Grace Benkart Wins Carnegie Mellon Women's Association Award

Grace Benkart wants to make a big impact, and she's starting by making a difference in the lives of Pittsburgh children and teens.

"It's a time when everything that they're taking in is going to stick with them," said Benkart, a recent Carnegie Mellon University graduate, who majored in neuroscience. "Being able to make an impact on kids that age is something that I hope they'll remember forever."

During her time at Carnegie Mellon, Benkart volunteered with Strong Women Strong Girls (SWSG) and worked for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Children's Hospital.

SWSG is a multi-generational mentoring institution with chapters across the country. The organization partners with local universities to pair elementary school girls with a college-age female mentor, who visits the girls once a week.

"We like to foster community with the girls and empower them," Benkart said. "We highlight different female role models every week that they can look up to and who can serve as inspiration, and we do activities with them like games and crafts."

Benkart became part of SWSG and quickly started to take on leadership roles. She served as supply manager in 2021, social chair in 2022 and chapter director in 2023. As chapter director, she helped organize a field trip so that the girls participating in SWSG could visit Carnegie Mellon for the day.

"The girls loved coming to campus, and they loved seeing everything that campus has to offer," Benkart said. "It was a really great experience. It was one of my favorite things I did as chapter director."

Besides volunteering with the SWSG, Benkart also worked as a health unit coordinator in the oncology unit at the UPMC Children's Hospital. She assisted hospital staff and families to help make their time in the hospital less stressful. She said that one experience has stuck with her.

"I had gotten there one evening, and one of the patients that I had been getting to know came up to my desk with the game Clue in his hands," Benkart said. "I could tell he really needed that little bit of distraction to boost his spirits. We set up the game on my desk and played so that he could just have fun and be a kid."

In recognition of her commitment and hard work, Benkart was awarded the Carnegie Mellon Women's Association Award. This award is given to one graduating senior woman from each college for outstanding achievements.

Carrie Doonan, teaching professor of biological sciences and Benkart's advisor, said that Benkart's contributions to both the university and the community helped her stand out.

"Besides SWSG, Grace has a strong history of civic engagement, supporting the campus community through her work on the Counseling and Psychological Services Student Advisory Board, tutoring for the Gelfand Center and volunteering for multiple departmental events including staying on campus after finals week to help with commencement," Doonan said. "She is very kind and generous with her time, and she is always willing to help out a friend or fellow student."

Benkart plans to apply to medical school, where she hopes to work in a field involving pediatrics. In the meantime, she is taking a gap year to work as a patient care technician in the same oncology unit where she worked as a health unit coordinator. She said she looks forward to a future in medicine.

"I'm excited to expand the way I'm working with patients and hopefully be able to make a bigger impact on these families," Benkart said.