The Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University is proud to announce the selection of the 2020 Focus Forward Fellowship cohort. The Fellowship is an MFRI program designed to build skills, leadership and a sense of community among women student veterans and service members.
Fellows are competitively selected from across the country and participate in this program on scholarship. MFRI received applications from 71 eligible candidates for this year’s Fellowship. After a very competitive selection process, 20 women were selected from 16 different colleges and universities, representing four branches of service, and diverse areas of academic study.
MFRI Director and Purdue Professor Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth is eager to welcome the 2020 cohort.
She states, “We are very excited to welcome the 2020 Focus Forward Fellows. Networks of personal and professional support are now more important than ever, and we are eager to work together with these talented and already accomplished women to pursue their academic and career goals.”
These women will build a community of support as they go through the Fellowship. Taking place virtually this year, they will meet with mentors from major corporations via video conferencing, learn about their own strengths and how to maximize them, and identify strategies and resources to increase connections and successes on their own home campuses. In addition, they will gain confidence in their ability to problem solve and develop skills to help foster academic and career success. Once the curriculum portion is over, they will participate in an online community throughout the upcoming academic year.
“This Fellowship is a great opportunity to lean-in and share information about transitioning from service member to veteran,” said mentor Betty Moseley Brown, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and the 19th president of the Women Marines Association. “It is great to meet women veterans and collaborate on life’s journey with my sisters.”
To learn more or find out ways you can support the Focus Forward Fellowship, contact Keara Ludiker, MFRI Fellowship program manager, at kludiker@purdue.edu or 765-494-0048 and follow the social media conversation at #FWDFellows.