Join our mission to empower future communication leaders.
Opportunities for Donors
For over a decade, the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication at Florida International University has been a national thought leader on the issues that matter most to women in communication.
Our impact is measurable—nearly 30,000 participants have engaged in our professional development programs, gaining the skills, confidence, and networks needed to excel in their fields and step into leadership roles.
By supporting the Kopenhaver Center, you are investing in a vibrant mission where women’s voices are amplified, their leadership potential is realized, and their visions for a better world are brought to life through their professional trajectory.
Through immersive training, mentorship, and research-driven programming, we create pathways for students, alumni, scholars, and professionals to rise to the challenges of today’s rapidly evolving communication landscape. Our program participants are not just prepared for the workforce- they are equipped to lead and innovate.
Together, we are building a pipeline of women communicators ready to take their place at the decision-making table- locally, nationally, and globally. Your investment in the Kopenhaver Center’s mission fuels a powerful movement: preparing and empowering the next generation of women leaders to shape the future of communications, their professions, and their communities.
Join us in advancing women’s communication leadership. Your support will change lives, transform professions, and strengthen leadership in the field of communication for generations to come.
Fems in Tech Lab
Naming Opportunity: $1Million
Women with technology experience in the field of communication have a competitive advantage.
- Enhanced career opportunities: Technology skills open up a wider range of job prospects in the rapidly evolving communication industry.
- Higher earning potential: The gender pay gap in tech careers is narrower than in other industries compared to careers overall.
- Innovative problem-solving: Women bring unique perspectives to technology, leading to more creative solutions and innovative ideas in communication strategies.
By combining communication expertise with technology skills, women can position themselves as valuable assets in an increasingly digital-focused industry, driving innovation and fostering more inclusive work environments.
The future for women lies in the field of technology. The Kopenhaver Center continually strives to engage in innovative programming to ensure that women’s voices are heard both in South Florida and on a national level.
The FemsInTech Lab will embrace training in the field of communication and technology to foster women’s entry into the digital world and the metaverse so they may meet today’s challenges, solve problems, and design new ideas for an innovative future.
This lab will focus on the disrupters emerging in the profession and train participants to master storytelling, knowledge delivery, and curate information via complex technological information delivery systems and platforms (i.e., audience demographics, geographic information systems, artificial intelligence, and the metaverse).
The FemsInTech Lab will train students and early-career women to prepare them for advanced and competitive workforce entry. Program modalities for the lab are designed by the Kopenhaver Center’s leadership team, scholars, and industry experts in the fields of communication, engineering, and social science, among others. The FemsInTech Lab’s mission is to be a state-of-the-art hub for integrating communication pedagogy and academic training. Participants will be trained to enter the workforce with an advanced understanding of strategic communications via digital and technological systems.
Leadership Training Institute
Naming Opportunity: $500K
The Leadership Training Institute is a series of workshops designed to help women position themselves professionally to embrace change and to what the future will bring. Topics could be tailored to those of most benefit to women who desire to climb the ladder to leadership in the communications and other industries. Topics can include but are not limited to the following:
- Budget and Fiscal Management
- Writing for Leaders
- Digital Communication
- Entrepreneurship
- Technology and Innovation
- Leadership For a Changing World
The “Future is Female” Innovation Hive
Naming Opportunity: $500K
The center’s Future is Female Innovation Hive is an intensive multiple-day workshop for women innovators with the theme of “Leading and Communicating in the Age of Advanced Technology.” A selective group of students, faculty, and community stakeholders will gather to address technological and digital environment challenges. The Future is Female Innovation Hive will be led by a group of interdisciplinary experts who will facilitate an immersive and project-based program for participants to work on and create innovations in conjunction with local community stakeholders, media outlets, non-profits, and businesses.
Leadership Fellows Program
Naming Opportunity: $250K
The center’s Leadership Fellows Program matches women with five or fewer years of experience working in communications with mentors with more than 10 years of experience. Over a period of six months, participants attend workshops in leadership, entrepreneurialism, and technological innovation and regularly meet mentors for career and other counseling and networking.
Leadership Bootcamp for Graduating Seniors
Naming Opportunity: $100K
The center’s Leadership Boot Camp is designed to train and empower the next generation of female leaders. Through a series of online training workshops, graduating seniors will receive preparation for their first jobs, preparation that goes beyond the classroom. During the boot camp, participants will learn key leadership competencies: Leadership, Business and Entrepreneurship, Writing and Communicating for Leaders, and Technology and Innovation.
Annual Sponsorship
Kopenhaver Center National Conference
Giving levels from $1,000 to $25K
The Kopenhaver Center annually sponsors a national conference that brings together outstanding women in all communication fields to discuss the conference topic and share their expertise with those attending. Funding for this program will support students interested in participating in training and networking with leaders presenting in the national conference. Nearly 1,000 have attended at this point, and we reached several thousand through our Livestream service.
Women Faculty Moving Forward Program
Giving levels from $1,000 to $10K
The center sponsors the Women Faculty Moving Forward Program for newly minted Ph.D. faculty who want to succeed and lead in the academy. More than 350 Kopenhaver Center Fellows have completed the program, representing nearly 200 colleges and universities nationally and internationally. Funding for this program will support female faculty interested in participating in training and networking with academy leaders and attending the Women Faculty Moving Forward annual workshop. This program is co-sponsored in conjunction with the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), and the one-day intensive workshop is held at their annual national conference held at a different location every year.
