Grants


THE AURORA FOUNDATION

GRANTS.


WE HELP TO EMPOWER TOMORROW'S LEADERS

GRANTMAKING PROGRAM

The Aurora Foundation currently focuses its grant making on Hartford area women’s college success programs. Aurora’s goal through its grant making is to empower more women to complete their college education, therefore enabling them to better their lives and those of their families. Aurora prides itself in not just funding effective programs, but also being a resource and partner. Our grantees receive guidance, from the application process through final reporting of outcomes.


Together, by developing, funding and delivering strategic solutions for local women in college, we can make substantial individual, family and community impact.


We continue to be inspired by the educators and administrators, who have risen to the challenge of instructing and empowering women and girls throughout these challenging times.


READ OUR LATEST NEWS RELEASE: Enhanced College Success Program
  • ANNOUNCING: 2023 Enhanced College Success Program

    In partnership with the Charlotte and Hy Goode Family Fund Supporting Women’s Potential at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving


    Aurora-funded College Success programs give women, especially low-income, women of color, and first-generation students the tools they need to navigate and pursue higher education. Aurora has identified best practices for these programs, including one-on-one counseling and advising, mentoring and introducing women to role models, building self-advocacy skills, addressing basic needs such as childcare and transportation. As a result of this work, students are graduating and entering careers that pay a family-sustaining wage—buying first houses, starting college savings accounts for their children—and we can now see a way to break the cycle of poverty in Hartford, one of America’s poorest cities. Our vision is to expand and deepen these programs. We have been truly inspired to meet a very special woman and a very special family that shares that vision. The result will be a partnership that builds educational and economic opportunity for women, their families, and their communities.


    Charlotte Goode’s decades of work with struggling families as guardian ad litem convinced her that the key to economic security for women who grappled with poverty and trauma was access to and successful completion of higher education. Charlotte recognizes that access to college is not enough to get these women to graduation and entry into careers that will pay a family-sustaining wage. The key to graduation is relationships with mentors who can guide and encourage these students as they navigate the complex systems of higher education. Charlotte’s vision does not stop there – support for key basic needs such as housing, transportation, food, and childcare

    will ensure that students can focus on academics. This means a high investment in these students, but the impact of their success will benefit their families, their children, and their larger community. Charlotte’s incredible generosity imagines a world of opportunity and possibility that changes the world one woman at a time. Aurora is proud to be the perfect partner who could bring their college success expertise, robust community relationships and fierce advocacy for women and girls to enact Charlotte’s vision.


    In January 2023, we launched a pilot program that selected students in existing Aurora-funded College Success Programs to receive comprehensive “wrap around” support for key basic needs and additional coaching and mentoring resources—this represents a significant expansion of the support students receive through these programs and relieves the stresses of poverty so that students can focus on their studies. We are inspired by this bold example and invite you to join Charlotte in investing in the expansion of this program so that more women will have access to these life changing opportunities.


    If you would like to join Charlotte,

    please contact Amber Anthony at

    amber@aurorafoundation.org.

  • What Difference Does a College Degree Make?

    In January 2021, Aurora and our partners published the data report: Essential Equity: Women, Covid-19, and Rebuilding Connecticut. Our research found that for the first time in Connecticut’s history, women have outpaced men in unemployment claims and 75% of females applying for unemployment in the pandemic did not have a college degree.  By investing in college-retention programs, we help women overcome the barriers to obtaining higher education and earn degrees that secure a living wage, significantly reducing their rate of dependency on welfare and other supplemental services. This effectively improves the quality of life for individuals and families, and the social and economic vitality of our communities.


GRANTS

2023 GRANTEES

Women in Transition

The Charter Oak State College Women in Transition (WIT) program was established in 2000, to break the cycle of poverty by helping underserved and low-income single mothers earn a college degree with zero to minimal debt. The program is designed to eliminate barriers, such as: the cost of tuition, fees, and books; provide necessary technology and access; address home front, childcare, and transportation challenges, while offering academic support and coaching.


GRANT AWARD: $23,000

Barriers Can’t Stop Us: Building Immigrant Women’s Success

This initiative focuses specifically on the college retention of female graduates of the English Learner Success program of Hartford Public Library. The program builds success for young immigrant women as they strive to overcome academic, financial, and social barriers and earn college degrees to improve the quality of their lives and the lives of their families. The program guides students as they navigate the unfamiliar and complex channels of U.S. higher education and connects them to campus personnel and resources. The program creates networks of support and peer mentoring relationships with students from similar racial, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds. Farmington Bank Community Foundation provided matching grant funding for this award—thank you!


