Each year, the U.S. Department of States’ Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and Partners of the Americas award professional travel grants through the Education and Culture Program. The grants fund international travel between the U.S. and Latin America and the Caribbean for qualified individuals to visit Partners of the Americas Chapters and organizational members to work together on areas of mutual interest, supporting public diplomacy.
In accordance with the U.S. Department of State priority areas, 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, the Education and Culture Program awarded travel grants to eight professionals from six countries across the Americas – Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Haiti, Peru, and United States. They will visit three countries – Argentina, United States, and Uruguay. Travel activities span a variety of programming, including breaking barriers for cultural exchanges through youth soccer, mitigating trail erosion and ensuring sustainable environmental practice, fostering diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility throughout higher education, and combating disinformation for community development.
Learn more about this round’s winners below and find them on PartnersConnect!
|
Blanca Saldaña |
|
|
Blanca Saldaña Hometown Santa Cruz, Bolivia Exchange Destination Arkansas, United States Exchange Focus Areas
|
 |
Blanca Saldaña (Bolivia) seeks to explore leadership strategies at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, understanding their impact on student learning, faculty development, and research capabilities. Additionally, she aims to learn about technology transfer, entrepreneurship promotion, pharmaceutical education programs, and ongoing research at the university. Her goal is to share experiences and resources from pharmaceutical sciences in Bolivia with students, faculty, and practitioners through workshops, conferences, and meetings. Acknowledging the transformative leadership at the University of Arkansas, she envisions collaborations, particularly in researching natural products with patent potential. The trip’s educational and cultural experiences are expected to benefit faculty and students at the Universidad Gabriel Rene Moreno in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, contributing to professional development in the region. Her ultimate aim is to establish an educational partnership between the College of Pharmacy at the University of Arkansas and the School of Pharmacy at the Universidad Gabriel Rene Moreno for longstanding impact.
|
Enrique Andrés del Castillo |
|
|
Hometown Lima, Peru Exchange Destination Texas, United States Exchange Focus Areas
|
 |
Enrique (Peru) will enhance his capacities in information management, share experiences in combating disinformation, and acquire new methodologies for efficient data use. This is especially relevant since the COVID-19 pandemic. The grant will enable him to strengthen skills in source verification and narrative techniques, particularly addressing issues like ecosystem protection, biodiversity, health, and education in his community. He aims to form alliances with academic institutions, connect with experts, and develop joint projects promoting responsible information use and data verification. The main beneficiaries of the positive changes resulting from the travel grant are young people in the Dominican Republic, Peru, and Guatemala. Notably, students in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th years of secondary school in the city of Tarapoto in the San Martin region of Peru, lacking sufficient economic resources for media literacy training. Enrique aims to support building a culture of media literacy.
|
Gerard Lagos |
|
|
Hometown Minnesota, United States Exchange Destination Montevideo, Uruguay Exchange Focus Areas
|
 |
Gerard Lagos (U.S.) aims to break barriers limiting cultural exchanges among youth, exploring the connection between youth soccer, school, coaching education, and teachers. The trip’s focus includes understanding how to incorporate language, school, teachers, and coaches in youth exchanges, addressing language barriers, building teacher advocates, and minimizing other obstacles. The goal is to explore options like family or group travel, particularly in sports team exchanges, to enhance cultural exchange opportunities and alleviate concerns such as language barriers and parental worries. By breaking down cost barriers and facilitating exchanges, he seeks to create lasting benefits for young people, promoting cultural understanding, friendships, and powerful relationships. Leveraging sports at a grassroots level, the trip aims to connect communities, improve education outcomes, and build individual resiliency. This will result in an exchange program between Uruguay and the U.S. in 2026. The anticipated impact is to strengthen relationships for a future where grassroots sports exchanges are commonplace, regardless of economic ability, promoting Partners’ goals and ensuring sustainable mission fulfillment.
|
Katy Guerrero |
|
|
Hometown Ibarra, Ecuador Exchange Destination Tennessee, United States Exchange Focus Areas
|
 |
Katy Guerrero (Ecuador) aims to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange to address leadership and challenges related to diversity and inclusion in the university setting. She will do this by meeting with various key leaders in private and public universities, municipal and state governments, nonprofit organizations and businesses that focus on DEIA leadership practices. Upon return, she intends to positively impact Yachay Tech and other institutions in Ecuador by diffusing new ideas and concepts learned from Tennessee, leveraging her university’s unique role as a hub for scientific knowledge and technological innovation. This dissemination is expected to contribute significantly to fostering diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility throughout Ecuador’s higher education setting and beyond.
|
Kibb Mills |
|
|
Hometown Montana, United States Exchange Destination San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina Exchange Focus Areas
|
 |
Kibb Mills (U.S.) aims to enhance the ability of his host community to identify and respond to erosion issues associated with trails, whether caused by weather events or recreational use. With his hosts, he will be designing and laying out trail work to mitigate damage and erosion caused by both recreational and environmental factors. The strategic objective is to educate and train local contacts to recognize and address trail conditions continuously, ensuring ongoing maintenance. This approach is crucial for sustainability, as local contacts can then train others for the same tasks. The second half of the exchange involves following up on projects, working with the previous northbound travel grantee (Guillermo Lynch 2023) on follow-up work, and gaining firsthand insights to sort out options for cross-cultural environmental protection and trail resilience.
|
Maricruz Yujra |
|
|
Hometown La Paz, Bolivia Exchange Destination Washington, D.C., United States Exchange Focus Areas
|
 |
Maricruz Yujra (Bolivia) aims to build learning and training in English language teaching strategies, with a focus on supporting projects in La Paz and El Alto upon her return in 2024. Specifically, she plans to exchange experiences with American teachers around educating children and adolescents. While many people want to volunteer as English teachers in her community, they require technical training. Her exchange will let her share her learnings with volunteers, impacting 16 rural areas and potentially benefiting about 1,600 individuals. The expected impact goes beyond language learning, fostering personal growth and collaboration for both personal and academic development.
|
Mario Henry |
|
|
Hometown Petion Ville, Haiti Exchange Destination New Jersey, United States Exchange Focus Areas
|
 |
Mario Henry (Haiti) will develop creative leadership skills and learn how to strengthen the social impact of his creative work by meeting leaders and building a virtual mentoring program. He will establish a network with other leaders and leadership trainers in various professional fields. Mario will motivate and influence other leaders on the prospects of participating in projects in Haiti in order to strengthen social impact. To motivate and influence other leaders, he will share his work with young people through Reduction Violence in Community’s project. With these leaders, a virtual mentoring program will be established in which they will be able to share their experiences with young people and provide them with advice and technical or financial assistance to achieve their goals.
|
Talita Guimarães Rodrigues Souza |
|
|
Hometown Goiás, Brazil Exchange Destination New York and Georgia, United States Exchange Focus Areas
|
 |
Talita Guimarães Rodrigues Souza (Brazil) will focus on enhancing and expanding the Free English Project which promotes free access to language learning, reaching public school students and providing access to opportunities like the Youth Ambassadors Program. During her exchange, she plans to learn novel teaching techniques and then share them with educators. This effort aims to democratize access to opportunities for students with limited resources, aligning with goals of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. The trip also serves as a networking opportunity with educators, fostering the exchange of ideas and resources to improve class quality. She aspires to create a subproject within Free English, empowering young individuals facing challenges by enhancing their skill sets and establishing connections for broader opportunities.
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/
