  {"id":6562,"date":"2026-09-24T15:52:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T19:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/?p=6562"},"modified":"2026-10-07T14:30:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T18:30:20","slug":"benefaction-renews-funding-for-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/2026\/benefaction-renews-funding-for-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Benefaction Foundation Renews Funding for MPNL"},"content":{"rendered":"    \n<section class=\"w-screen px-6 cu-section cu-section--white ml-offset-center md:px-8 lg:px-14\">\n    <div class=\"space-y-6 cu-max-w-child-max  md:space-y-10 cu-prose-first-last\">\n\n        \n                    \n                    \n            \n    <div class=\"cu-wideimage relative flex items-center justify-center mx-auto px-8 overflow-hidden md:px-16 rounded-xl not-prose  my-6 md:my-12 first:mt-0 bg-opacity-50 bg-cover bg-cu-black-50 py-24 md:py-28 lg:py-36 xl:py-48\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2026\/09\/2025-and-2026-MPNL-Cohort1600-1600x700.jpg); background-position: 50% 50%;\">\n\n                    <div class=\"absolute top-0 w-full h-screen\" style=\"background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.600);\"><\/div>\n        \n        <div class=\"relative z-[2] max-w-4xl w-full flex flex-col items-center gap-2 cu-wideimage-image cu-zero-first-last\">\n            <header class=\"mx-auto mb-6 text-center text-white cu-pageheader cu-component-updated cu-pageheader--center md:mb-12\">\n\n                                    <h1 class=\"cu-prose-first-last font-semibold mb-2 text-3xl md:text-4xl lg:text-5xl lg:leading-[3.5rem] cu-pageheader--center text-center mx-auto after:left-px\">\n                        Benefaction Foundation Renews Funding for MPNL\n                    <\/h1>\n                \n                            <\/header>\n        <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n\n    \n\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"453\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2026\/09\/Karlee_Thomas400.jpeg\" alt=\"A woman (Karlee) with curly black hair and a blazer smiles at the camera.\" class=\"wp-image-6565\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.8829938417811464;width:428px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2026\/09\/Karlee_Thomas400.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2026\/09\/Karlee_Thomas400-320x362.jpeg 320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Born and raised in Montreal, Karlee Thomas (she\/her) graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Arts in International Development Studies and is now the Coordinator of Stewardship and Donor Relations at the Jewish General Hospital Foundation. She received a Benefaction award, and says, &#8220;I&#8217;m thankful to the Benefaction Foundation. They&#8217;re investing in students, like me, to continue learning and growing as professionals in the nonprofit sector. The support has also afforded me the opportunity to start developing new skills and to connect with a wonderful group of professionals.&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The MPNL program is happy to announce that the Benefaction Foundation will provide another $20,000 grant to its &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/2023\/benefaction-awards-for-mpnl-students\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Benefaction Foundation Travel Fund for the Summer Institute<\/a>&#8221; for 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Their generous creation of the Fund in 2023 has increased access to the Summer Institute and made access for students more equitable,&#8221; said Dr. Anil Varughese, Graduate Supervisor of the MPNL program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Travel Fund assists full-time and part-time students accepted into the <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/programs\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"726\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DPNL and MPNL programs<\/a>, helping them with travel costs related to the program\u2019s Summer Institute, a two-week, in-person series of courses and events at ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University. <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/advisory-council\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"1245\">Keith Sj\u00f6gren<\/a>, Chair of the MPNL program\u2019s Advisory Council, worked closely with the Foundation to increase support for the program&#8217;s students. This past summer, 27 students from across Canada, including those in financial need, received support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2026\/09\/Olayinka_Ademuyiwa400.png\" alt=\"A woman (Olayinka) with a red jacket and hoop earrings looks at the camera.\" class=\"wp-image-6567\" style=\"width:354px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2026\/09\/Olayinka_Ademuyiwa400.png 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2026\/09\/Olayinka_Ademuyiwa400-320x410.png 320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Born in Ikeja (Nigeria), Olayinka Ademuyiwa has a degree in Cell Biology and Genetics and has worked internationally and in three levels of the Canadian government. She&#8217;s as a Case Manager for the City of Ottawa and is the Founding Director of BSL, a nonprofit providing settlement services to Ontario\u2019s Afro-Caribbean immigrant community. She received a Benefaction award.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;For many of our students, the combined costs of travel, accommodation and time away from paid employment present a significant financial challenge,&#8221; Dr. Varughese added. &#8220;The Fund helped ease that burden, allowing recipients to participate more fully in the Summer Institute without the added stress of significant expenses. Last year, students&#8217; financial pressures included job loss, reduced employment income and caregiving for children and elderly family members.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.benefaction.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Benefaction Foundation<\/a> is a registered charity that helps Canadians and their advisors harness the advantages of strategic giving. It provides support for its Travel Fund, as well as for the &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/2023\/benefaction-awards-for-mpnl-students\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Benefaction Award for Philanthropic Leadership<\/a>&#8221; ($5,000), which is awarded annually to an outstanding, full-time graduate student who\u2019s entering the MPNL program, with preference given to racialized students. This year, both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/yinkade\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Yinka Ademuyiwa<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/karlee-thomas-6a03aa19b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Karlee Thomas<\/a> received Leadership awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I&#8217;m deeply honoured to receive the <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/2023\/benefaction-awards-for-mpnl-students\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Benefaction Award for Philanthropic Leadership<\/a>,&#8221; Yinka Ademuyiwa said. &#8220;The support enables me to focus fully on developing the knowledge, skills and leadership needed to create lasting impact in our communities. I&#8217;m grateful to Benefaction Foundation for its investment in students who are committed to advancing positive social change.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We&#8217;re grateful for the additional support of the Benefaction Foundation,&#8221; said Dr. Varughese. &#8220;It&#8217;s having a meaningful impact on students and the Summer Institute.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em class=\"myprefix-text-italic\">Each year, the MPNL program and ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University offer graduate students a number of <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/scholarships\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">awards and scholarships<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The MPNL program is happy to announce that the Benefaction Foundation will provide another $20,000 grant to its &#8220;Benefaction Foundation Travel Fund for the Summer Institute&#8221; for 2027. &#8220;Their generous creation of the Fund in 2023 has increased access to the Summer Institute and made access for students more equitable,&#8221; said Dr. Anil Varughese, Graduate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":205,"featured_media":3661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1178,39],"tags":[988,1001,1391,49,191,1006,68,69,70,82,17,81,18,19,994,1390],"class_list":["post-6562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards","category-news","tag-benefaction","tag-benefaction-award-for-philanthropic-leadership","tag-benefaction-foundation-travel-fund-for-the-summer-institute","tag-carleton","tag-dpnl","tag-keith-sjogren","tag-leadership","tag-masters","tag-mpnl","tag-panl","tag-philanthropy","tag-pnl","tag-school-of-public-policy-and-administration","tag-sppa","tag-summer-institute","tag-travel-fund"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6562"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6597,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6562\/revisions\/6597"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mpnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}