Image Courtesy of Danny Bush
By: Claire Fisher, Features Assignment Editor
“You’re looking at the Woman of Promise!”
This was what Grace Foley said as she returned to her friends after finding out she would be receiving the award.
The Mary A. Hamilton Woman of Promise Award was given to the senior strategic communication major last month.
“It means a lot to be recognized by the professors and Dean I look up to,” Foley said. “To be considered by them as someone who has a promising career – it’s an honor.”
The application process was a unique one for Foley. She worked hard to fill her portfolio with recommendations and clippings from SBU-TV, the university’s student-run broadcast network. A lack of newspaper clippings made for a more creative collection of samples.
“I did not write for the BV, or any other print publication, so I could not input standard writing samples,” Foley said. “I contacted my boss and coworkers to write recommendations about why they thought I was an essential component of their team.”
After submitting her name, grade point average and portfolio, Foley waited a few weeks before hearing the exciting news of her award from Aaron Chimbel, dean of the Jandoli school. Immediately following, Foley first told her sister, Elizabeth Foley, another student at St. Bonaventure.
“It has been great to watch her grow into the woman she was meant to be,” Elizabeth Foley, sophomore strategic communications major, said. “I am so honored to know her and learn from her.”
Across her academic career, Foley, the Somerset, Massachusetts native, worked in SBU-TV and in her external internship with International Game Technology (IGT).
After joining as a freshman, Foley worked up the chain of command in SBU-TV, starting as an intern, working as a women’s basketball beat reporter and ending her career as appointed sports director.
In SBU-TV, Foley was able to see what a real-world newsroom would look like. Between pitching her own story ideas, working in post-production and creating scripts, she grew in both professional development and soft skills like leadership and confidence.
“More than anything, it prepared me for being a female in a corporate world,” Foley said. “It made me a stronger woman and taught me how to stand up for myself in a professional setting and manner.”
Aside from SBU-TV, Foley has flourished in her internship at IGT.
In June of 2022, she joined as a summer intern in their talent acquisition department. There she learned to express her ideas and how to authentically brainstorm.
After being named the head IGT intern globally, she took on further responsibilities. Her biggest accomplishment was planning the company’s celebration for National Interns Day with over 100 guests. Now extended into the fall and winter, Foley has taken on the responsibilities of a temp.
“I am nothing but grateful for all of my mentors and coworkers at IGT,” Foley said. “I am excited to hopefully continue with them and see where my future can take me.”
Foley aspires to continue work in human resources with a specialty in Title IX advocacy.
She will be specifically recognized in the Women on Promise ceremony on March 14 at 4 p.m. in the Doyle Hall Conference Center. Additionally, there will be a ceremony to celebrate all of the Jandoli award winners on May 3.
