Faculty Win International Competition

Alabama A&M University professors participated in an U.S.-Colombia open competition of the International Innovation Fund, hosted by 100,000 Strong in the Americas.

The educators and their international colleagues are joining 10 other grant-winning teams at universities throughout the United States and Colombia who also competed for and won the 21^st Century Higher Education Partnership awards.   The AAMU-affiliated project will be led by Dr. Xia “Amy” Zhang (left), who will serve as international program coordinator, and Dr. Valentina Iscaro (right), an assistant professor of entrepreneurship in AAMU’s College of Business and Public Affairs.  Rounding out their team will be colleagues from two Colombian universities:   The University of La Sabana (La Sabana) and Corporacion Universitaria Minuto de Dios (UNIMINUTO).

The 100K Innovation Fund has also linked together other historically black colleges and universities with Colombian institutions.  For instance, Tuskegee University and the University of Alabama form a team with Colombia’s Fundación Universidad del Norte.  Another team comprises Howard University and two Colombia institutions of higher learning.

The 100K Fund inspires U.S. universities and colleges to partner with higher education institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean to design and carry out new models of academic training and exchange programs throughout the Americas.

“We are grateful to the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Embassy in Colombia, ICETEX and Partners of the Americas for selecting La Sabana and UNIMINUTO and AAMU to be part of the grant-winning teams for 2021.”

This 100K competition will provide ten grants of $26,175 each to support new partnerships between higher education institutions in Colombia and the United States that will give more students access to innovative academic training and exchange programs in both countries starting in Fall 2021.