Women Who Make a Difference

Since 2000, the Women Who Make a Difference program has honored those who are impacting our CU Boulder community. Each fall, nominations are accepted from the campus community to honor those who identify as women and awards are presented at a celebration for the nominees and their nominators.  

Submit Nomination

Deadline to Submit: Nov. 12, 2024

Each October, the center invites CU Boulder students, faculty and staff to nominate marvelous women in our community including advocates, colleagues, friends, grandmothers, mothers, storytellers or any woman who has impacted your life in a positive way. While nominators must be affiliated with CU Boulder, nominees can be members of the wider community. Because the goal of this award is to recognize more women for all their contributions to our campus, the program honors all women who are nominated. If a nominee has received the award within the past three years, nominees will be notified of their ineligibility by CISC staff. 

The awards reception for 2024 will take place on the evening of Tuesday, December 3. Nominators and nominees will be notified of the exact time and location privately. 

History

In 2000, student staff in the CU Boulder Women’s Resource Center conceived of this award to honor one woman at CU Boulder and solicited nominations from the community. They received nominations of such quality that they decided to honor all eight nominees. And so, a tradition was born. Although the Women’s Resource Center no longer exists, the Center for Inclusion and Social Change is proud to carry on this tradition. 

This program builds upon the legacy of women like Mary Rippon, the first University of Colorado woman professor, and Lucile Buchanan, the first African-American woman to graduate from CU. These influential women paved the way for other women at CU Boulder and beyond and continue to inspire us. We know there are many more women in the CU Boulder community today who also deserve our recognition and appreciation. 

View past recipients.