Law alum plans legacy with scholarship gift

A call to action from Nelson Mandela helped shape Martha Deacon’s (LLB'77) work empowering women in South Africa. Now, the Dal Law alum is extending that legacy through scholarships for Indigenous and Black female students.

Published: September 22, 2026

By: Suzanne Bowers

Originally appeared in Hearsay Magazine

When you make a donation, you want your gift to support causes you believe in and to reflect your values. Martha Deacon (LLB’77) has done just that by endowing two $250,000 scholarships in her will, boosting education for women at the Schulich School of Law.

The ��ɫֱ�� Law School grad’s generous donation will fund a scholarship for an African Nova Scotian woman and one for an Indigenous Canadian woman, honouring role models from their communities.

Dedicated to making a difference

These gifts are an extension of Deacon’s ongoing efforts to help women succeed. Following a career in corporate law in Toronto, she started The Townships Project, a non-governmental organization to help women in South African township communities develop small businesses through micro-lending and community development. Nearly 30 years later, the organization is still vital.

She was inspired to found it while attending the World Council of Churches Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1998 as an observer. There she heard Nelson Mandela speak: “He came dancing up onto the stage and asked all of us, ‘What are you going to do about the poverty in my country?’”

The Townships Project was her response. Deacon and her team began by extending repayable micro-loans starting at $100 to fund woman-led businesses where participants used skills from cooking to selling used clothing to setting up daycares. Later, the organization expanded to micro-franchising and worked with the Rotary Club. Today, the operation focuses on training women for even more stable sectors.

“We have gradually shifted to training female plumbers, electricians and mechanics, in all these non-traditional trades, which allow them entry into some well-paying jobs where they can build their own businesses. That’s been very exciting,” she explains. “We’ve been focused on ways the community can build itself up,” noting that the organization has always been run locally in South Africa, with a donor network in Canada.

A white-haired woman wearing a black shirt and a pearl necklace

Deacon says she saw the need firsthand when she visited South Africa on her way to Zimbabwe. At the time, the country was only four years into democracy following apartheid. “I went to Soweto outside Johannesburg, to Khayelitsha outside Cape Town and to KwaMashu outside Durban. I was stunned by the fact that there was very little industry or commerce in the township areas where the majority of the country’s population live.”

The inspiration for micro-lending had come from Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi economist who won the Nobel Prize in 2006 for pioneering those concepts. “If you give women a small loan and the opportunity to make their own money, feed their children and send them to school, you have a much better chance of creating prosperity,” she says.

Bringing a legacy of support to ��ɫֱ��

Now, the same spirit that inspired The Townships Project has inspired Deacon’s donation to the Schulich School of Law. “I’ve always strongly believed that if we can have a more equitable world, it is of great benefit to the planet and to us all,” she says when explaining her drive to support equity-deserving groups.

Choosing her alma mater was an easy decision to make.

“I have wonderful memories of Dal, and friendships that I carry on to this day. We just had a heck of a lot of fun. I had great professors, and certainly an unparalleled education,” she shares, recalling regularly connecting with the law school’s dean, Ronald St. John McDonald, even after graduation. “He was a wonderful guy, and a great friend.”

Donating through her will was also easier than she imagined. “I was amazed by Dean Sarah Harding’s reaction to this opportunity, as it didn’t feel like it was a huge amount of money to me, but it makes a big difference in perpetuity,” adding it is also an effective tax strategy.

Knowing her gift will have an impact is also important to Deacon. “What a fantastic opportunity to make a meaningful change in somebody’s life,” she says.

I’ve always strongly believed that if we can have a more equitable world, it is of great benefit to the planet and to us all. — Martha Deacon

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