2021 Award Winners

Ayesha Alam (SAR) received her B.A. in Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology, as a proud graduate from CUNY: Lehman College in 2020. She is currently a first-year master’s student in the MS-SLP Program at Boston University. Ayesha is the daughter of hard-working and loving parents who immigrated from Pakistan. The support from her family is what inspires her to work as a speech-language pathologist in diverse communities, who not only wants to treat disorders but will advocate for individuals that need services.

I am incredibly grateful to be selected for the BU Women’s Council scholarship as this will allow me to focus more time on providing quality and client-centered care. Thank you!

Shakina Coplin (SSW) is a graduate student at Boston University School of Social Work, clinical track. Born and raised in Boston, MA, she is a first-generation college student as well as the mother to an amazing 6-year-old girl. She holds a BA in African Studies and Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston and is also a graduate of Bunker Hill Community College. Her passion is working with families of color living in underfunded communities that have been historically neglected.

I am honored to have been selected for the Boston University Women’s Council Scholarship 2021-2022. This scholarship will help me break down generational barriers and continue to excel in my academic career. My hope is to bring representation into communities of color and inspire women and girls who look like me to reach for the stars.

Faye Harwell (GRS) is a doctoral candidate studying biological anthropology. Her dissertation research investigates the body composition of adult orangutans, who exhibit sexual dimorphism meaning males and females vary dramatically in body size. She is broadly interested in primatology, life history, and sexual dimorphism. In addition to research, Faye loves teaching to undergraduate students in the anthropology department at BU. Beyond graduate school, she wishes to pursue a career that combines her two passions, teaching and research. 

I feel incredibly grateful to be selected for a Boston University Women’s Council Scholarship. This award makes such a difference in my research progress. I will be using this award to visit two leading female scientists, who have graciously offered to train and mentor me on the hormonal analyses I am conducting for my dissertation. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have such great mentors. I would like to thank the Boston University Women’s Guild so much for making this opportunity possible for me.

Lianna Malawski (SED) is a rising second year graduate student pursuing a degree in the Mental Health Counseling Ed.M program at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. A first-generation graduate student originally from Queens, New York, she is currently pursuing a counseling degree in the sport psychology track. Lianna is a founding member of Counselors of Color in Training Organization (COCITO) which is committed to creating an inclusive environment for students of color in Wheelock College.

I was genuinely touched by the honor of being selected for this scholarship award. Your generosity will help further my research in creating a coaching education program that empowers coaches to delve more deeply into their personal past traumas and become more self-aware about their current treatment towards collegiate athletes. Thank you to the Boston University Women’s Council for this special recognition, I am forever grateful.

Alice Staro (GRS) is a coastal geomorphologist in FitzGerald Lab. She studies United States marshes and sediment transport in coupled barrier island-tidal inlet. She is developing a model for the formation of cheniers in Brazil. She reconstructs the formation of coastal areas in the past (~11000 yrs ago), and how their inherited features are shaping their present and future evolution. Her research will identify possible natural factors that could improve the resilience of marshes to sea level rise induced by climate change.

The Boston University Women’s Council Scholarship will help me in supporting my research on the effects of hurricane related sedimentation on a Georgia salt marshes. I will be able to participate to the next field campaign in Georgia to collect data and travel to Virginia Institute of Marine Science, where I will perform the analyses on the samples we will collect. I will also use this award to present at the American Geophysical Union in New Orleans, a prominent venue to showcase our findings and share ideas with other scientists. This will significantly help me in building a network with other researchers in the field.

April Verser (CFA) is a DMA student in Bassoon Performance, and she also studies the contrabassoon. Before moving to Boston, she worked as a free-lance musician and educator in the greater Chicago area. She works part-time as an administrator for MathPath, a summer math enrichment program for gifted students. She holds a MM degree in Bassoon Performance from Carnegie Mellon University, a BM in Bassoon Performance and Music Education, and a BA in Mathematics from Lawrence University.

I am honored and thankful to receive this support. With it, I will be able to continue to pursue projects that advance both my education in bassoon and contrabassoon performance, and that incorporate collaboration with other musicians. I will continue to work towards my career-goal of helping to create a re-definition of “classical” music that encourages wider representation of those writing, performing, learning, and teaching it.

