Because of your generosity, WIT raised more than $127,000 in June for the WIT Scholarship Challenge. Your gifts will support financial aid packages for the 2024-2025 WIT Scholars in the Schools of Arts & Sciences, Engineering and SMFA.
Our Mission
Women Impact Tufts (WIT) is a growing network of Tufts alumnae, parents, and friends who are coming together to lead, to give, to inspire others to engage fully, and to make a significant impact on Tufts’ highest priorities.
WIT offers us all the opportunity to claim our seats, contribute our voices, and connect with a powerful community of Tufts women who get it. With WIT, we will collaborate with one another and the university’s students, faculty, and leaders to address important issues around which women want to make an impact through philanthropy.
Our contributions to Tufts are both meaningful and mighty, always in service of our collective mission to make the world a better, brighter place.
Our First Initiative: Significantly increase support for financial aid across schools
WIT began in 2022 with a goal to pave the way for more people from underrepresented communities to participate in the full Tufts experience. By investing in scholarships and graduate and postdoctoral fellowships for students who have historically been excluded from selective colleges, our gifts will strengthen the broad spectrum of backgrounds and perspectives at Tufts University in perpetuity.
In June 2023, WIT exceeded its goals to engage 130 women and raise $15 million for scholarships and fellowships. To date, more than 180 women have made contributions totaling over $27 million for this purpose. We are deeply grateful to our founding donors!
130 honored the 130 years of women at Tufts!
- Establish a scholarship or fellowship at the school of your choice. There are many ways to personalize your gift in a way that is meaningful to you. In some cases, matching gift support is available to double your impact.
- Consider a planned gift or bequest to support a financial aid fund.
- Bring together a circle of Tufts women to collectively create and fund a scholarship or fellowship at the school of your choice.
To learn more, please e-mail wit@tufts.edu.
Meet the Co-Chairs
Lisbeth Tarlow, F84, FG97
Lis is a member of the Tufts University Board of Trustees and served as the Chair of Board of Advisors for the Fletcher School from 2017–2022. Formerly, Lis was the associate director of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University and currently serves on the boards of a number of non-profit organizations in higher education and the arts. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Slavic languages and literatures from Smith College, a master’s degree in regional studies of the Soviet Union from Harvard University, and a master of arts in law and diplomacy and a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School at Tufts.
Why WIT? "The women of Tufts are outstanding. They're smart. They're strategic."
Kalahn Taylor-Clark, J99, MG01
Kalahn is a member of the Tufts University Board of Trustees (the youngest member in history) and serves on the Board of Advisors for the Tisch College of Civic Life. Residing outside of Washington, D.C., she is an executive at Myovant Sciences, a biopharmaceutical firm focused on women’s health and on prostate cancer. Kalahn holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Tufts, a master’s degree in public health from Tufts School of Medicine, and a Ph.D. in health policy from Harvard University.
Why WIT? "WIT represents power, leadership, and collaboration."
Mariann Youniss, J83
Mariann is a member of the Tufts University Board of Trustees and serves on the Board of Advisors for the School of Arts and Sciences. She has been served in leadership roles for a number of Boston and Wellesley organizations over the years and is a longtime supporter of Tufts. Previously, Mariann worked for Rocket Software, a software company that her husband, Andy Youniss, co-founded. Mariann served in many roles at Rocket over her 25-plus years there. She received a bachelor’s degree in computational mathematics and economics from Tufts in 1983.
Why WIT? "At the end of the day, I think the greatest impact is that we will be able to say the women of Tufts did this. The women of Tufts made it possible for more students to attend Tufts.”
Events
Past:
- Women Impact Tufts: New York – Tuesday, October 18, 2022
- Women Impact Tufts: Boston – Tuesday, November 8, 2022
- Women Impact Tufts: San Francisco – Sunday, February 12, 2023
- Women Impact Tufts: Boston with President Sunil Kumar – December 6, 2023
- Women Impact Tufts: New York Event with Dean Dayna Cunningham of Tisch College – May 21, 2024
To learn more or register for an upcoming event, e-mail wit@tufts.edu.
Featured News
New Women's Giving Campaign Supports Students
For years, Tufts University Trustee Kalahn Taylor-Clark, J99, MG01, wanted to give back to Tufts in a “really meaningful way,” but that didn’t seem possible while she was an early and mid-career health policy professional with a young family and limited resources.
Champions Scholars
Four alumnae who forged deep friendships as undergraduates have joined together to endow a scholarship that will enable future generations to pursue their passions and dreams at Tufts.
Elevating women’s philanthropy and Tufts dental students
Janis Moriarty, D94, has recruited more than 25 alumnae to support a new scholarship for Tufts dental students, created through a university-wide effort led by Women Impact Tufts (or WIT), a group that aims to inspire women’s philanthropy across Tufts and create fresh opportunities for collective giving.
