The Emily Schoenbaum Grant seeks to encourage and support projects that will benefit the lives of women and girls, particularly those in the New Orleans area. Preference may be given to organizations with whom we may develop future internship or service-learning partnerships.
The maximum amount of funding available is $3000.
The Emily Schoenbaum Grant Program was founded in 1999 by Emily Schoenbaum, a 1988 graduate of Newcomb College, and is administered by Newcomb Institute. A native of Charleston, West Virginia, Emily Schoenbaum moved to New Orleans to attend Newcomb College in 1984. She completed a B.A. in Women’s Studies and Sociology in 1988 and shortly after moved to Washington D.C., where she worked for Greenpeace. Emily then went on to earn her master’s degree in Elementary Education as well as pursue a graduate degree in Environmental Policy.
Who May Apply
Individuals or nonprofit, IRS tax-exempt organizations in Louisiana are eligible to apply. Preference will be given to applications that directly involve community organizations. We are also particularly interested in funding organizations whose work connects to our priority areas of sexual and reproductive health/rights/justice; gender-based violence; or feminist civic engagement. Faculty, students, and alumnae are encouraged to apply for funding to support the work they are doing in the community.
How to Apply
The application for 2024-25 will open in Spring 2025.
Past Recipients
Spring 2024 — CrescentCare
Support for the New Orleans Sexual Health and Rights Resource Fair, which convenes 18 non-governmental and governmental organizations and programs dedicated to sexual, maternal, and reproductive health, as well as HIV and substance dependency prevention and treatment.
Spring 2023 — Girls on the Run New Orleans
Support for Girls on the Run New Orleans, a program that provides a 10-week curriculum to girls in the 3rd-8th grades. The curriculum encourages positive emotional, social, mental and physical development and participants explore and discuss their own beliefs around experiences and challenges girls face at this age and helps them develop important strategies and skills to help them navigate life experiences.
Spring 2022 — Birthmark Doula Collective
Funding to create InfantReady feeding program kits, which equip families with the support and tools needed to feed their babies in moments of climate crisis and disaster.
Spring 2021 — BODYART Connects and TRANScending Women/House of Tulip
BODYART Connects received funding to supplement recovery methods for survivors of domestic violence, by offering 10 weekly trauma-informed dance classes at Eden House. For participants, M2H classes will 1) repair mind-body connection, 2) encourage the transformation of trauma-related restrictions, 3) increase emotional capacity, and 4) foster embodiment strategies to process trauma and grief. Survivors will experience an increase in mental well-being, empowerment, and confidence through self-guided movement exploration that encourages rehabilitation. BODYART Connects is a women-led dance-based engagement platform committed to increasing accessibility to the arts and providing inclusive dance opportunities to audiences of all ages, bodies, and abilities.
TRANScending Women (TW) and House of Tulip (HoT) received funding to provide access to financial literacy education for young LGBTQ women, with a specific emphasis on young Black trans women. TW and HoT will launch Soaring Stars’ adapted curriculum in a five-week pilot program for ten young women during the fall of 2021. Ultimately, TW and HoT want to see young Black trans women achieve the financial savvy to become homeowners and entrepreneurs, as well as build a sense of both individual and communal financial security.
Spring 2020 – Bloom Maternal Health/Nurse Nikki
Nikki Hunter Greenaway created the Mother+Baby Resource Program at Covenant House New Orleans; she is a board-certified family nurse practitioner and international board-certified lactation consultant who specializes in maternal and child health and is actively involved in advocacy and training efforts to reduce racial disparities in adverse maternal and child health outcomes locally and state-wide. She owns and operates a mobile clinic called Bloom Maternal Health. Bloom Maternal Health provides “pop-up” perinatal support and health care to community organizations that provide services for pregnant and postpartum clients. Covenant House New Orleans, a local shelter for teens, contracted her to help with their growing number of pregnant teens. The Mother + Baby Resource Program brings accessible and evidence-based care, education, and resources directly to the client. As she wrote in her application, “We meet the clients where they are…. Prenatal and postpartum wellness home visits are essential. Decades of evidence have shown that perinatal home visits save lives. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only paused many home visiting programs but it has stopped many in-person prenatal and postpartum provider interactions.”
