Give to SMPA

The SMPA Career Access Network (CAN) funds student internships and enhances professional connections with support for networking events and a student-alumni mentoring program.

Gifts to SMPA make an enduring difference in the lives of students and help foster a culture of philanthropy among our alumni, parents, students and friends.

Help us to educate the very best undergraduates regardless of their financial status. Nearly two-thirds of GW undergraduate students receive some form of financial aid from the university.

Planet Forward identifies, celebrates and rewards ideas to solve global environmental challenges. Using the web, video, social media, television and live events, Planet Forward leads a conversation on our planet’s future. Planet Forward is produced by the Center for Innovative Media at SMPA.

Two SMPA students, one political communication major and one journalism and mass communication major, receive the Manheim-Sterling Undergraduate Research Prize each year. The awards allow students to collaborate with a faculty member, travel for research or reporting projects, or attend events to present a paper or project. This fund honors two legendary SMPA faculty members, Jarol Manheim, who led the creation of the political communication major at GW, and Chris Sterling, who brought media history to life with his booming voice and deep research on radio.

The Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication provides a forum for faculty, students and working professionals to address global and gender issues at the intersection of new media, national security, foreign policy, strategic communication and public diplomacy. The Institute is housed at SMPA and jointly administered by GW's Elliott School of International Affairs.

The Shanahan Fund allows students majoring or minoring in journalism to take an internship they may not otherwise be able to afford in the summer after junior year. The experiential learning and networking opportunities from hands-on work with professionals in the field are invaluable for aspiring journalists. The Fund honors the late Professor J. Michael Shanahan (1943–2014), by supporting an area that Professor Shanahan deeply cared about—student internships.