Heller School to Host First New England Ford Fellows Conference
Seventy-six Ford Fellows at New England colleges and universities, along with officials of the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program (IFP), will meet at the Heller School for the first New England Ford Fellows Conference on March 28-30, 2008.
Dr. John Ambler
The primary goal of the conference is to connect IFP fellows in New England and to provide a venue for them to discuss key issues and challenges of leadership, social justice and development; to share experiences and lessons learned; and to provide an evaluation of the IFP program for the benefit of future fellows. The conference also aims to help IFP fellows build a social network and support system and discuss challenges that they will face when they return home, along with strategies to meet those challenges.
Dr. John Sterling Ambler, Senior Vice President for Programs of Oxfam America, will deliver the conference's keynote address.
The New England Ford Fellows include scholars from China, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Tanzania, Tibet, Uganda and Vietnam. They are currently enrolled in schools across New England, including Antioch University of New England, Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis University, Clark University, Harvard University, Tufts University, the University of Connecticut at Storrs, the Amherst and Lowell campuses of the University of Massachusetts, and World Learning School for International Training.
The Heller School's Sustainable International Development (SID) program has the second largest concentration of Ford Fellows in the world, surpassed only by the University of Hawaii. Brandeis currently has 33 Ford Fellows in residence, with thirty-one at Heller, two in the Master's Program in Coexistence and Conflict, and one in the Master's Program in Cultural Production.
Launched in 2000, the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program continues to provide opportunities for advanced study to exceptional individuals from diverse cultures and backgrounds who lack systematic access to higher education. These Ford Fellows are dedicated to using their education to become leaders in their respective fields, furthering development in their own countries and greater economic and social justice worldwide.
IFP's New York-based Institute of International Education collaborates closely with partner organizations in 22 countries and territories worldwide to implement the International Fellowships Program.