Grant Award: $19,000

Latinas in Leadership Institute at UConn Hartford

This partnership between UConn-Hartford and Latinas & Power aims to address barriers to college completion by empowering Latina students with confidence, academic supports, skill building, and financial resources. This program also seeks to eliminate isolating factors for Latinas at UConn-Hartford through the creation of a “learning community” with their peers and relationship building with leaders in the UConn Hartford community. LiLI instructors will aim to provide specialized, culturally relevant training in personal leadership development, empowering participants with the knowledge and tools needed to become future leaders.


GRANT AWARD: $20,000

The Women's Advancement Initiative

The LEAD program provides students with practical life skills training, resilience and opportunity coaching, career readiness sessions, a network of mentors, and development workshops. The program provides academic and social supports to help students gain the confidence and acquire the tools they need to overcome challenges and successfully navigate the journey into and through college to life, careers, and community leadership. The goals of LEAD are for students who participate in the program to: feel empowered through experiential leadership training and problem-solving opportunities, to become connected to a supportive network, to learn essential life lessons, to say yes to opportunities that build their character and expand their comfort zone, and to gain practical skills that prepare them for successful futures.


GRANT AWARD: $15,000

YW Career Women

The YWCW program is designed to address earning inequalities by eliminating multiple barriers program participants often face. The premise of the program is to help underrepresented students enrolled at Capital Community College (CCC) and Manchester Community College (MCC) to bridge education and career gaps through academic counseling, career services and financial coaching. YWCW makes it possible for low-income women to stay the course, graduate college and secure family sustaining wages. Our program serves single mothers, most of whom are women of color, struggling with the daily challenges of life: transportation, childcare, working full-time, all while completing their college education.


GRANT AWARD: $23,000


GRANTS

2022 GRANTEES

Women in Transition

The Charter Oak State College Women in Transition (WIT) program was established in 2000, to break the cycle of poverty by helping underserved and low-income single mothers earn a college degree with zero to minimal debt. The program is designed to eliminate barriers, such as: the cost of tuition, fees, and books; provide necessary technology and access; address home front, childcare, and transportation challenges, while offering academic support and coaching.


GRANT AWARD: $22,000

Barriers Can’t Stop Us: Building Immigrant Women’s Success

This initiative focuses specifically on the college retention of female graduates of the English Learner Success program of Hartford Public Library. The program builds success for young immigrant women as they strive to overcome academic, financial, and social barriers and earn college degrees to improve the quality of their lives and the lives of their families. The program guides students as they navigate the unfamiliar and complex channels of U.S. higher education and connects them to campus personnel and resources. The program creates networks of support and peer mentoring relationships with students from similar racial, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds. Farmington Bank Community Foundation provided matching grant funding for this award—thank you!


Grant Award: $14,000

She Works Career Readiness Program

She Works equips diverse young women with career-readiness skills and connects them with paid internships at companies that demonstrate female leadership. Students who have internship experiences are more likely to complete college. Career exploration helps to solidify goals and make connections between academics, career planning and economic security. Interns are assigned a professional mentor who checks in weekly during the internship. This program serves 75% women of color and has a mentor pool of 75% women of color. Almost all the internships are paid at least minimum wage, which makes internships an option for low-income students.


GRANT AWARD: $10,000

Latinas in Leadership Institute at UConn Hartford

This partnership between UConn-Hartford and Latinas & Power aims to address barriers to college completion by empowering Latina students with confidence, academic supports, skill building, and financial resources. This program also seeks to eliminate isolating factors for Latinas at UConn-Hartford through the creation of a “learning community” with their peers and relationship building with leaders in the UConn Hartford community. LiLI instructors will aim to provide specialized, culturally relevant training in personal leadership development, empowering participants with the knowledge and tools needed to become future leaders.


GRANT AWARD: $20,000

The Women's Advancement Initiative

The LEAD program provides students with practical life skills training, resilience and opportunity coaching, career readiness sessions, a network of mentors, and development workshops. The program provides academic and social supports to help students gain the confidence and acquire the tools they need to overcome challenges and successfully navigate the journey into and through college to life, careers, and community leadership. The goals of LEAD are for students who participate in the program to: feel empowered through experiential leadership training and problem-solving opportunities, to become connected to a supportive network, to learn essential life lessons, to say yes to opportunities that build their character and expand their comfort zone, and to gain practical skills that prepare them for successful futures.


