The Women’s Advancement Initiative, formally known as Welfund until this past summer, is dedicated to providing female faculty and students with numerous opportunities to help them jump start their careers and to develop themselves professionally while at University of Hartford.

One of The Women’s Advancement Initiative’s programs is L.E.A.D, which stands for Leadership Education And Development. This program accepts around twenty-five students in every graduating class through an application process prior to arriving at University of Hartford. Members meet twice a month to work on leadership, pragmatic, and public speaking skills.

Another program that is under the Women’s Advancement Initiative is the Dorothy Goodwin Scholar program, where women are given scholarship money based on their research projects. Margret Donovan, whom oversees the program, gives five to ten scholarships ranging from $2,500 to $5,000. Another scholarship offered within The Women’s Advancement Initiative is the Lord Johnson Initiative, which was named after the first president of the Hartford College for women.

The Women’s Advancement Initiative will have their first graduating class at the end of this school year.