Generation to Generation, Financial Aid Elevates Women

Megan Gardner ’98 doesn’t mince words: “Financial aid at Smith changed the trajectory of my life and the lives of my two sisters.” After launching her career on Wall Street, Gardner branched out into entrepreneurship and dealmaking, and now she advises CEOs of fast-growing technology companies and serves on international boards.

When she graduated, she pledged to help create opportunities for new generations of Smithies. Her contributions support students who could not attend Smith without financial aid—students like Daniela Pilier ’26, a quantitative economics major who has her sights set on the C-suite.

Life-changing Financial Aid

Gardner grew up in North Dakota with an entrepreneurial father and a mother she describes as a “big feminist.” A magazine article about the percentage of graduates from all-female colleges who became CEOs and congresswomen spurred Gardner to start looking into women’s colleges. After Gardner scored well on her PSATs, a Smith alum from North Dakota reached out to her directly.

“She encouraged me to apply,” Gardner says. “No one in my town understood why I would want to leave and why I even read the brochure. But this alum knew what Smith could offer me, and she kept calling. I still send her a Christmas card every year.”

Paying for college was another matter. “My parents were worried about the cost, but I was told there were scholarships available at Smith,” she says. “Twenty-five years later, I still cry talking about it because the aid I received was everything. Our family had few resources. I only went home once a year at Christmas.” Smith’s impact on Gardner inspired her two younger sisters to attend, too.

At Smith, Gardner earned a degree in history and women’s studies but found herself gravitating toward a career in business and finance. “I started learning about investment banking and consulting because of the alums who came back to campus,” she says. “It was interesting to me.”

‘All Because of Smith’

Gardner went on to earn an M.B.A. at Harvard. After working on Wall Street and at Deutsche Bank and later at Ameriprise, Gardner was tapped as CEO of Plum District, a startup that featured daily internet deals for moms and families. She raised millions in venture capital for the company and managed over 350 employees and contractors.

In 2013, she founded Independent & Co., a CEO advisory practice for technology businesses that she still runs today, steering executives through the challenges and opportunities of rapid growth. “Smith was where I first learned to distill massive amounts of information,” she says. “That’s a lot of what I do for my clients. I read, I learn about a problem a business is having, and then I try to figure out the next steps.”

She credits her Smith study abroad year in Córdoba, Spain, for broadening her exposure to the world—a perspective that has since helped inform her work with international companies. “I traveled all over Europe studying things I never would have studied had I not gone to Smith, like obscure Shakespeare plays and art history,” she says. “It was mind-blowing to me.”

Recently, Gardner spent an afternoon with her daughter at the Dior Museum in Paris. “My daughter, who’s fluent in several languages, was reading the placards, and I looked at her and thought, ‘This is all because of Smith.’”

Beating the Odds

Similar to Gardner, Pilier’s family in Higüey, Dominican Republic, had limited resources to pay for college. Academically, her country’s educational system had gaps. Determined to excel, she “refused to let the prevailing disparities hold me back.”

Receiving financial aid was critical. “The opportunity to attend Smith College with generous aid relieved a significant burden,” Pilier says. “This privilege, unavailable to many in my home community, solidified my choice. It not only granted access to education but also enabled the pursuit of opportunities otherwise out of reach.”

Pilier has seized many of these opportunities already: She has served on the boards of Smithies in Business and the Smith College Consulting Club and is currently dean of the College Student Advisory Board and a peer adviser at the Lazarus Center for Career Development. She also competes as a varsity track and field athlete.

With an interest in data and numbers and a craving for a challenging, fast-paced environment, Pilier is pursuing a career in investment banking. But she’s not stopping there; like Gardner, Pilier has CEO aspirations, planning to “spearhead transformative initiatives and revolutionize industries.”

Smith’s robust alum network and career development programs are key to these goals. “Knowing that I’ll have access to successful alums who can offer guidance and support throughout my academic and professional journey is incredibly valuable,” she says. “Who knows—with a little luck and a lot of hard work, I might just find myself in the CEO’s chair sooner than I think.”

The Power of Collective Giving

When it comes to philanthropy, Gardner strongly believes in the “every gift counts” approach—from small to large donations. “I think about the power of all the drops in the bucket,” she says. “If all of those hadn’t happened before me, I wouldn’t have been at Smith. When I was at Reunion, I talked to women from all different walks of life who had ended up in very different places and who were all just brilliant. So many of them can trace their accomplishments to financial aid.”

Gardner is now giving to financial aid collectively through her class’s endowed scholarship fund and through The Smith Fund. “I want to spend my money on women and children having access to the best education,” she says.

“I’ve learned firsthand the power of education to rewrite life’s narrative,” Pilier says. “With the support of financial aid donors, I’ve transitioned from facing challenges to embracing opportunities. Together, we’re not just breaking barriers; we’re sculpting a future where every individual can sprint toward their aspirations, empowered by hope and possibility.”

That same vision has galvanized Smithies of all ages—and the Generation to Generation financial aid initiative is helping achieve it by maximizing the impact of gifts of every size.

For many donors, this is their first time contributing to an endowed fund. But they are joining giving circles and class scholarship funds that bundle their donations together to establish enduring sources of financial aid. And because all endowed gifts, whether individual or collective, qualify for the Generation to Generation Gift Matching Program, their impact is immediately amplified. What better illustration of the power of all those drops in the bucket?

Learn more about giving circles, class scholarship funds, and endowed gift matching at smith.edu/access. To make a gift, contact Betsy Carpenter ’93, associate vice president for development, at ewcarpen@smith.edu or 413-585-2052.