We welcome the opportunity to talk with you about your interest in the Center.
Please contact Betsy Wilson at 734.764.7291, or email, ecwilson@umich.edu
CEW, 330 East Liberty
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104.2274
Leadership Council member Rob Oliver and his wife Alyson Robbins first became aware of the Center for the Education of Women in 2002. Going through the papers of his mother Linda Rider, who had just died, Rob and Alyson found evidence that Linda had at one point in her life relied upon the Center’s services.
“I’m sure that CEW played a role in helping Mom decide to return to school and in helping her through the process once she’d made that decision.” And so Rob and Alyson established the Linda Rider Scholarship, which was awarded for the third time at the April 2006 CEW awards ceremony. “We want to honor my mother’s accomplishment of enrolling at the University of Michigan at age 41; and to offer encouragement to other undergraduate women who find themselves in similarly difficult positions as single mothers with limited incomes.”
In fact, Rob and his mother became UM freshman in the same fall semester. Linda completed a degree in General Studies, while Rob graduated with a degree in Film and Video Studies. When Alyson graduated from the University in 1997, Rob and Alyson moved to Manhattan, where he worked at an investment bank in Equity Research. They came back to Michigan three years later, and Rob earned an MBA at the University. They moved again, so that Alyson could attend law school at Northeastern University but, in 2005, they again came home to Ann Arbor. Today Rob is a financial planner with his own business, Oliver Financial Planning. Alyson is attorney, working at Legal Services of South Central Michigan. The big event in Rob and Alyson’s life right now is the upcoming birth of twins, due in October.
In addition to CEW, Rob and Alyson devote their time to issues of domestic violence. In her practice, Alyson provides legal services for domestic violence survivors. Rob, who volunteered with Safe House earlier in his life, is reestablishing his association with that organization. He’s currently a member of Safe House’s outreach speakers’ bureau. It is, says Rob, their awareness of and involvement with the problem of domestic violence that in part led them to become involved at CEW–knowing that such problems often lead women to seek help at CEW in order to find jobs, improve their economic situations and thus be able to leave abusive relationships.
Rob Oliver has been a member of the Leadership Council since September 2005. During that time he’s learned a great deal about CEW. He says that, while the scholarship program may be the most public aspect of the Center’s work, and the one thing he knew about in the beginning, he’s become impressed by the counseling and the research as well. “So many good things go on at CEW, things it’s easy to be a champion for.”
“The scholarship program is good for women at crossroads, trying to figure out where they want to go. But it’s wrapped around lots of other services, like the counseling and the library.” And, he says, there are also the advocacy efforts and the research: “Lots of smart people researching important topics.”
Rob also appreciates the fact that CEW services are widely available, not just for the university and not just for women. “I’m impressed that the Center helps the whole Ann Arbor community, men and women.”
According to CEW director Carol Hollenshead, Rob is an ideal addition to the Leadership Council. He brings a valuable perspective and financial expertise. In addition, Rob is connected to CEW by a compelling personal story of how the Center affected his family.
If you would like to speak with Rob Oliver about some aspect of the Center’s activities, including how you can become involved in CEW’s life, please contact Beth Halloran at 734.998.7898 or
bethhall@umich.edu.
