Recipients named for 2025 Giving Voice to the Voiceless grants

Charlayne Hunter-Gault surrounded by high school students.
Charlayne Hunter-Gault and her husband, Ron Gault, created the Giving Voice to the Voiceless grant program to support projects that focus on marginalized people and issues. Above, Hunter-Gault is pictured on UGA's campus in 2018 with some high school students. (Photo: Sarah E. Freeman)

Recipients named for 2025 Giving Voice to the Voiceless grants

February 05, 2025

Seven University of Georgia students have been named recipients of 2025 Giving Voice to the Voiceless grants.

The GVV grant program was created and initially funded by Charlayne Hunter-Gault (AB ’63) and Ronald Gault to support projects by UGA students and faculty members that amplify marginalized people or issues, advance social justice and create bonds of empathy and understanding.

“I hope this fund will help students find and affirm the voices of people everywhere who fight for freedom, justice and equality for themselves and their people,” said Hunter-Gault in 2017 when she and her husband created the fund.

A sampling of awardees this year includes:

Emily Wood, Recovery and Resilience

Wood plans to publish a book and multiple magazine articles based on her reporting about a catastrophic tornado that ravaged her hometown of Marshalltown, Iowa, on July 19, 2018. The storm damaged more than 2,000 structures in the small town, and according to her reporting, many affected residents were uninsured or underinsured, undocumented immigrants, refugees or low-income families.

“It is such an honor to have my reporting project on a tornado that hit my hometown selected for a Giving Voice to the Voiceless grant,” Wood, an MFA in Narrative Nonfiction student, said. “In my reporting, I hope to illuminate the challenges that follow a natural disaster in a small community, especially after national attention has waned. In times of crisis, it is often those who most need help that struggle to receive it.”

Leah Banko, Open Books, Closed Minds

Open Books, Closed Minds is a 5-part video documentary series that aims to highlight the increase of book bans and importance of literary freedom across the United States. Each video will focus on a different state and will lead audiences through the history of book bans, the censorship of marginalized content, such as diverse racial and LGBTQ2+ narratives, and the organizations combating these bans. Banko is a student in the Department of Entertainment and Media Studies.

Drew Wood, Beyond Boundaries: U.S. Social Work Careers for Graduates with Global Roots

Beyond Boundaries is a dynamic, hybrid event that supports students earning master’s degrees in social work in their final semester. The event will feature an international alumni panel of professionals sharing advice on overcoming challenges, securing employment, obtaining licensure and adjusting to work culture, among other topics.

“As an international graduate student in social work, navigating the job market can be overwhelming for my peers and me, but this grant allows me to combine my passion for helping others with my own experiences,” Wood said.

Those interested in joining Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Ron Gault in supporting the Giving Voice to the Voiceless program can visit the GVV Fund page.


Author: Sarah Freeman, freemans@uga.edu