Santiana Jean-Baptiste an undergraduate senior majoring in Chemical Engineering, was just a child when her mother sent her with her younger sister to live in the United States. Santiana’s mother knew the states offered her girls a better chance for a successful life than did their homeland of Haiti.

By the time the girls’ mother was able to join them in Miami, Santiana was flourishing academically. She became involved in a program that exposed girls to science and engineering. By the time she graduated high school, Santiana was hooked. And, she’d earned a scholarship to college— the University of South Florida.

Two days before classes began, Santiana received shocking news. Her mother, the one person who had supported her and encouraged her every step of the way, died unexpectedly leaving Santiana and her older sister, as well as a younger sister, without parents.

The blow was devastating. It wasn’t just the excruciating loss, but the fact that with no means of support, she had to leave her 13 year-old sister in Miami to live with friends. Santiana pursued her education, working every minute she wasn’t in class. After just one year, Santiana had earned enough money to move her sister to Tampa and she’d earned a national scholarship from the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).

“My mother, the one person who told me I could do anything, wasn’t there any more. But people who didn’t even know me, said they believed in me,” says Santiana, now current president of USF’s National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) student chapter and past president of the Florida- Georgia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation in Science and Engineering student club at USF. “I didn’t want to go on, but I knew I had to persevere because complete strangers gave me the chance to take flight.” Thanks to her determination along with leadership and professional development experiences with NSBE and FGLSAMP, Santiana earned a summer internship with Johnson and Johnson, a worldwide Consumer Products company, in Skillman, NJ.

Giving women like Santiana the chance to take flight is the impetus behind USF Women in Leadership & Philanthropy, a newly established program designed to educate, train and empower women in opportunities for community leadership and philanthropy. From providing scholarships to mentoring young women and funding research, members can direct contributions to university projects that will inspire and empower future generations of women to do the same.

The program is the creation of USF President Judy Genshaft, who developed similar successful programs at Ohio State University and the University of Albany.

Genshaft appointed Dr. Juel Shannon Smith, who worked with USF faculty to develop the Women’s Studies program at USF, and established the Institute for Black Life and the Center for Africa and the Diaspora, to take on the role of executive director. Her experience in promoting education and building bridges between diverse communities made her an ideal candidate for the position.

Smith approached Carol Morsani, a widely recognized philanthropist in the Tampa area, to be honorary chair and help shape the program. Morsani is a member and supporter of a similar program for women in leadership at Oklahoma State University and has long been a proponent of higher education. As well as a valuable partner, she serves as an exceptional role model for women.

“When you give women an opportunity to make a difference as leaders and philanthropists, you give them the opportunity to influence the future,” says Morsani. “That is a noble thing.”