Let me paint you a picture. It's a Tuesday. You've just bought an overpriced coffee, maybe put three things you didn't need in your Amazon cart, and mentally justified it all. Meanwhile, somewhere, a graduate student in audiology or speech-language pathology is staring down a research idea that could change lives and wondering how on earth they're going to fund it.
Here's where it gets good. You can make a difference.
This May, the ASHFoundation is back with its second annual Amplifying Voices Campaign, and I am not just sharing this as a department chair who sends a lot of professional emails (though, yes, I do send a lot of professional emails). I'm sharing this as someone who was actually in a Giving Crew last year and genuinely loved it.
So, what exactly is a “Giving Crew”? Think of it like a group chat, but instead of sharing memes, everyone chips in a small donation until the crew collectively hits $100. That's it. That's the whole vibe. No pressure, no big ask, no feeling like you must write a check that makes you rethink your grocery budget. Just a group of people who care about the professions, pooling what they can. Yes, even five dollars.
Last year, through these small, mighty contributions, the ASHFoundation raised just over $5,000 in a single month—enough to fund a Graduate Student Scholarship. From $5s and $10s and "I can do $25" moments, an actual scholarship was born. I still think about that.
This matters to me personally
So many of us in this field (myself included) have been on the receiving end of grants, scholarships, mentorship, and professional support that we didn't fully appreciate until years later. The ASHFoundation has been consistently investing in students and researchers in communication sciences and disorders for 80 years. Eighty Years. At some point, you have to ask yourself: When do I start giving back to the table where I've been eating? For me, the Giving Crew was the answer to that question in the most accessible, low-barrier way possible.
This year, we're going bigger
The goal for 2026 is $8,000; fitting, since the ASHFoundation is celebrating its 80th anniversary. I'll be forming my Giving Crew again. You should join one—or better yet, start one of your own. Grab your colleagues, your former classmates, your favorite clinical supervisor from fifteen years ago who you still follow on LinkedIn and make it a group effort. Make it fun. Make it the thing you did this May that meant something. The ASHFoundation has spent 80 years betting on this profession. This is our chance to bet right back.
Jessica Sullivan, PhD, F-ASHA is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders at Hampton University. She also serves as the vice president of the ASHFoundation Development Committee.