Ithaca College has announced its inaugural cohort of BOLD Scholars, comprising 10 juniors who have become part of an initiative focused on cultivating courageous leadership among college women. Selected as the first IC BOLD Scholars are Nabilah Abdalla, Chasia Bambo, Hannah Cayem, Candace Cross, Grace Elletson, Terri Landez, Julissa Martinez, Avery Santiago, Katelyn Walsh and Laura Waxman.
Through a comprehensive review process, the 10 were chosen from among over 100 applicants for their exceptional leadership abilities, critical thinking skills, passion for building community and ability to facilitate challenging discourse.
The newly selected cohort will travel to Rutgers University in Newark and to New York City October 6–8 for the first national BOLD summit and retreat. There they will convene as part of the 80 BOLD Scholars from the five partner institutions and interact with over 50 women professionals from across all sectors of the workforce.
The BOLD Women’s Leadership Network, founded by Ithaca College President Shirley M. Collado, is an intergenerational initiative across five institutions of higher education led by women presidents who have demonstrated their commitment to collaboration, innovation, diversity and inclusion.
“I am thrilled and inspired by the strong interest this program received from our junior women, and so proud that IC is the fifth BOLD partner,” said Collado. “I offer my enthusiastic congratulations to our first BOLD cohort. Our school is represented well by these 10 talented and motivated young women, and I look forward to seeing what they will accomplish on our campus, in our community and in higher education in general, through their collaborative work with the national network of BOLD women.”
Funded and supported by The Pussycat Foundation, the BOLD Network was established in the spirit and legacy of the late Helen Gurley Brown, longtime editor in chief of Cosmopolitan magazine. The other institutions in the network are Rutgers University—Newark; California State University, Fullerton; Middlebury College; and Smith College. Collado launched the initiative in 2016 while she was serving as executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer at Rutgers.
Each BOLD Scholar will receive a scholarship of up to $25,000 per year for tuition, room and board. IC’s BOLD cohort will be responsible for implementing a specific and tangible transformation project on campus that reflects the mission of the BOLD Network. In addition, members of the cohort will identify major quantifiable goals related to campus inclusion that they would like to accomplish by the end of their BOLD experience.
The scholars will be supported at the college by an administrator lead, a faculty mentor and a site program coordinator for the initial two years. The administrator lead is Nancy Pringle, executive vice president. The faculty mentor working weekly with the BOLD Scholars is Belisa González, associate professor and director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race and Ethnicity. The site coordinator administering the initiative is Sari Pascoe, who most recently served as assistant vice president for campus and community engagement at the University of Oregon.
With the goal of full employment across the BOLD Network, each scholar will have the opportunity upon graduation to apply for a Helen Gurley Brown Fellowship, which would provide funding of up to $40,000 per recipient for employment at an organization that embodies the values of the BOLD vision.
For more information about the BOLD Women’s Leadership Network, visit www.boldwomenlead.org. For more information about the Ithaca College BOLD program or to learn how to become involved, contact Sari Pascoe at bold@ithaca.edu.