Neha Singh SOM ’22 and Yacoba Zwennes NUR ’23 won AAUW scholarships on October 5th for their commitment to both their fields and to improving the lives of women.

Grace Aitken

11:50 PM, 11 Oct 2021

Contributing journalist

Courtesy of Neha Singh and Yacoba Zwennes

Last Tuesday, the American Association of University Women awarded Neha Singh SOM ’22 and Yacoba Zwennes NUR ’23 scholarships for their work contributing to the global advancement of women.

AAUW fights for equal economic opportunities for women. They advocate for gender-friendly legislation, work to close the gender pay gap, and work to overcome gender disparities in education. Each year, the organization awards seven categories of scholarships and grants to outstanding women in the United States. Zwennes and Singh were chosen for their commitment to making the world a better place, especially for women.

Zwennes, an international scholarship recipient, is pursuing her Masters in Nurse-Midwifery and Nurse Practitioner in Women’s Health at the Yale School of Nursing. The international scholarship is for women who are pursuing full-time graduate or postdoctoral studies in the United States, but who are not United States citizens. Zwennes is from Ghana and wants to help the women of New Haven while she graduates, and at home afterward.

“My goal is to make sure that I help improve the reproductive health of Ghanaian women so that they can take charge of their own health and make their own decisions about their reproductive and sexual health,” Zwennes said.

She said she also wanted to help support Ghanaian women and children, both physically and mentally.

Zwennes wishes to pursue a business career after graduation.

“I also want to be an entrepreneur in Ghana, and I hope that whatever businesses I do there will all help improve the well-being of women in general,” Zwennes said.

Singh, a recipient of the Selected Professions Fellowship, is currently pursuing his Masters in Business and Strategy at the Yale School of Management. Women’s issues, both in the workplace and outside, are important to her.

The Selected Professions scholarship is for women who are pursuing a master’s or professional degree program in an area where women are under-represented, such as law, medicine, STEM, or business.

“I applied mainly because the gender disparity is something that is really important to me, so I liked that this organization focused on supporting women, both women focused on business careers and non-business careers, ”Singh said.

Singh is also passionate about sustainability efforts. Before coming to Yale, she worked for Girl Scouts of the USA and led some of their sustainability initiatives. After graduation, she wants to help embed sustainable practices in businesses across the United States.

Singh is also taking classes at the Yale School of the Environment. She said she was excited to use the skills she learned at SOM – as well as those she learned in other departments at Yale – in her career.

“This semester I’m taking two courses at the Yale School of Environment which include business, environment and climate change policy, and one of the things that really excites me this year is being able to take classes in outside of SOM. and really deepen my perspective and understanding of various issues, ”Singh said.

According to the AAUW Scholarship Winners Directory, more than 25 Yale affiliates have won a scholarship or grant through AAUW since 2004.

Katalin Balog, currently Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University, won the US Fellowship while working at Yale in 2005. The US Fellowship is intended to help women complete theses or postdoctoral research. The award helped Balog fund a gap year she spent studying philosophy in Budapest.

“I spent a year there, it was actually a wonderful year, and part of my funding came from AAUW,” Balog said.

AAUW is currently accepting applications for grants and scholarships in the 2022-2023 academic year.