Annual Cycle Grant Announcement

Grant recipient Cavalier Autonomous Racing member Madhur Behl

The Jefferson Trust is excited to announce our 2019–2020 annual grant awards totaling $853,357. The 14 projects awarded in this funding opportunity represent a milestone for the Trust—the single largest number of $100,000+ awards made at one time!

In 2020, the Jefferson Trust will award $1 million for the first time in the organization’s history. This will be accomplished through the long-standing annual grants, established annual awards, and the new flash funding awards.

The 2020 annual grants are:

Transformative Autism Biomarker Research Initiative: $122,928

A multidisciplinary group of researchers and clinicians is developing a newborn screening protocol to identify abnormal neurodevelopment before clinical symptoms manifest. In the face of steeply rising autism rates, early intervenion has the potential to drastically improve outcomes.

Guiding Student Research to Solve Global Problems in Air Pollution: $100,000

In October 2018, the World Health Organization officially labeled air pollution “a silent public health emergency.” Through this initiative, students will gain familiarity with air-filtering technologies and will partner with faculty to study the impact of those technologies in the U.S. and several developing countries.

Community-Engaged Learning and Leadership Initiative at Madison House: $100,000

A cohort of Madison House student leaders will enroll in courses focused on community-based learning and service projects, all while volunteering in the Charlottesville community. Madison House will then pair interested UVA faculty and their class syllabi with community partners, for deeper community-based learning opportunities.

The Engaged Writing Project: Embedding Community Engagement Preparation Into UVA First Year Writing Courses: $100,000

This project will embed public service competencies into first-year student writing requirement courses. Students will come to understand their development as writers in relation to central challenges of our time, from local to global.

Summer Program for Entrepreneurial Nanoscale Engineering: $100,000

This summer internship experience is created for rising second- and third-year students interested in entrepreneurialism and nanoscale technologies. Interns will participate in research projects directed by UVA’s nanoSTAR faculty—the Institute for Nanoscale and Quantum Scientific and Technological Advanced Research.

Advancing Interdisciplinary Readiness: $96,000

UVA’s Environmental Resilience Institute will generate training for graduate students and faculty interested in interdisciplinary research that can have a positive impact on communities. Participants will gain the skills needed to lead collaborative projects that address rapid environmental change.

Cavalier Autonomous Racing: $50,000

The Cavalier Autonomous Racing Club, under the supervision of UVA faculty, will build, develop, program and race an autonomous electric go-kart. Club activity will culminate in a demonstration at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indy 500 race.

stARTup Studio: a Business Bootcamp for Creatives: $45,000

This bootcamp will offer a full-day, interactive program for artists at the university and in the community—to help them increase the visibility of and market for their work.

Creating Educational Citizen-Leaders Through Service Learning: $38,437

In partnership with teachers at Charlottesville’s Greer Elementary School, UVA architecture and education students will employ problem-solving processes known as “design thinking” to address student achievement gaps at the elementary school.

The Sixth International Seminar of Young Tibetologists: $32,900

This bilingual conference—offered in both English and Tibetan—will include presentations from early career scholars who are normally isolated from each other across linguistic barriers. The three disparate spheres of Tibetan Studies (Chinese, Tibetan and Euro-American) will interact as a single community.

Breaking the Sound Barrier: Deaf Opera Workshop: $32,000

This performance project will unite the worlds of the Deaf and hearing. Deaf actors from Broadway will join opera singers to work on a new production of Poulenc’s iconic opera of religious persecution, “Dialogues of the Carmelites.” The UVA-based workshop will also be filmed for a documentary.

Strategies of Collecting: Museum Seminar: $15,652

An interdisciplinary group of UVA students will obtain experience researching and proposing objects for acquisition by the Fralin Museum of Art, and will visit leading auction houses, art dealers and galleries in New York.

FLIP at UVA: $14,161

The local chapter of FLIP National (First-Generation, Low-Income Partnership) will align with various university departments to promote programming for and greater inclusivity of first-generation and/or low-income students.

APIDA Student Survey: $6,279

The Asian Student Union will create a survey for all Asian-identifying students at the University of Virginia to ask about their UVA experience. This data will then be shared with university leadership, to better address issues affecting this community.

IMPACT

Hoos First Look students

It can be hard to measure impact that a grant project has on its intended audience, the broader University, or even the projects directors. However, two projects funded by the Jefferson Trust in the past year are already starting to make waves across the University.