Aja Watkins (GRS) is a philosophy PhD student. Her research focuses on philosophy of science, especially a combination of philosophy of the historical sciences, philosophy of climate science, and philosophy of modeling, as well as philosophy of biology and feminist philosophy of science. Her dissertation will explore the philosophical implications of using paleoclimate episodes as analogue models for contemporary climate change.

This award will be enormously helpful to me in supplementing my existing funding. I am excited to be able to use it to travel to conferences and purchase research materials! Congratulations to the other scholarship recipients.

Keri Branquinho (SSW) is an advocate for human rights and social justice who strives to empower others. 33-year-old member of the (L)GBTQ+ community. She is a supervisor at Justice Resource Institute (JRI), MSW intern with JRI, and a student at BU’s part-time advanced standing social work program. She has volunteered with organizations that support individuals with A.I.D.S., cancer, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. She can’t wait to continue her education and start her career in social work!

I am so grateful for this award! It will help me financially by limiting the amount of debt I occur through student loans. In addition, it will help ease my financial stress. Recently, I became a caregiver to my 81-year-old Grandmother who within the past couple of months underwent quadruple bypass and femur/ hip reconstruction surgery from a fall. My future goal is to own a wellness center with other like-minded individuals that will offer traditional therapeutic services combined with a holistic approach. This center will offer community outreach events and seek to empower individuals in the community.

Ms. Loo (SPH) is a PhD candidate in the Health Services Research program at Boston University School of Public Health. Her research focuses on the interaction of informatics and social determinants of health. She uses applied mixed methods to examine the impact of social risk screening on mental health outcomes and utilization in resource constrained communities. Stephanie previously served as an AHRQ T32 Predoctoral Fellow and, before beginning her doctoral studies, was Project Director of the Informatics Team at The Fenway Institute. She is the proud daughter of immigrants from Malaysia.

I’m very grateful and honored to receive the Boston University Women’s Council New England Women’s College scholarship. Thank you for providing me with this opportunity to alleviate financial stressors and allow me to fully focus on my dissertation research. I appreciate the Boston University Women’s Guild for supporting the on-going work of female scholars in the BU community and very much hope to be able to pay this forward as I embark upon my professional career.

Michelle D. Riccio (SPH) is a current Master of Public Health candidate with over ten years of experience working in the private and nonprofit sectors, including higher education, inmate rehabilitation, and animal welfare. She is the founder of a nationally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit that rehabilitates inmates and was featured in an award-winning documentary on Netflix. She is driven by her passion for public health, sexual and reproductive health, global health, criminal justice reform, and advocating for the voiceless worldwide.

I am passionate about sexual and reproductive health (SRH), especially empowering women with the knowledge and resources they need to direct their health. This award will allow me to pursue a transformative summer practicum with an SRH organization. Because such opportunities are typically unpaid, the financial burden falls on the student to fund the entire experience. This award will provide the financial resources that I need to gain practical work experience with an SRH organization before embarking on a career in implementing reproductive health programs.

Rebecca Rudel (SPH) is a registered dietitian and DrPH student whose work focuses on improving food security for vulnerable populations. She aims to understand how health care organizations can effectively partner with community-based organizations and the private sector to sustainably provide sustenance to people experiencing hunger. Prior to coming to BU, Rebecca worked as a clinical nutritionist in New York City.

I am thrilled to be a 2021 recipient of the BU Women’s Guild McLaughlin Award. This generous scholarship will provide needed funds while I embark on the data collection phase of my dissertation. Thank you so much for your support!

Victoria Volfson Sedletsky (GRS) earned her BSc and MSc in Biochemistry and Biotechnology from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. After graduation, she worked as a study coordinator and research assistant in the Neurology division in a leading hospital. She moved to Boston with her husband to pursue her PhD in Biomedical Sciences at Boston University School of Medicine, with an emphasis on immune dysregulation in systemic sclerosis. In addition, she became a mother in my second year, to a sweet baby girl.

I work on systemic sclerosis (SSc), a debilitating and deadly rheumatic autoimmune disease that currently has no cure. The goal of my research is to better understand the underlying pathophysiology of the immune response in this disease.

On top of the pride it brought me, my laboratory, and my family, this Award will help advance certain aspects in my project that are currently underdeveloped due to financial limitations. It will help explore additional scientific avenues in my research and conduct several key experiments that I have always wanted to do. This will help make my current findings more complete and significant, bringing us one step closer to a potential therapeutics.

