EWU Awarded 100,000 Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund Grant

Eastern Washington University, working in partnership with Juan N. Corpas University (Bogotá, Colombia), has been chosen as a 100,000 Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund grant winner.

The alliance, which involves EWU’s Office of Global Initiatives and the College of Health Science and Public Health, will give students from the two universities the opportunity to conduct research and present public policy proposals on ways to improve health outcomes and increase access in post-conflict rural settings in Colombia.

This $45,000 grant will allow Eastern and Corpas students to participate in a virtual course, and the project will conclude with a trip of 15 students from the partner universities to a rural area of Colombia to conduct the post-conflict health policy research.

The U.S. State Department, Partners of the Americas, and NAFSA – Association of International Educators recently awarded five grants from the Innovation Fund, which is sponsored by two Colombian organizations focused on education and research. In addition to Eastern Washington University, the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), Texas Tech University, Tennessee State University and North Carolina State University are this year’s grant winners.

The grants are intended to stimulate new strategic alliances between institutions of higher education in the United States and the rest of the Western Hemisphere, leading to innovative and sustainable student exchange and training programs. They will also provide more dynamic learning opportunities for students in STEM, agricultural sciences and social sciences, with an emphasis on post-conflict resolution and peacebuilding.

The goal of 100,000 Strong in the Americas is to increase the annual number of U.S. students studying in Latin America and the Caribbean to 100,000 and bring 100,000 students to the United States by 2020.

Out of the 15 students chosen for this opportunity, five Master of Public Health candidates will be participating!