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Algebra teacher Katherine Dodgen and her family debated at the dinner table over what to do with all the money their late grandmother had left them.

“We would have random meetings during dinner at like six and we wouldn’t finish until midnight,” co-founder of the Dodgen Foundation and mathematics teacher at RHS Katherine said. “Just trying to figure out logistics and things like that.”

The Foundation, founded in 2020 by Katherine and her father Jack, former RHS math teacher, was created to provide scholarships to women pursing careers in traditionally male-dominated fields to honor Katherine’s mother, Elaine Dodgen.

“My mother firmly believed that women should not be limited by their gender and placed a tremendous value on education,” Jack Dodgen said. “So when I started thinking about the type of cause she wanted to support, it was pretty easy to put those two together.”

The result became the Elaine Williamson Dodgen Memorial Scholarship, in hopes it would break down barriers to occupations that had always been reserved for men.

In the process of creating the foundation after Elaine passed away, Jack said he created it with three things in mind.

“I wanted it to outlive me, I want to make this foundation a platform where lots of people could get involved and have this foundation branch out and offer additional scholarships of different types,” he said.

Building the foundation involved the whole Dodgen family, using their skills and expertise to help create the foundation from scratch.

“My parents were both teachers, I have a background in education, and my brother has a background in business,” Katherine Dodgen said. “So we used all of our collective knowledge and started it up ourselves.”.

The first wave of scholarships were awarded to four women out of more than thirty who applied.

“The biggest part of whether or not they get in is if we think they will be successful in the future,” Katherine said. “We want to make sure that we’re putting our money into something that is going to be worth it in the long run.”

The winners were selected by a committee of seven volunteers including a rotation of business and education leaders from all over the country including a data analysis executive from JP Morgan and research analyst from Carnegie Foundation for International Peace.

“It’s been a humbling experience to see how many talented, high-powered people are excited about being a part of this,” Jack Dodgen said.

To the women who received the scholarship and had applied for it, Katherine Dodgen said hopefully it would let them know that they are supported in every possible way.

Katherine said she hopes the foundation provides support for women to believe in themselves and have the confidence to chase their dreams.

“There were so many times that people told me that I couldn’t do it – even my calculus teacher in high school told me that I would never get a degree in math,” she said.

In the future, The Dodgen Family Foundation plans to expand the scholarship to female tradespeople which make up less than three percent of women in pathways such as plumbing and electrical.

“There is a huge demand for skilled tradespeople right now,” Jack said. “We’re really excited about the prospects of helping kids get off the ground in that arena.”