Annisa Khadraoui (SPH) is pursuing her MPH with a functional certificate in Health Policy in Law. While not studying Anisa is a Project Manager of the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study network and the Health Outcomes around Pregnancy and Exposure to HIV/ARVs study. Anisa aims to work at the intersection of engaging stakeholders, assessing resources, actively engaging and gather and analyzing data and contextualizing it in the framework of policy and empowering communities.

Pursuing a Master’s in Public Health degree has been one of my goals since I graduated from Brown University in 2013. Now more than ever the voices of Black people, Black women and Black Public Health professionals are critical to the conversation and I believe that my graduate studies will support me as I continue to develop into an effective representative.

While I have wanted to pursue this degree for several years my decisions about employment and further education have been significantly impacted by my student loan debt. It has been demonstrated that student loan debt reinforces the wealth gap between Black and White peers. In a 2019 report published by the Brandeis University Institute on Assets and Social Policy it was shown that 20 years after entering repayment White student borrowers paid back nearly 94% of their student loans while Black student borrowers still owed 95% of their loans.

Receiving the Boston University Women’s Guild Women of Color Circle Award will advance my graduate studies by allowing me to pursue my academic interests in serving marginalized communities, a field that historically has not yielded lucrative positions. With a lessened burden of student loan debt I can focus my attention on my studies, rather than considering funding sources and the economic impact of my studies, interests and passions.

Sara Horatius (COM) is an MFA in Screenwriting student at Boston University. Prior to attending Boston University, Sara received her JD from Widener University and her BA in Philosophy from Temple University. Currently, Sara is an adjunct professor at Roxbury Community where she teaches criminal justice courses.

My life’s motto is to just laugh, even if it’s an ugly one, and my goal as an up and coming screenwriter is to tell stories that make people laugh. I am truly thankful and humbled to be the recipient of this award.

 

Thara Young (SSW) is a graduate student in Boston University’s School of Social Work Program. She currently works at a small non-profit Agency in Cambridge, MA in the Family Support & Stabilization Program where she serves as the Assistant Program Director. She supports her staff in providing intensive, in-home therapeutic support to families who are at risk of having their children placed in foster care and/or supporting their reunification after out of home placement. Thara is also an active member of her community, co-leading a Step Team comprised of youth ages 9-17 while also serving as a Youth Leader in her local church. Youth and Families has always been her passion and she is honored to be able to be a vessel through all parts of her life.

I am truly grateful to be one of the 2021 recipients of Boston University’s Women’s Guild Award. It’s such an honor to be recognized for such an award and it propels me to continue giving back to my community.

Pryscilla Acosta (GSDM) is a second year DMD candidate at the Boston University Henry Goldman School of Dental Medicine. Before starting her journey at Boston University, she devoted her time volunteering in community dental clinics in Southern California and Mexico. She is the Vice President of BU’s American Association of Public Health Dentistry and her goal is to bring awareness of the healthcare disparity that is present in the underserved community. She continues to volunteer at community events and teaches others that small persistent and positive changes can cause real change in people’s lives. One of her dreams is to one day establish and lead her own interdisciplinary mission trip.

I am deeply honored to be a recipient of Boston University’s Women’s Guild Award. This award will make a significant impact on my education and I cannot express how grateful I am.

Elizabeth Hameeteman (GRS) is a PhD candidate in History. She has a background in Law and American Studies, and previously worked at several non-profit organizations in the Netherlands. Her dissertation, titled “Water for a Thirsty World: Desalination, Development, and the Global Quest for Water in the 1950s and 1960s,” uncovers how desalting technologies and expertise, and the ideologies behind these, proliferated in the postwar era.

As a sixth-year History PhD candidate, I have been beyond my department’s five-year funding cutoff. As the money I saved to try and bridge this academic year is almost depleted, I faced the choice of finding a full-time position (and delaying my degree even further) or take out additional loans. The BU Women’s Guild Award allows me some valuable financial leeway so that I can fully focus on completing my graduate studies in the next coming months. While I’m currently achieving an expertise in policy history as a scholar, I then intend to return to the non-profit sector to put my knowledge and passion into practice in today’s world where access to water is not a given, where water shortages structure conflict and inequality, and where narratives of the past are important to understanding relations of power and access to resources.

