PGO - Afro-Colombian Leadership and Scholarship Program

OVERVIEW

The Afro-Colombian Leadership and Scholarship Program (ALSP) provides scholarships to indigenous and Afro-Colombian students access graduate level educational opportunities in the United States. Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities have higher poverty rates and lower educational outcomes than other Colombians.  ALSP supports emerging indigenous and Afro-Colombian community leaders receive advanced education so that they can better serve their communities.  ALSP is implemented through a partnership between USAID, Fulbright Colombia and the Colombian Ministry of Education and runs from December 2016-December 2023.

COMPONENTS 

AWARDING SCHOLARSHIPS

ALSP supports Fulbright Colombia to recruit and vet indigenous and Afro-Colombian students based on their academic merit, professional goals, and proposed field of study.  The activity provides leadership training to scholarship recipients and covers all expenses for their graduate level studies in the United States.

SERVING COMMUNITIES

ALSP encourages indigenous and Afro-Colombian scholarship recipients to return to their communities upon completing their degree.  Scholarship recipients are expected to use the education they gained abroad to support development and peace building efforts in their communities.

RESULTS

• Provided 49 indigenous and Afro-Colombian university students with financial and academic support needed for graduate education; and
• Succeeded in encouraging 38 Afro-Colombian leaders to return to Colombia after completing their studies to help address challenges faced by their communities.