E.E. Ford Foundation Grant

Expands the Summit into Arts and STEAM

The success of the Girls in Sports Leadership Summit is just the beginning. Cushing Academy won a $100,000 grant from The Edward E. Ford Foundation for the Leaders and Learners Summit Series, which will allow the expansion of the program, adding similar events focused on visual and performing arts and STEAM. The visual and performing arts summit launched this fall, STEAM kicks off this winter, and an enhanced sports summit will be back in the spring.

Cushing donors also contributed more than $320,000, establishing an endowment to make sure the programs continue for the long-term. They included Marina “Boo” Vernon ’07, who was inspired to make her first leadership-level gift to Cushing and to reach out to friends and classmates to ask them to join in as well. “I was a year into working in an operations role in a manufacturing facility, which was more male-dominated,” she says. “I just felt like there were a lot of things about this program that would be super beneficial to women, given the challenges that still exist in society. Cushing provided me with a lot of a safe space to grow and blossom into the person that I am today. That allows me to stand my ground and walk into a room with a lot of men and hold a conversation and do that successfully.”

“ What was compelling to people was the exposure this will provide for our students, serve a broader community of schools, and also shine a light on Cushing,” says Greg Pollard, Cushing’s director of advancement. “We can use this as a recruitment tool, too. We can invite girls from junior boarding schools and day schools. They come, they walk on campus, and you never know what might spark their interest.”