BOLD Ventures is run out of Northern Stage by Producing Artistic Director Carol Dunne, who also runs the BOLD Theater Women’s Leadership Circle, a network of women artistic directors in professional theaters across the United States.

The mission of BOLD Ventures is to provide artists outside the BOLD Circle with an opportunity to develop new and innovative work for the theater. Special consideration will be given to projects that nurture new and promising talent, challenge forms of live theater, are site-specific, and speak to the community in which the artist resides.

BOLD Ventures grant recipients have included:

• a tour of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, a one-person show across New England

• “It’s Fine, I’m Fine” by Steph Everett, a solo piece exploring Everett’s four concussions and the post-concussive syndrome from which she suffers

• 4 Guys Who Wing by Robbie Cowan, a short-form comedy/concert.

BOLD Ventures are invitation-only at the moment.

Smith College’s Magic Grants program is designed to help Ada Comstock Scholars reach their highest potential by funding ideas and projects that will transform communities or the life of the Scholar. The Ada Comstock Scholars Program at Smith College allows nontraditional age women to pursue a bachelor of arts degree. 

Through these Magic Grants and by focusing on Ada Comstock Scholars, our wish was to provide an opportunity for women who had to sidetrack their education for whatever reason to pursue their own ambitions or dreams.

Our program inspires imagination, creativity, and high aspiration by funding innovative projects that they otherwise would not be able to pursue. 

Although Helen Gurley Brown never attended Smith, she expressed an affinity with the college’s commitment to educating women with diverse life experiences. Helen’s papers are part of the Sophia Smith Collection of women’s history manuscripts. Helen Gurley Brown was made an honorary member of the Smith College Class of 1962.

Immigrant Justice Corps (IJC) is the visionary idea of the Hon. Robert Katzmann, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. IJC is a response to the crisis in legal representation for immigrants he saw every day as a federal judge. Established in 2014, Immigrant Justice Corps identifies promising lawyers and advocates passionate about immigration and places them with legal services and community-based organizations. Their objective is to make the most significant difference and to assist immigrants in need directly. 

IJC provides two types of fellowships: the Justice Fellowship for promising lawyers and the Community Fellowship for college graduates with the skills and passion for working with diverse immigrant communities. The Helen Gurley Brown Foundation’s grant to Immigrant Justice Corps funds three Community Fellows and three Justice Fellows for two years with a particular emphasis on supporting women or adults with children seeking refuge and asylum. Additionally, our grant allowed Immigrant Justice Corps to create their first scholarship fund for Community Fellows interested in pursuing law school after their fellowship.