Arielle Kaplan (GRS) is an M.F.A. candidate in poetry at Boston University. She is an editorial assistant for AGNI and helps coordinate the Black Box Reading Series. She holds an M.A. in Education and has spent the past decade teaching in the U.S. and in Spain. Her writing has received support from the New York State Summer Writers Institute and Oberlin College.

I’m thrilled to receive this honor and support as I complete my M.F.A. It’s especially meaningful to me to be recognized by BU’s Women’s Guild because much of the poetry in my in-progress thesis manuscript centers on womanhood and gender roles. I’m grateful to be part of a community that encourages women graduate students to pursue their professional and personal goals.

Ashley Perry (LAW) is a rising 3L at Boston University School of Law. Before attending law school she lived in Greece where she volunteered as an English teacher at both a local refugee center and a human trafficking center. She hopes to use my legal career to make an impact on similar communities.

This award has given me the opportunity to focus on my last year of school without the additional stress of wondering how I will be able to afford the bar exam. It has given me some freedom in choosing to pursue a career in an area of law that is meaningful to me instead of worrying about finding a firm that will cover my bar exam costs or being forced to take out an additional private loan.

 

Dr. Regina Sloutsky (SAR)  is a physical therapist and PhD student in the Rehabilitation Sciences program at Sargent College. After earning her BS and DPT degrees from Boston University, she practiced as a clinician for several years across the healthcare spectrum. Her research goals are to develop and translate technologies and interventions that help restore walking for individuals with neurological disorders.

I am deeply honored and grateful to be selected as a 2021 recipient of the prestigious Boston University Women’s Guild Award, and to join this extraordinary community. Receiving this award not only reduces the financial burden associated with returning to graduate school, but also provides support and encouragement as I focus on my doctoral work. Thank you for your recognition and generosity!

Efe Igho-Osagie Shavers, LICSW (SED) is currently a Nigerian doctoral student in the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, Boston University. She received her B.A in psychology from the University of California, Riverside, and her MSW from the Boston University School of Social Work. Her research interests include culturally Responsive Pedagogy, the experiences of Black and Brown girls in education, equity in policy, and school racial climate, teacher professional development, and equity in school curricula.

I want to express sincere gratitude to the women’s guild. Being selected for this scholarship goes a long way in supporting my academic career. I am honored and hope to represent every applicant and recipient honorably. Thank you again.

GRADUATE PRIZES

Katherine J. Chen (GRS) is the author of the novel, Mary B (Random House). Her work has been published in The New York Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, Literary Hub, and in the historical fiction anthology, Stories from Suffragette City (Henry Holt). She is a graduate of Princeton University and a candidate in the MFA Fiction program at Boston University where she was a Senior Teaching Fellow. Her second novel on the rise and fall of Joan of Arc will be published by Random House in 2022.

I am honored to receive this fiction prize with its long and meaningful history of celebrating women fiction writers at BU. It is truly humbling to know I am following in the footsteps of past fiction graduate students and distinguished authors, including but not limited to Lisa Taddeo and Daphne Kalotay, to say nothing of the wonderful novelist and short story writer for whom this award is named. I would like to express my deep gratitude to BUWG and the fiction faculty at BU for this honor. It means a great deal to me, and I hope the award will help with the research I intend to pursue for my next work.

Annaka Saari (GRS) is a writer from Jackson, Michigan. She received her BA in English from The University of Michigan in 2020 and is currently completing her MFA in Creative Writing at Boston University, where she works as an intern at AGNI magazine, coordinates the Black Box Reading Series, and has served as a teaching fellow at Boston Arts Academy.

I’m delighted to receive this award – I feel honored to find myself a part of Boston University’s tradition of honoring women’s writing. In addition to the welcome recognition, the award will help me continue pursuing the study of writing by allowing me to pay fees associated with fellowship, workshop, and other academic applications and purchase the necessary materials to continue my studies.

UNDERGRADUATE PRIZE

Margaret Ortwerth (CAS), from Saint Louis, Missouri, is double majoring in Psychology and International Relations, and aspires to attend law school upon graduating from BU in 2024.  Somewhere in that hazy four year timeline, she also hopes to publish her first novel. She has been writing since childhood – on scraps of paper and worn out journals, graduating to computer keyboards and screens – and hope to tell truly meaningful stories for as long as I am able.