GRANT AWARD: $12,000

YW Career Women

The YWCW program is designed to address earning inequalities by eliminating multiple barriers program participants often face. The premise of the program is to help underrepresented students enrolled at Capital Community College (CCC) and Manchester Community College (MCC) to bridge education and career gaps through academic counseling, career services and financial coaching. YWCW makes it possible for low-income women to stay the course, graduate college and secure family sustaining wages. Our program serves single mothers, most of whom are women of color, struggling with the daily challenges of life: transportation, childcare, working full-time, all while completing their college education.


GRANT AWARD: $22,000


2021 GRANTEES

Launch Your Leadership Journey

Women's Leadership Institute, "Launch Your Leadership Journey" program is designed to build and enhance leadership skills for female students enrolled in community college, who may otherwise not have the opportunity or the means to develop these skills. The goal of the program is to provide students with tools to become effective problem solvers and leaders and assertive in addressing conflict with courage. Topics are taught by professional facilitators who serve as role models for the students. There are also mentors who work with students to complete social action projects to practice the skills they learn in the program.


GRANT AWARD: $10,000

Launch Your Leadership Journey

Women's Leadership Institute, "Launch Your Leadership Journey" program is designed to build and enhance leadership skills for female students enrolled in community college, who may otherwise not have the opportunity or the means to develop these skills. The goal of the program is to provide students with tools to become effective problem solvers and leaders and assertive in addressing conflict with courage. Topics are taught by professional facilitators who serve as role models for the students. There are also mentors who work with students to complete social action projects to practice the skills they learn in the program.


GRANT AWARD: $10,000

Women in Transition

The Women in Transition (WIT) program was established in 2000 to break the cycle of poverty by helping underserved and low-income single mothers earn a college degree with zero to minimal debt, at Charter Oak State College. The WIT program is designed with a holistic approach in mind, with the understanding that working single mothers have unique struggles. The program is designed to offer academic support and coaching. while eliminating barriers such as: the cost of tuition, fees & books; necessary technology & access; and childcare & transportation challenges.


GRANT AWARD: $28,000

The Women's Advancement Initiative

The LEAD program provides students with practical life skills training, resilience and opportunity coaching, career readiness sessions, a network of mentors, and development workshops. The program provides academic and social supports to help students gain the confidence and acquire the tools they need to overcome challenges and successfully navigate the journey into and through college to life, careers, and community leadership. The goals of LEAD are for students who participate in the program to: feel empowered through experiential leadership training and problem-solving opportunities, to become connected to a supportive network, to learn essential life lessons, to say yes to opportunities that build their character and expand their comfort zone, and to gain practical skills that prepare them for successful futures.


GRANT AWARD: $12,000

YW Career Women

The YWCW program is designed to address earning inequalities by eliminating multiple barriers program participants often face. The premise of the program is to help underrepresented students enrolled at Capital Community College (CCC) and Manchester Community College (MCC) to bridge education and career gaps through academic counseling, career services and financial coaching. YWCW makes it possible for low-income women to stay the course, graduate college and secure family sustaining wages. Our program serves single mothers, most of whom are women of color, struggling with the daily challenges of life: transportation, childcare, working full-time, all while completing their college education.


GRANT AWARD: $20,000

2020 GRANTEES


Launch Your Leadership Journey

The LYLJ program is in its sixth year at Asnuntuck and its mission continues to be to promote female student success and retention through the development of leadership skills, abilities and attitudes. The program is designed to provide life changing leadership development experiences for women who passionately desire to become the leaders they believe they can be; and fill the gap for the segment of the community college women for whom traditional leadership develop opportunities have been unavailable or financially out of reach. 


GRANT AWARD: $7,500

Launch Your Leadership Journey

In its second year, this is a tuition-free, 6-month, leadership development and retention program. Aurora funding facilitated the replication of the program from Asnuntuck CC to Tunxis CC in 2018. The program is designed to help women students develop leadership skills to assist with classroom and job success, and ultimately, with campus engagement and retention. Sessions in the program include topics on communication, leadership skills, neutralizing gender bias, problem solving, networking, assertiveness, and leading teams. 


