Click here to view the livestream on February 11th at 3pm.

Click here to view the 2026 CEW+ Inspire Award Program.

The Carol Hollenshead Award was created in honor of former director Carol Hollenshead’s twenty-year tenure at the Center for the Education of Women and honors awardees who, like Carol, have proven that social change is possible through persistent hard work and who demonstrate that one person can make a lasting difference in their communities.

The Sarah Goddard Power and Rhetaugh G. Dumas awards were traditionally presented by the Academic Women’s Caucus, which is no longer active. To honor the legacies of Goddard Power and Dumas, CEW+ has administered these awards since 2018.

Sarah Goddard Power was a major contributor to the advancement of higher education, an advocate for affirmative action and human rights, and a champion of freedom for the international press. A U-M regent for more than 12 years, she worked to advance the position of women and minorities in faculty and administrative roles. Rhetaugh G. Dumas, a vice provost emerita, was an esteemed leader with vision, insight, and wise counsel who had a significant impact on the advancement of nursing, healthcare, and academic programs at U-M. Dumas was the first African American woman to serve as a dean at U-M when she was appointed to that role at the School of Nursing in 1981. She remained dean until 1994, when she was named the inaugural vice provost for health affairs and the Lucille Cole Professor of Nursing.

Members of the Academic Women’s Caucus lobbied for the hire and promotion of top female administrators, equitable salaries for female faculty, and anti-discrimination policies within the University. Prior to its official formation in the summer of 1975, women faculty and staff who would eventually make up the Caucus fought for equal rights, among such other issues as making the role of women faculty more visible. Supported by the offices of Human Resources and Institutional Equity, its charge was to “develop an inclusive organization of all academic women and men of the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses of the University of Michigan… to serve as forum for the exchange of information about the status of academic women at the University and as a focus necessary to the investigation and resolution of their special concern.”

CAROL HOLLENSHEAD AWARD
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Michelle Bellino, Associate Professor, U-M Marsal Family School of Education

Michelle Bellino is an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan Marsal Family School of Education. Her research centers on education and youth civic development in contexts impacted by armed conflict, forced displacement, and transborder movement. Across diverse settings, she explores how experiences with violence, asylum, and peace and justice processes influence young people’s participation in schools and society, future aspirations, as well as educational access and inclusion. She is the author of Youth in Postwar Guatemala: Education and Civic Identity in Transition, has written numerous scholarly articles, and co-authored the UNESCO policy guide on “Addressing violent pasts through education” and the accompanying online course. Michelle has also partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to support refugee education in global contexts, led a research team of refugee-background youth researchers, and worked with the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration to expand educational opportunities for im/migrant and displaced populations. At the University of Michigan, she founded and co-leads the Coalition for Welcoming and Belonging, a group of students, staff, and faculty working to create a more inclusive campus with migrant-sensitive policies.

Michelle receives the award for her leadership in creating transformative learning spaces in higher education, and sustained dedication to the advancement of educational rights for marginalized populations.

SARAH GODDARD POWER AWARDS
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Vanessa K. Dalton, MD, MPH, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Director of the Program on Women’s Health Care Effectiveness Research, and co-Director of the Gynecology Division, University of Michigan Medical School

Dr. Dalton is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Director of the Program on Women’s Health Care Effectiveness Research (PWHER) and the co-Director of the Gynecology Division at the University of Michigan Medical School. She is a clinical subspecialist in complex family planning, and she has trained numerous medical students, residents, and fellows in women’s health care over the past 25 years.  Dr. Dalton is also a health services researcher, and her work focuses on improving access and equity in women’s health care and health policy.

Throughout her career, Dr. Dalton strived to support the professional development of numerous students, faculty and staff. She is especially passionate about ensuring opportunities for women+ pursuing research careers. She has mentored countless students and faculty housed in medicine, public health and nursing, co-leads a national NIH grant writing course, and hosts research electives in women’s health research for students. She is also the co-Director of the Division of Gynecology – which is currently an all-female division.

In her clinical role, Dr. Dalton has dedicated her career to improving the health and health care of marginalized women+. For nearly 30 years she provided leadership, training, and patient care at Planned Parenthood of Michigan. She currently serves on the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ Family Planning Medical Advisory Committee, which supports federally funded family planning services to low-income individuals across the state.

Dr. Dalton and her mentees have received several awards reflecting the impact of her research and mentorship including the MICHR Distinguished Clinical and Translational Research Mentor Award, the McDevitt Excellence in Research Award in Clinical Research, and the Award of Excellence from the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program.

