WOMEN’S inTUITION campaign raises $373,050 for scholarships to help female Georgian students

Nov. 6, 2015

Donors have pulled together to raise more than $373,050 to fund scholarships for women studying at Georgian College.

More than 100 donors gathered at the Barrie Campus on Thursday, Nov. 5 to celebrate the success of the WOMEN’S inTUITION campaign. The event, which included a private performance by Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk, encouraged supporters and students to network and share their success stories and career aspirations. Dozens of students conducted tours and staged demonstrations from their academic programs.

The event also honoured the contribution of WOMEN’S inTUITION founder Giselle Bodkin, partner at BDO Canada in Barrie, and members of her fundraising team. This key group of campaign “ambassadors” reached out to their own networks of colleagues and friends to obtain pledges and donations. The response was extremely enthusiastic.

Guests at the event learned that 54 per cent of Georgian’s 11,000 full-time students at seven campuses are female. Last year, 15 per cent of Georgian students had a dependent child or children. As well, Georgian’s student body ranks fourth among all Ontario colleges in the use of the Ontario Student Assistance Program – indicating the strong need for financial aid to support their studies.

The pledges by donors will create an endowment fund that will support scholarships at Georgian in perpetuity. WOMEN’S inTUITION is part of the second phase of Georgian’s successful Power of Education fundraising campaign.