MSW Student Fengtao Huang Wins AAUW Career Development Grant

WASHINGTON — The American Association of University Women (AAUW) awarded a $12000 Career Development Grant to Fengtao Huang of NYU. She is pursuing a Master’s degree in Social Work at the Silver School of Social Work.

The AAUW grants are highly competitive and the organization is one of the largest sources of funding for graduate women. The grant assist women who has a commitment to education and equality for women and girls in their profession or community, to advance or change their careers. Fengtao, who earned a Bachelor’s degree in fine art, intends to continue her studies for a Master’s degree in social work.

“The 2016-17 Career Development Grant is an immense honor for which I am extremely grateful,” said Fengtao. “The grant will enable the completion of my intensive curriculum and filed work. With this generous supports, I will be able to concentrate on strengthening my academic and clinical skills. ”

Fengtao is committed to providing mental health services to at-risk youths in underserved communities. As an immigrant, she takes special interest in issues affecting recent immigrants, such as domestic violence, substance abuse, homelessness, and poverty. She developed a series of bilingual workshops to eliminate the disparities caused by language and cultural barriers at her work- University Settlement Society of NY.

Fengtao stands out as an extremely diligent and creative worker. As a short-term case manager for at-risk children, she is able to establish the connections with her clients quickly and create realistic and achievable goals for them. She also showed her ability to assess a crisis situation and direct a proactive intervention to eliminate the problems.

“Most of the challenging families that she works with are single-mother families, many of whom are suffering from domestic violence, social-economic and educational oppressions,” said Wenjuan Huang, program director of Home Based Crisis Intervention program, “I was impressed by Fengtao’s interpersonal sensitivity and excellent communication skills. Her willingness to accept challenges and listen to input enable her to contribute thoughtful, well-reasoned approaches to helping others solve difficult problems.”

“Through the AAUW Career Development Grant program, we help amazing women achieve their professional and academic goals,” said Gloria Blackwell, AAUW vice president of fellowships, grants, and global programs. “This year’s group includes a wide range of activists who are ready to stand up for marginalized people. I hope that everyone gets a chance to learn more about the work of our grantees. It’s truly inspirational.”

For the 2016–17 academic year, AAUW awarded a total of $3.7 million to more than 230 scholars, research projects, and programs promoting education and equity for women and girls through six fellowships and grants programs. AAUW is one of the world’s leading supporters of graduate women’s education, having awarded more than $100 million in fellowships, grants, and awards to 12,000 women from more than 140 countries since 1888.

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The American Association of University Women (AAUW) empowers women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research. Our nonpartisan, nonprofit organization has more than 170,000 members and supporters across the United States, as well as 1,000 local branches and more than 800 college and university partners. Since AAUW’s founding in 1881, our members have examined and taken positions on the fundamental issues of the day — educational, social, economic, and political.