Media Contacts
Press Line
Tel. (+1) 212-573-5128
Fax (+1) 212-351-3643
office-of-
communications@fordfoundation.org
Fiona Guthrie
Media Relations Chief
Tel. (+1) 212-573-4825
Joe Voeller
Senior Communications Officer
Tel. (+1) 212-573-4821
Thousands of International Fellowships Program Alumni At Work Around the Globe
New IFP Publication Reveals Impact of Global Education
The Ford Foundation established the International Fellowships Program (IFP) in 2001 to provide graduate fellowships to a new generation of promising leaders in communities that lack access to higher education. The program works closely with international partners to ensure its global reach focuses on local needs. Since its inception, more than 3,300 fellows from 22 countries have been selected. As of December 2008, more than 2,000 fellows have completed their fellowships. More than 80 percent of these alumni have returned to or continued to reside in their home countries, where they are using their education to improve their communities.
After graduating from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, IFP alumni Caroline Kathomi returned to Kenya to work with epileptic patients.
The International Fellowship Program just completed "Origins, Journeys and Returns: Social Justice in International Higher Education," an analysis of the development and impact of the program. The new book demonstrates how extending opportunities for advanced education to talented individuals has significant impacts that can challenge prevailing views of "brain drain."
An IFP alumnus from India, Sanjay Kumar studied sustainable international development at Brandeis University.
"Origins, Journeys and Returns: Social Justice in International Higher Education" is published by the Social Science Research Council and distributed by Columbia University Press. Edited by Toby Alice Volkman with Joan Dassin and Mary Zurbuchen, it features chapters written by IFP directors, former Fellows and outside experts.
Visit the new IFP Web site.
Watch videos of IFP fellows from Kenya.