Dr. Dalton receives the award for her sustained commitment to using her expertise and influence to break down barriers and foster opportunities for women and other marginalized identities.

Shanna K. Kattari, PhD, MEd, CSE, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Women’s and Gender Studies, and director of the [Sexuality|Relationships|Gender] Research Collective

Shanna K. Kattari, PhD, MEd, CSE (they/them/theirs) is an associate professor at the School of Social Work, in the Women’s and Gender Studies Department (by courtesy), and is the director of the [Sexuality|Relationships|Gender] Research Collective. A white, Jewish, nonbinary, disabled, chronically ill, neurodivergent (AuDHD), polyamorous, queer fat Femme, their practice and community background is as a board-certified sexologist, certified sexuality educator, and social justice activist. Kattari’s multi-methodological research focuses on three areas that often overlap: disability and ableism (including neurodivergence, Mad studies, and disability justice), sexuality and sexual health (including reproductive justice), and queer and trans affirming practice (in behavioral, physical, and sexual health spaces).

Their work aims to understand how power, privilege, and oppression systematically marginalize, exclude,e and discriminate against people regarding their identities, while also uplifting the brilliance and resistance demonstrated by these communities in the face of stigma and harm. Recently, Kattari’s work has focused on the health disparities among trans/nonbinary communities, across physical, behavioral, and sexual health, using community-based participatory research and arts-based methods. Their work has also included several studies on disability and ableism, particularly regarding the academy and higher education.

Kattari also explores experiences of sexuality in marginalized communities, most notably disabled adults, LGBTQIA2S+ individuals, those practicing non-monogamy, and those practicing kink/leather/BDSM. Their work with the SRG Collective allows them to collaborate across North America, the U.K., and Aotearoa/New Zealand, and they deeply value having many students and community members as collaborators. Additionally, they conduct research in other topic areas such as weight stigma/fatphobia, critical and anti-carceral pedagogy, and developing anti-oppressive social work education. Kattari strongly believes in translational research that benefits the communities being researched and values making research accessible to not only academics but also to society at large. They are committed to engaging, innovative education and critical pedagogy, multi-level omnidirectional mentorship models, and supporting individuals from a variety of identities in entering, navigating, and succeeding in the academy. Kattari is the convener of the Social Work Disability Justice League and currently serves on the Council on Social Work Education’s (CSWE) Council on Disability and Persons with Disabilities. They previously served as co-chair of the CSWE Council on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression and chaired the LGBTQ Caucus of Social Work Students and Faculty.

Kattari’s work to dismantle barriers and create opportunities for marginalized students, staff, and faculty, and commitment to equity across disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other intersecting identities throughout her career, garners them the award.

RHETAUGH G. DUMAS AWARD
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Ellen Rowe, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation and the Earl V. Moore Professor of Music, School of Music, Theatre and Dance

Professor Rowe is the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation and the Earl V. Moore Professor of Music, specializing in jazz piano performance, ensemble direction and composition and arranging. She joined the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance in 1996 and chaired the department from 2007-2017, becoming the first woman in the country to hold that position.

In addition to publishing, recording, guest speaking and directing All-State Jazz Ensembles throughout the country, Prof. Rowe is committed to creating opportunities for young women to become jazz performers, composers and pedagogues. She was a founder of the Jazz Education Network’s “Sisters In Jazz” Collegiate Combo Competition and has led the initiative for the last 15 years. She contributed a chapter to the Routledge Companion to Jazz & Gender and was the subject of chapters in What Is This Thing Called Soul, by Damani Phillips, and Women in Jazz: The Women, The Legends and Their Fight, by Sammy Stein. In 1996 she became the first woman to have jazz ensemble music for secondary schools published and has since focused her jazz ensemble publications for that age group, hoping to inspire young women to compose their own music.

Her all-female octet “Momentum” released its first album in 2019, with subsequent national and international tours. Performances by the group include clinics for female jazz artists and opportunities for them to sit in. At the University of Michigan, she has actively recruited female and female-identifying students for the jazz program, led full-department sessions on jazz and gender and brought in female guest artists and composers. The U-M Jazz program boasts one of the highest percentages of women in the country because of these efforts.

Rowe receives the award for her sustained efforts to promote gender diversity in jazz ensemble composition and arranging, and overall commitment to advancing the role of women in jazz.