development Grant Recipients
2011-12 Summary
Total grants: 47
Women of color: 43%
Eligible applicants: 628
Total awards: $500,000
Career Development Grants support women who hold a bachelor's degree and are preparing to advance or change careers or re-enter the work force. Special consideration is given to women of color, and women pursuing their first advanced degree or credentials in nontraditional fields. Funds are available for tuition, fees, books, supplies, local transportation, and dependent care. Recipients must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
AAUW originally designed Career Development Grants to offer "encouragement" funding to AAUW members seeking to renew or resume academic work for credit toward career or employment advancement. Fifty members from 36 states received the first grants in 1972.
Through the years, the grants have helped many women pursue their educational goals and go on to achieve professional success. A 1996-97 Career Development Grant helped renowned bookbinder Jill Deiss get additional technical education and expand her conservation work. Lisa Larance, a 1997-98 Career Development Grant recipient, earned her master's degree in social work and went on to establish her own advocacy program for women who have used violence in their intimate relationships. Graciela Tiscareño-Sato, a former U.S. Air Force aviator, was able to get a master's degree and become a successful marketing executive and advocate for children with disabilities thanks in part to the support of a 1998-99 AAUW Career Development Grant; she recently published Latinnovating: Green American Jobs and the Latinos Creating Them. And Chrystal Bell, a 2002-03 Career Development Grantee, is working as a forensic scientist and crime scene investigator.
The 2011-12 Career Development Grant recipients are an impressive group of women representing a diverse range of career interests and fields of study, including acupuncture, automotive technology, dance education, cybersecurity, landscape architecture, nursing, veterinary medicine, and urban and regional planning.
AAUW thanks the following 2011 Career Development Grant panelists: Deborah Richie (IL) - chair, Karen Bonnell (IN), Kathryn Burleson (MN), Genny Carrillo Zuniga (TX), Dorothy B. Gail (DC), Stephanie Harzewski (NH), Diane Holt (DC), Michelle Hughes Miller (FL), Rita Kowalski (NJ), Roseann Krane (CA), Jeanne MacDonald (ND), Lynn O'Connell (VA), Kathleen Oertle (IL), Eugenia Petersen (NY), Michon Pinnix (CA), Patricia Prunty (NY), Sanaa Riaz (AR), Lynn Roney (MO), Auntaneshia Staveloz (DC), Rusi P. Taleyarkhan (IN).
Fellowships Grants
Deadlines to apply for 2012–2013 fellowship and grant programs are approaching.