Boise State’s Center for Global Engagement received the 2022 U.S.-Andean Innovation Fund Grant Competition through the 100K Strong Innovation Fund – a collaboration that launched last year to create entrepreneurship opportunities for students in the U.S. and Honduras. With this new grant, Boise State will partner with Universidad Científica del Sur in Peru and Universidad Tecnológica Privada de Santa Cruz in Bolivia through the end of the year to engage in programs focused on closing the gender inequality gap in the Americas.
“The program focuses on developing new curriculum and methodologies centered around global problems, using problem-solving approaches and using global perspectives,” said Gonzalo Bruce, the Center for Global Engagement’s assistant provost.
Business administration, law and global studies majors will analyze and form perspectives on public policy, legal studies and economic development pervasive gender inequality in the U.S., Peru and Bolivia. Select students in the School of Public Service will travel to South America in May, while students from Peru and Bolivia will come to Boise State in September for an immersion experience where they will meet with faculty members, non-governmental and community organizations, and legislators.
“This is indeed an exciting opportunity for many of us, including our students,” said Saleh Ahmed, an assistant professor in the School of Public Service whose students will travel abroad. “I am confident that this collaboration and student exchange will help us to advance our goals of learning and expanding our knowledge on critical development issues in the Americas.”
The grant is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Partner of the Americas and Development Bank of Latin America.
According to Angélica Guerra Baron of Universidad Científica del Sur, students and professors who will be involved in this program will propose crucial strategies to localize global efforts.
“They will be able to better understand the importance of addressing gender inequality from a comparative, innovative, interactive and broader methodological perspective,” she said.
More about the 100K Strong Partnership
The 100K Strong Partnership supports innovative, inclusive training and exchange programs for students and faculty in strategic areas including climate solutions, sustainable energy, digital transformation, health, creative industries and STEM. The 100K Strong grant-winning teams will engage 31 regional higher education institutions in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia in partnership with 23 U.S. institutions in 17 states, including Boise State, to implement new exchange and training programs for upwards of 100 students and faculty during 2023-2024. Learn more here.