When you make a donation, you want your gift to support causes you believe in and to reflect your values. Martha Deacon (LLB’77) has done just that by endowing two $250,000 scholarships in her will, boosting education for women at the Schulich School of Law.
The Dalhousie Law School grad’s generous donation will fund a scholarship for an African Nova Scotian woman and one for an Indigenous Canadian woman, honouring role models from their communities.
Dedicated to making a difference
These gifts are an extension of Deacon’s ongoing efforts to help women succeed. Following a career in corporate law in Toronto, she started The Townships Project, a non-governmental organization to help women in South African township communities develop small businesses through micro-lending and community development. Nearly 30 years later, the organization is still vital.
Deacon says she saw the need firsthand when she visited South Africa on her way to Zimbabwe. At the time, the country was only four years into democracy following apartheid. “I went to Soweto outside Johannesburg, to Khayelitsha outside Cape Town and to KwaMashu outside Durban. I was stunned by the fact that there was very little industry or commerce in the township areas where the majority of the country’s population live.”
The inspiration for micro-lending had come from Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi economist who won the Nobel Prize in 2006 for pioneering those concepts. “If you give women a small loan and the opportunity to make their own money, feed their children and send them to school, you have a much better chance of creating prosperity,” she says.
Bringing a legacy of support to Dalhousie
Now, the same spirit that inspired The Townships Project has inspired Deacon’s donation to the Schulich School of Law. “I’ve always strongly believed that if we can have a more equitable world, it is of great benefit to the planet and to us all,” she says when explaining her drive to support equity-deserving groups.
Choosing her alma mater was an easy decision to make.
“I have wonderful memories of Dal, and friendships that I carry on to this day. We just had a heck of a lot of fun. I had great professors, and certainly an unparalleled education,” she shares, recalling regularly connecting with the law school’s dean, Ronald St. John McDonald, even after graduation. “He was a wonderful guy, and a great friend.”
Donating through her will was also easier than she imagined. “I was amazed by Dean Sarah Harding’s reaction to this opportunity, as it didn’t feel like it was a huge amount of money to me, but it makes a big difference in perpetuity,” adding it is also an effective tax strategy.
Knowing her gift will have an impact is also important to Deacon. “What a fantastic opportunity to make a meaningful change in somebody’s life,” she says.
I’ve always strongly believed that if we can have a more equitable world, it is of great benefit to the planet and to us all. — Martha Deacon