The U.S. Government, in collaboration with Partners of the Americas, has announced new educational partnerships between the United States and Ecuador. Three winning grant applications have been selected from an open call for the Andean community, involving collaborations between higher education institutions from both countries.
The successful applicants include Ohio University partnering with Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador (PUCE), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill collaborating with the University of San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), and Webster University of Missouri working alongside the Intercultural University of Amawtay Wasi Indigenous Nationalities.
These partnerships are part of the 100K Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund. They aim to promote innovative and inclusive training and exchange programs focusing on strategic areas such as climate solutions, sustainable energy, digital transformation, health, creative industries, and STEM fields.
The 100K Strong Innovation Fund is designed to create interregional networks that involve governments, businesses, and academia. It seeks to build partnerships that strengthen institutional capacity while increasing access to exchange programs for students and faculty across the Americas.
As reported in February 2022, after 33 rounds of applications, this initiative has awarded 306 grants ranging from $25,000 to $45,000 each. These grants have supported collaborations among 572 higher education institutions spanning 25 countries and 49 U.S. states. To date, over 9,800 students and teachers have participated in these programs.
This fund represents a public-private sector collaboration involving the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs along with U.S. embassies and Partners of the Americas. The goal is to leverage educational power by expanding inclusive exchange programs between Latin America and the Caribbean with the United States.