Time Out Grant ← Grants & Fellowships ← Alum Resources ← Vassar Alums ← Vassar College

A person wearing a safety helmet wearing a yellow shirt and carrying a hoe smiles at the viewer in front of burnt vegetation.

Take Time Out to Change the World

Established in 1998, the Time Out Grant seeks to inspire Vassar alums to pursue an original, bold interest, project, or business that could innovate the world around them.

We are excited to announce Samantha Orient ’05 as the 2024 award recipient. Orient, who has been involved in firefighting since she graduated high school strives to innovate the world of wildland firefighting. As the 2024 Time Out Grant recipient, she will develop a mobile application to help wildland firefighters learn to operate and troubleshoot portable water pumps during wildland fire operations. Once operational, the application could be used as a template for more firefighting training initiatives and tools.

Orient (pictured) was selected out of 150 applicants because the Committee felt her project exemplified the spirit of the Time Out Grant.

Time Out Grant Reimagined for 2024

The proposal could be in any field—science, business, education, the arts, human services, environment, etc.
The project could take place over a minimum of 12 months and may extend for up to 2 years.

The Time Out Grant was updated to create a more accessible opportunity to coincide with the modern working environment:

The Awardee was no longer required to leave their current job to accept the award.
Any Vassar alum 35 years or older by June 30, 2024 was invited to apply for the grant.
The Time Out Grant of $150,000 will now be awarded every other year.

All courageous and creative proposals were considered. The proposal did not need to be related to the applicant’s current career. At Vassar’s discretion, the proposed venture can be funded with complementary grants, provided the Time Out Grant was the lead funding source.

Applications for the next grant will open in Fall/Winter 2025 and the recipient will be awarded in Spring 2026.

Meet some previous
Time Out Grant recipients

Each of these Vassar graduates, and many others over the past three decades, was able to realize a dream that encompassed their own lives and the lives of others, thanks to the Time Out Grant, funded by an extraordinarily generous, anonymous Vassar alumna.