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Launch of a new MMEG program

In 2023 MMEG launched a new pilot program. The very first cycle of the France Program, through which MMEG awards grants to French-speaking women from developing countries studying in universities in France, was successfully completed by MMEG’s France Program Selection Committee.

At the end of a rigorous selection process that maintained MMEG’s standards for excellence, two exceptional women—one studying water engineering, hydrology and flood risk, and the other, information technology—were selected and awarded the first grants in the program. Congratulations to MMEG’s two new France Program grantees!

The selections were made possible through the dedicated and excellent work of the France Program Selection Committee, a seven-member team of hard-working volunteers. From five different countries and with varying professional backgrounds, Committee members brought to the selection their collective commitment to advancing women’s education, as well as their individual experiences and skills. Their diversity of knowledge and perspectives enriched the process.

We sincerely thank the France Program Selection Committee for brilliantly ushering in MMEG’s fifth and newest grant program, and for furthering MMEG’s mission to improve the lives of women and children by supporting the higher education of exceptional women from developing countries.

Kudos to MMEG South Africa Program Selection Committee

MMEG’S South Africa Program Selection Committee had another very successful cycle in 2023, presenting nine exceptional women who have been awarded our education grant.

 The South Africa Program Selection Committee’s members bring to the selection process not only their commitment to the work of promoting women’s higher education, but also the skill and experience they have acquired through their own professional fields: business, finance, public health, economics, law, agriculture, corporate banking, ethics, and food policy.

 The members’ diversity, with nine different nationalities and various places of residence, is remarkable, enriching the Committee’s awareness of South Africa’s context, and enhancing their ability to identify exceptional women from developing countries who are studying while working to improve the lives of women and children, therefore fulfilling MMEG’s mission.

We thank these hard-working volunteers, whose dedication to MMEG promotes a better world through our exceptional grantees.

Felicitations to MMEG Latin America Selection Committee

We thank MMEG’s Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Selection Committee for their dedication and hard work. They recently proudly presented as grantees 10 exceptional women that they had identified from a large pool of candidates.

MMEG LAC is very fortunate to have a diverse Selection Committee composed of volunteers from nine different nationalities and various professional backgrounds, who nevertheless share the same passion and common goal: to identify the extraordinary and exceptional women that our grantees represent.

The FY 23 LAC grantees are citizens of five different countries, currently studying at one of the program’s partner universities. Their fields of study are finance and medical imaging engineering, gender anthropology, gender studies, history, industrial engineering, law, management and development practices, rural development, and sociology. They are enrolled in master’s or PhD programs.

Throughout their careers, our grantees have been committed to working and volunteering in disadvantaged communities and with the vulnerable. With their study plans, they have manifested their dedication to uplift the lives of women and children in developing countries.

Year after year, our applicants’ increasingly diverse fields of study confirm our belief that women are strong leaders in their communities!

Queremos agradecer al Comité de Selección de América Latina y el Caribe (LAC) de MMEG por toda su dedicación y arduo trabajo: recientemente, presentaron con orgullo a 10 mujeres excepcionales que identificaron como beneficiarias entre un gran grupo de candidatas.

MMEG LAC tiene la fortuna de contar con un Comité de Selección compuesto por voluntarios de 9 nacionalidades diferentes y diversos antecedentes profesionales, que comparten la misma pasión con un objetivo común: identificar a las mujeres extraordinarias y excepcionales que representan nuestras beneficiarias.

Las beneficiarias para el año fiscal 23 en LAC son ciudadanas de cinco países diferentes, actualmente estudiando en una de las universidades participantes con el programa. Sus campos de estudio son Antropología de Género, Derecho, Desarrollo Rural, Estudios de Género, Finanzas e Ingeniería Especializada en Imágenes Médicas, Historia, Ingeniería Industrial, Prácticas de Gestión y Desarrollo, y Sociología. Se encuentran cursando programas de Maestría o Doctorado.

A lo largo de sus carreras, se han comprometido a trabajar y ser voluntarias en comunidades desfavorecidas y con personas vulnerables. Con sus planes de estudio, han manifestado su dedicación a mejorar las vidas de las mujeres y los niños de países en vías desarrollo. Año tras año, los campos de estudio cada vez más diversos de las candidatas confirman nuestra creencia de que las mujeres son líderes fuertes en sus comunidades!

MMEG TALKS: THE RIGHT TO A VOICE

You’re invited to a MMEG TALKS on “The Right to a Voice: Augmentative and Alternative Communication.”

Four MMEG grantees from diverse fields—Ensa Johnson, Faatima Ebrahim, Netsai Gwata, and Vuledzani Ndanganeni—will discuss their common goal: how best to grant a voice to people, especially children, with different capacities for speech and hearing. The ability to communicate is a right, not a privilege.

Our moderator, Ensa Johnson, is a respected international researcher and educator who has even instructed at least one of our panelists and other grantees, so this is in fact a two-generation MMEG panel! Come and raise your voice, offer your opinion, ask questions, or simply listen.

To join this webinar, go to our EVENTS page, where a link will go live 15 minutes before the start time, at noon EST on Monday, February 22, 2023.

ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS OF MMEG's 2022 PHOTO COMPETITION: "EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN"

© Sourav Karmakar

We the “Sheroes”

Congratulations to the winners of MMEG’s second annual photo competition! They all captured powerful images that tell meaningful stories about extraordinary women, this year’s theme.

The winners are:

First prize: Sourav Karmakar for “We the Sheroes”

Second prize: Arpan Chowdhury for “Bleed Green”

Third prize: Mithail Afrige Chowdhury for “Rage for Rape”

Honorable mentions:

Kyaw Zay Yar Lin for "Myanmar's Women”

Roberto Gregori for "Caring for the Poor”

Kanishka Puri for "Women Lifeguards of India”

We received 213 entries from all over the world. The photographers portrayed extraordinary women from Bangladesh, Colombia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Vietnam, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. They Illustrate stories of endurance and improvement in which women are the key drivers of change.

Many thanks to all the participants who shared with us their vision of extraordinary women. Thank you to LensCulture for hosting the competition. And thanks to our judges—Afia Nathaniel, Carla Rhodes, and Dawn Whitmore—for undertaking the difficult task of selecting the winners from so many fabulous entries.

We look forward, over the coming year, to sharing some of these entries—beyond the winners featured here—and the story behind those photos, to recognize and celebrate even more extraordinary women.

 Congratulations to all concerned!

You can read more about the winners here

MMEG now has five programs!

The year 2023 will see MMEG award its 500th grant. What better way to mark this milestone than by expanding our grant offerings! On November 15, 2022, applications opened for MMEG’s new pilot grant program, the France Program. The France Program will offer two to three grants of $5,000 each to women from developing countries studying in France.

With programs in the United States and Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean, and South Africa, MMEG reaches a broad range of women from developing countries studying in either English or Spanish. However, there is a wide swath of women from developing countries that MMEG has up till now not been able to support: women who are French speakers and are studying in French, one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. Bridging the language barrier, MMEG’s pilot program will enable women studying in France to apply in French. Through the France Program, MMEG will be able to support women students from West and Central Africa, North Africa and the Maghreb, the Middle East, Asia, and the Caribbean.

As with all MMEG programs, the France Program grant will be awarded to exceptional women whose focus is on improving the lives of women and children in their communities. The general criteria, which you can check out here, are the same as they are for MMEG’s other programs. Applications may be submitted online from November 15, 2022, through January 15, 2023.

We are very excited to open up to a new population of extraordinary women and to expand the MMEG community of exceptional grantees across the globe!

Questions? Please email us at france@mmeg.org.