The Bloom Maternal Health Program offers prenatal education, referrals to free birth and postpartum doula support, postpartum and newborn wellness home visits, and Bloom Wellness Bundles. The Emily Schoenbaum Grant will be used to provide prenatal and postpartum home visits and essential items for the Bloom Wellness Bundles. The Schoenbaum grant will be used to expand beyond Covenant House (which is fully funded by Covenant House) to provide services to clients at five additional organizations (New Orleans Women and Children Shelter, Hotel Hope, Hagar House, Salvation Army, and/or Kingsley House Early Head Start) that lack the financial resources to pursue new programs and initiatives. This grant funding will provide direct resources and support to pregnant people in precarious situations.
Spring 2019 – Electric Girls and the Robotics Team at Sci High
Professor Laura Schrader, who is working in collaboration with the New Orleans Math and Science High School, requested support for afterschool transportation to enable students who would otherwise be unable to do so to participate in Electric Girls and the Robotics Team at Sci High. Since students from Sci High live throughout the New Orleans metro area, transportation is a major challenge for many students and a barrier to their participation and success in these after-school programs. Funding for transportation is crucial for participation in these programs, but budgets at Sci High do not include funding for transportation for these after-school programs. Availability of transportation for the students is fundamental not only to their success but also to the future success of these programs within the Sci High Community. Funding from the Emily Schoenbaum Fund supports high school girls in pursuit of enriching STEM experiences. Dr. Monique Cola, Head of School at Sci High, writes, “As a woman in the sciences (Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Tulane Graduate School, 2004) I have seen and recognize the gender gaps that exist in STEM-related careers and understand the importance of exposing and providing opportunities for girls to see STEM professions as a promising path for their futures. Access to programs like Electric Girls and the Sci High Robotics Team builds girls’ confidence and capabilities by encouraging problem-solving and risk-taking – requisite skills for a successful career in STEM-related fields.”Spring 2018 – Girls on the Run New Orleans
$2000 was awarded to Girls on the Run New Orleans to fund scholarships for girls to participate in Girls on the Run, a program that provides a 10-week curriculum to girls in the 3rda-8th grades. The curriculum encourages positive emotional, social, mental and physical development and participants explore and discuss their own beliefs around experiences and challenges girls face at this age and helps them develop important strategies and skills to help them navigate life experiences. This award ensured the participation of 10-20 low-income girls in the greater New Orleans region.Spring 2017 – Project Peaceful Warriors + Electric Girls
During spring 2017, the grant committee chose to fund Project Peaceful Warriors + Electric Girls. $1988 was awarded to this project to support a partnership between Project Peaceful Warriors and Electric Girls, two New Orleans non-profits focused on serving and developing youth as empowered leaders. The goal of their project will be to develop and pilot a novel and innovation summer and after-school program that will provide trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness, along with confidence building and leadership training in electronics and computer programming to girls in grades K-5 in New Orleans. See an annual report from Project Peaceful Warriors. Spring 2016 – Women With a Vision and the Louisiana Prison Education Coalition
During 2015-16, approximately $1900 went to the local organization Women With a Vision to support a collaboration with the Louisiana Prison Education Coalition (LPEC). LPEC led a reentry education clinic for women in New Orleans. Every month approximately ten women are released from Orleans Parish Prison into the local community with few resources, and facing numerous barriers to reintegration, all of which put them at high risk of recidivating. One of the most common barriers to employment and social mobility is an incomplete education. The reentry education clinic addresses this need by using preexisting programming in Orleans Parish Prison to connect with women who are interested in receiving educational services (from early literacy through higher education). Upon release, women attended a weekly class that provided mentoring to pursue local educational opportunities. LPEC provided transportation assistance, a hot meal, and childcare each week. The goal of the class is to provide resources and support to help women connect with educational programs and be prepared to pursue educational opportunities. They also provided HiSet prep and assistance in a group setting. Money from the Schoenbaum fund allowed for the first-year pilot of this project, and approximately 10 women were assisted.Spring 2015 – Girls on the Run New Orleans
The Spring 2015 awardee Girls on the Run New Orleans, a non-profit program for girls in the 3rd through 8th grade. The 24-lesson Girls on the Run curriculum combines training for a 5K (3.1 miles) running event with lessons that inspire girls to become independent thinkers, enhance their problem-solving skills and make healthy decisions. All of this is accomplished through an active collaboration with girls and their parents, schools, volunteers, staff, and the community. They received $1740 from the Schoenbaum grant to provide scholarships for girls from low-income families to participate in the programming offered by Girls on the Run.
For more information, contact:
Laura Wolford, Associate Director of Newcomb Institute, Director of Operationslwolford@tulane.edu
