College of Saint Mary receives award for Excellence in Service to Women

College of Saint Mary has received an award for Excellence in Service to Women and Girls, and a $35,000 grant to fund its African American and Latina Summer Academies. Several CSM students and staff accepted the award at the Women’s Fund of Omaha Annual Lead the Change Celebration last week at the CenturyLink Center.

The African American Summer Academy and Latina Summer Academy are separate week-long residential summer experiences at CSM dedicated to inspiring underserved minority girls to attend college and providing them with the resources to do so.

CSM was one of the few organizations selected to receive an additional $10,000 grant on top of the $25,000 originally awarded.

The Excellence in Service to Women and Girls award is intended to recognize and encourage excellence in programming for women that aims to achieve a shared vision of a community where every woman and girl can reach her full potential.

The keynote speaker for the event was Academy Award-winner, Octavia Spencer, famous for her roles in “The Help” and “Hidden Figures”. Over 1,600 were in attendance.