Graduate Students and Faculty Members Awarded Funds to Attend National Faculty Women of Color Conference
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The Office of the Provost, in collaboration with the Office of Equity and Inclusion and the Graduate School, awarded 15 UMass Amherst graduate students and faculty members funding to attend the 2024 Faculty Women of Color in the Academy (FWCA) national conference April 11-14 in Arlington, Virginia.
Now in its 12th year, the annual FWCA conference hosted by Virginia Tech offers a unique educational and professional opportunity for indigenous and women of color in higher education to network and learn with hundreds of their peers from across the country. The conference features talks and workshop sessions designed to explore and encourage leadership, career advancement and personal well-being scholar activism to empower women of color in academia.
Funds were awarded to the following SPHHS students and faculty:
- Ibironke Ajayi, MPH student in Epidemiology
- Barbara Mottey, doctoral student in Environmental Health Sciences
- Sofiya Alhassan, Professor of Kinesiology and Associate Dean for Inclusion and Engagement with the UMass Amherst Graduate School, who also received the organization's Zenobia L. Hikes Distinguished Career Award at the conference
- Lindiwe Sibeko, Associate Professor and Chair of Nutrition
UMass Amherst was an institutional sponsor for the FWCA conference.
“In providing this level of support and sponsorship for the FWCA, UMass Amherst acknowledges the importance of building and sustaining a community of belonging for women of color in higher education, and further highlights our desire to continue the hard work of achieving equity and belonging on our campus,” says Wilmore Webley, senior vice provost for equity and inclusion.