GRANT AWARD: $7,500

Women in Transition

The Women in Transition (WIT) program assists low-income single mothers with the completion of an Associate and/or bachelor’s degree(s). The grant will be used to cover tuition and fees, textbooks, internet access, career workshops, networking programs, and individualized academic counseling and coaching for 3 to 4 students from the Greater Hartford area. The goal of the Women in Transition Program is to provide access to education and services that will enable single mothers who are or have been welfare recipients, or are in low paying jobs, the ability to build a foundation for continued upward mobility. This program has been operating for over 20 years. The program has always been fully online, because transportation and childcare are significant barriers for these women as they pursue their education. 


GRANT AWARD: $14,000

The Women's Advancement Initiative

This program provides resilience and opportunity coaching, leadership and professional development training and structured life skills curriculum for undergraduate female students. The funds will serve 100+ area women involved in LEAD. 


GRANT AWARD: $6,000

YW Career Women

YW Career Women provides comprehensive support services to women with children to assist them with obtaining a college degree and a career in the high-growth, high-income field of healthcare. The target population is low-income mothers who attend Capital Community College and MCC and are seeking associate degrees in nursing or radiologic technology. A dedicated program Navigator provides individualized coaching services that help alleviate barriers to college completion, especially for students who have proven themselves academically but are “at-risk” of not continuing with their studies due to economic or family circumstances. 


GRANT AWARD: $20,000

2019 GRANTEES


Women Investing in Securing an Education (WISE)

Women Investing in Securing an Education (WISE) is an effective college-retention program at Goodwin College that provides financial aid, proactive academic advising, and tailored student services—including career exploration and personal counseling—for young women at risk of dropping out of college without strong supports. Each year the program enrolls about two dozen economically and/or educationally disadvantaged 18- to 20-year-old women who commit to full-time study.

Women in STEM (WiSTEM)

WiSTEM is a program serving young women who are interested in pursuing STEM degrees and careers. More than half of incoming MCC students are not ready to take college-level stem courses, which leaves them at risk for not meeting their educational and career goals. The WiSTEM program helps these young women prepare for the rigors of college-level science and set them on the path to long-term success.

YW Career Women

The YW Career Women program provides comprehensive services to assist women attending Capital Community College with obtaining a college degree and a career in the field of healthcare. The program serves students who are at risk of suspending their studies due to economic or family circumstances. Through a comprehensive system of case management and other support services, participants will have the tools they need to complete their degree and obtain employment in a variety of upwardly mobile health careers.


Launch Your Leadership Journey

A tuition-free leadership development program for ACC female students which empowers participants and leads them on a path to becoming future leaders.  Grant funding will allow for the expansion of the program to Tunxis Community College.

Pathways Through College

This college success program will support Grace Academy graduates enrolling in college.  The program will specifically address key predictors of college success including attendance, academic achievement, social emotional health, financial literacy, networking, summer jobs and internships.



GRANTS

HISTORY OF GRANTEES

Asnuntuck Community College

Boys & Girls Club of Hartford

Bridge Family Center

Career Resources, Inc.

Catholic Charities

Charter Oak Cultural Center

Charter Oak State College

Children’s Museum

Community Partners in Action

Community Solutions

Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund

Covenant for Care

Cultural Dance Troupe of the West Indies, Inc.

Ebony Horsewomen

Family Life Education

First Tee of Connecticut

Girl Scouts of Connecticut

Goodwin College

GOODwork, Inc.

Grace Academy

Greater New Britain Teen Pregnancy Prevention

Habitat for Humanity

HART (Hartford Areas Rally Together)

Hartford Action Plan on Infant Health

Hartford’s Camp Courant

Hartford Public Library

House of Bread

Institute for Community Research

Interval House of Hartford

Junior Achievement of Southwest New England

LiveGirl

Loaves and Fishes Ministries, Inc.

Manchester Community College

Network Against Domestic Abuse of North Central CT, Inc.

Saint Agnes Home

Shelter for Women, Gray Lodge


South Arsenal Neighborhood Development (SAND) Corporation

Trinity College

Trust House: A Family Learning Center

Tunxis Community College

UConn Foundation

University of Hartford

University of Saint Joseph

Urban League of Greater Hartford

Women’s Campaign School At Yale

Women’s Leadership Council of United Way

YMCA

YWCA Hartford Region

YWCA New Britain


THE AURORA FOUNDATION

GIVING CIRCLE

The Aurora Women’s Giving Circle is a group of motivated women who pool their resources, work collaboratively, and through a democratic process grant money to one or more worthy organizations supporting women and girls in Greater Hartford.
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