The University of Missouri-Kansas City Women’s Council celebrated 54 years of supporting women in different fields with its annual Graduate Assistance Fund reception.

This year, 67 women received more than $98,000 from the Women’s Council Graduate Assistance Fund.

Established in 1967, the Women’s Council includes four committees that help execute the mission to support women who will change the world while they pursue their goals as graduate students at UMKC.

Sue Agrawal, M.S., the programs committee chair of the UMKC Women’s Council, welcomed everyone and briefly shared the history of the Women’s Council and the Graduate Assistance Fund, also known as GAF.

“One of the ways we unite the campus and community members to encourage and support our women graduate students is by providing financial awards to allow these promising women to complete their studies,” Agrawal said. “As we celebrate the 2025 GAF recipients, I want to thank our donors who are here tonight. Your generosity helps these women complete their graduate degrees without financial pressures or shortfalls.”

Sarah Hughes, J.D., the GAF selections chair and incoming Women’s Council board president, shared how impactful the Women’s Council’s Graduate Assistance Fund has been.

“The selections committee spends countless hours each year reviewing applicants,” Hughes said. “In addition to the award recipients, we have funded more than $20,000 in immediate aid to students this academic year as well. This means we’ve distributed more than $120,000 in total to our graduate students this year.”

Students who received GAF funding have participated in extensive research projects, traveled the world for historical studies and presented their work at professional conferences.

Students representing different UMKC academic units were highlighted at the reception.

Elham Basunduwah, a Ph.D. student in computer science, was one of the highlighted recipients. Her research is centered on developing an artificial-intelligence-based approach to predict crowd movement in dynamic environments.

“The GAF funding I received is a huge support in advancing my research and academic career,” Basunduwah said. “It will allow me to attend international conferences, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers/Computer Vision Foundation Winter Conference on Applications of Computer Vision, and Conference on Image and Vision Computing New Zealand. These opportunities are essential for me to present my work, gain valuable feedback and network with experts in my field.”

Basunduwah’s research is crucial for public safety and event management as it helps prevent overcrowding and improves emergency response strategies.

“I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Women’s Council and the generous donors for making this possible,” Basunduwah said. “Your support empowers students like me to pursue meaningful research and contribute to our fields in impactful ways.”

Emily Meyer (B.S. ‘07, M.A. ’24) is currently the STEM education program manager at Union Station and president of the science fair directors’ institute. Meyer received two degrees at UMKC and was a GAF recipient in 2014.

“I’m so grateful to celebrate with all the recipients from this year today,” Meyer said. “The funds you receive may seem like a small little thing to help push you to the end of your academic career here, but it’s going to make a lasting impact. I know I’m still riding those waves almost 10 years later.”

This year, a new award, The Jan Armstrong Award in STEM studies, was announced at the reception. Armstrong is trained in microbiology, where she noticed a small number of women in her classes. She hopes this award encourages and offers opportunities to young women in the STEM fields.

A named award is a $10,000 investment in the Graduate Assistance Fund endowment. Named awards are timeless gifts given in perpetuity because the fund’s principle will always remain intact.