Hoos First Look, a 2019 grant recipient, provides 20 low-income, first generation prospective high school juniors with an immersive weekend orientation visit to Grounds, where they learn about the college application and financial aid processes, while getting a glimpse into the University Community and fostering relationships. The program is run by current UVA students, most of whom are first-gen themselves, automatically creating a unique bond among the visiting high-schoolers and UVA students. One participant from the program’s fall 2019 cohort shared, “Hoos First Look allowed me to feel one step closer to reaching my goal of attending the University… this campus visit made me more excited to apply to the University of Virginia. The University remains my No. 1 choice and now, more than ever, I’m going to continue to meet every goal I have for myself and continue to prepare for the application process come senior year.” The impact that it has had on the current UVA students helping to run the program is also great, as current co-chair Joanne Lee shares: “It was so amazing to see how we touched these high schoolers’ lives. I know that I can serve as a mentor for them and help them find these resources.”

Classroom chalkboard with Flux's "7 Slam Commandments"Another program enhancing the UVA student experience is Flux, the University’s only slam poetry group. In fall 2019 they held multiple poetry slams as qualifiers to determine which poets will represent UVA at the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) in April 2020. Two important dynamics of Flux are audience engagement and creating a safe space; attendees are encouraged to snap, clap, and cheer throughout the poet’s readings, while cultivating an environment where everyone in the room feels respected and heard. A first-year student and participant in the slam commented, “The atmosphere is just incredible…it’s one thing to write a poem … but it’s another thing to perform it for people that are like an incredible community … snapping and cheering.” Another poet shared, “I thought it was really cool that a lot of people brought really personal poems, and I thought it was really cool how open everyone was about their stories.”

For more updates on funded projects and their impact on the University and beyond, visit our Facebook page.

February Flash Funding is Live!

Have a great idea? We fund those.

Have a new or innovative idea that needs funding? Apply for a Flash Funding Grant! Flash Funding seeks to fill the need for shorter-term projects or immediate use, with awards capped at $10,000 per project.

The February Flash Cycle closes on February 29th, with funds awarded on March 15th. March applications open on the 1st and close on the 31st, with funds awarded April 15th.

Visit our Apply page or contact our Grants Administrator to find out more.

Sister, Sister

Caroline and Carson GibsonThe Trust brings people together from around the globe, and across generations. Alumni who graduated 50 years apart, can sit next to one another and discuss a grant proposal; while across the room, classmates who now live on different continents, can reconnect.

Many alumni, and even parents of alumni, consider Charlottesville a second home.  As trustees, they ‘come home’ three times a year for meetings and activities that strengthen relationships, and build new ones.  From college roommates reminiscing, to couples experiencing their philanthropy together, to parents of current students ‘just checking in’ on their first year, the Trust engages donors in many ways – all while giving back to the university they love.

For two sisters, Caroline (College ’15) and Carson Gibson (Commerce ’16), the Trust is an opportunity to experience giving to UVA in their own way, but to do it together. Despite sharing an apartment in Manhattan, the sisters are often worlds apart – literally. Caroline is a Freelance Event Producer in New Zealand, before starting in the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas this fall. Carson is an associate at Kelso & Company, a private equity firm, often working on deals beyond the typical ‘9 to 5’.

Their diversity of skills and perspective is invaluable in reviewing and considering a broad range of grant proposals – a hallmark of the Trust. “Based on our backgrounds, Caroline and I are quite different,” says Carson, “I graduated from the Comm School, and she graduated from the College with a major in Arts Administration; I work in finance, and she has built a career in media & entertainment”. “But I think that those differences make our contributions more valuable. Our diverse skill sets let us ask different questions and contribute more meaningfully based on our own experiences. Never mind that if you meet us, you will surely notice that we look practically the same”!

The sisters joined the Trust on the advice of their cousin, and former trustee, Grace Hobby Grundy (Engineering ’12).  Grace joined the board shortly after graduating, and often shared with her family how much she enjoyed the experience. The Gibson sisters are now forwarding the same message. Caroline loves the Trust “because I get to work with student groups!”, and as Carson puts it, “it’s a great opportunity to stay involved with some of the great ideas and projects that are just starting at UVA!”

And having your sister and best friend by your side makes it even better.