SPRINGFIELD — The O’Dell Women’s Center Foundation announced that it will grant $250,000 to nonprofits serving low-income Springfield women.

Springfield’s first-ever women’s center will award grants of $5,000 to $50,000 to amplify the efforts of local nonprofit organizations that advance educational and career opportunities for low-income women. Nonprofit organizations that address obstacles facing low-income women, such as food insecurity and childcare access, will also be eligible for grant awards.

The application is available at odellwomenscenter.com/grants and must be received by Sept. 13. Applications will be evaluated based on innovation, feasibility, and potential impact, and grant award winners will be announced on Nov. 15.

“The O’Dell Women’s Center was founded with the mindset that low-income women in Springfield deserve greater access to opportunities that will help them earn a livable wage and create a path to financial stability,” said Keely Krantz, founder and president of O’Dell Women’s Center. “We are looking to partner and invest in forward-thinking community organizations that want to extend and increase their impact.”

The O’Dell Women’s Center is a philanthropic initiative founded in 2023 with a mission to help low-income women achieve financial stability through improved access to educational and career opportunities.

Located in the heart of Springfield, the O’Dell Women’s Center is a 10,000-square-foot facility that offers low- or no-cost ‘residencies’ and community collaboration spaces to nonprofit organizations that focus on improving the lives of low-income women. The first nonprofit residency has been granted to Dress for Success Western Massachusetts, an organization that empowers women to establish careers and advance within their careers through skill development, professional attire, mentorship, and other programming.

“Our goal with this grant program is to establish the O’Dell Women’s Center as a dedicated partner to the network of Springfield nonprofits serving low-income women,” said Margaret Tantillo, executive director of the O’Dell Women’s Center. “We believe that, together, we can create a future where every woman has the opportunity to succeed.”

Applicants are encouraged to attend a Zoom information and Q&A session on Wednesday, July 31 at noon. Registration information can be found at odellwomenscenter.com/grants.

SPRINGFIELD — The O’Dell Women’s Center, Springfield’s first nonprofit women’s center, appointed Margaret Tantillo as its executive director. The O’Dell Women’s Center, dedicated to helping low-income women secure educational and career opportunities, is a philanthropic initiative founded in 2023 and located at 45 Lyman St.

In her previous position as executive director of Dress for Success Western Massachusetts, Tantillo directed five distinct programs designed specifically for low-income women that resulted in hundreds of women finding gainful employment. These programs included workforce development, mentorship programming, and trainings in financial literacy, digital literacy, and dressing for the workplace.

Toward the end of her tenure, she relocated Dress for Success Western Massachusetts to 45 Lyman St. as the anchor institution of the O’Dell Women’s Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization that offers low- and no-cost residency spaces to nonprofits that support its mission.

Tantillo started her career working for the Girl Scouts. During her 13-year career with that organization, she rose through the ranks, started the first Girl Scout Advocacy Day at the Capitol in Hartford, Conn., and served in a senior leadership position, transitioning five independent nonprofits into one statewide organization with more than 65,000 members.

“Margaret’s effective and passionate advocacy for low-income Western Massachusetts women aligns perfectly with our mission,” said Keely Krantz, founder of the O’Dell Women’s Center. “With Margaret’s leadership, I am confident the O’Dell Women’s Center will become an integral part of the Springfield community devoted to economic upward mobility for women.”

Tantillo’s volunteer leadership roles in Springfield include serving on the core economic mobility hub of the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts and the coordinating committee of the Alliance for Digital Equity, and as a member of the core partners of Springfield WORKS. She earned her undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo and her master’s degree from Springfield College.