Each year, Partners of the Americas awards professional travel grants through the Education and Culture Program (https://www.partners.net/program/travel-grants/). The Education and Culture Program is a program of the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and administered by Partners of the Americas. The travel grants fund international travel between the U.S. and Latin America and the Caribbean for qualified members to visit other Partners of the Americas Chapters and affiliate organizations to work together on areas of mutual interest.
To support U.S. government priorities, we fund travel grants activities that closely align with one or more of the following goals:
- Civil Society Engagement
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA)
- Environmental Protection and Resilience
- Inclusive Economic Growth and Entrepreneurship
- Language Learning/Language Teaching
- Leadership Capacity Building
- Media Literacy/Countering Disinformation
This round, ten (10) grantees were selected from six countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and the United States. During their exchanges, they will develop their professional skills and support the communities they serve. This round of travel grantees will support a variety of programming, including multi-sensory language teaching, empowering neurodivergent people through family support and music, and developing an environmental exchange.
Learn more about this round’s grantees below and find them on PartnersConnect!
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Áureo Déo De Freitas Júnior |
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Hometown Pará, Brazil Exchange Destination Missouri, U.S. Exchange Focus Areas
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Áureo De Freitas Júnior (Brazil) will share the assistive technology he developed, which supports the social inclusion of persons with Autism and Downs Syndrome in the musical educational context. He will also learn from educational, musical, and inclusive entities to build further research and knowledge exchange. The overall trip will support engaging people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the musical context.
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Cynthia Melissa Oliva Torres |
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Hometown Chiclayo, Perú Exchange Destination Texas, U.S. Exchange Focus Areas
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Cynthia Oliva Torres (Peru) will support her leadership in the project “Estamos Contigo,” organized by Red EsPaz for providing nutritious breakfasts to children, pregnant women, and senior citizens in Chiclayo, Peru. She will visit centers such as Alamo Colleges Food Pantry/ Advocacy Centers, Summer youth, Family violence Prevention Services, Alamo Colleges Eastside Community Center-Pop Up Food Markets, Habitat for Humanity, Haven For Hope, Cultural activities, Communities in Schools, with the objective of learning about their institutional work plan, as well as learning about the projects where they involve vulnerable people, volunteer work, youth leadership, the organization of Texas Partners chapter activities, and learning how the partners that support the organization are involved.
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Guillermo Lynch Pueyrredón |
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Hometown San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina Exchange Destination Montana, U.S. Exchange Focus Areas
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Guillermo Lynch Pueyrredon (Argentina) will receive training and knowledge about the ways of organizing trail work with environmental sustainability. He will share this knowledge upon his return to a variety of actors: to the Cooperativa de Trabajo en Senderos Patagonia to different national, provincial, and municipal governmental offices linked to the Andean-North Patagonian Biosphere Reserve.
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Isis Trautman |
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Hometown Arkansas, U.S. Exchange Destination Santa Cruz, Bolivia Exchange Focus Areas
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Isis Trautman (U.S.) will demonstrate constructive approaches to providing accommodations and support to neurodivergent individuals and the importance of including the understanding of their disability as pivotal so that individuals with disabilities feel included in their community. This will be evidenced by families and individuals understanding and pursuing self-direction, advocacy, and self-determination actions.n.
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José Luis Llanos Rocha |
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Hometown Santa Cruz, Bolivia Exchange Destination Arkansas, U.S. Exchange Focus Areas
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José Luis Llanos Rocha (Bolivia) will learn about the main agricultural research carried out by the Arkansas university, the main methodologies applied in the extension service area, the necessary resources and methodologies to build agricultural research and the students’ knowledge, and agribusiness systems in the United States. José Luis’ trip will lead to future exchanges between Bolivia and Arkansas regarding agriculture and the environment.
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Juan Arratia |
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Hometown Puerto Rico, U.S. Exchange Destination Salta, Argentina Exchange Focus Areas
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Juan Arratia (U.S.) plans to help transform the institution into a model for economically disadvantaged student in STEM fields. During his trip, he will give K-12 students and teachers from communities of northern Argentina the opportunity to implement research activities in STEM disciplines with the support of professors and scientists of a local university, Universidad de Salta, and his personal network of mentors from Puerto Rico, U.S. mainland and abroad.
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Karen Barton |
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Hometown Colorado, U.S. Exchange Destination Rosário da Limeira, Brazil Exchange Focus Areas
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Karen Barton (U.S.) will design, implement, and assess a four-week experiential learning course in Brazil focused on agriculture, forestry, and sustainability that targets a diverse group of undergraduates in partnership with the Iracambi Rainforest Research Center and the Universidade Estadual do Norte do Rio de Janeiro. This UNC-Brazilian collaboration will provide students the opportunity to study in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, a rare terrestrial biome lush in biodiversity yet threatened by deforestation, agriculture, and population growth.
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Robin McCall |
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Hometown North Carolina, U.S. Exchange Destination La Paz, Bolivia Exchange Focus Areas
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Robin McCall (U.S.) and her ComMotion team, will conduct five train-the-trainer workshops for the volunteer teachers of the La Paz and Altiplano Chapter. Through the Loving Wawas and Utama Project projects, ComMotion will coach participants through workshops so that they can implement the multi-sensory language teaching methodology developed by ComMotion. ComMotion is an organization that builds community and improves well-being around the world through adaptive and inclusive movement.
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Sara Pamplona |
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Hometown Medellín, Colombia Exchange Destination Miami, Florida Exchange Focus Areas
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Sara Pamplona (Colombia) hopes to develop a group of 30 college students in Colombia who care about teaching young people (ages 10-18) the importance of education and leadership. She plans to learn from these areas to be able to transmit this knowledge to young people. She will develop strategies on how to organize events, talks, conferences, education fairs, etc. to create more motivation for young people to study and become great leaders in the future.
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Scott Ellis Ferrin |
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Hometown Utah, U.S. Exchange Destination La Paz, Bolivia Exchange Focus Areas
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Scott Ferrin (U.S.), President of the Utah Chapter, will continue to develop professional projects with Bolivian team members and investigate how to serve the Aymara communities better, including in leadership roles. He will also conduct language acquisition and English language training for youth and adults.
Interested in learning more about the Education and Culture Travel Grant Program and how to get involved as a host or traveler? Learn more at our website here: https://www.partners.net/program/travel-grants/
