September 15, 2022: Partners of the Americas announces a new 100,000 Strong in the Americas (100K) Innovation Fund competition between the United States and Colombia, with support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the U.S. Embassy in Colombia.
The 100K Strong Innovation Fund harnesses the transformative power of education and collaboration across sectors to increase access to inclusive education and workforce readiness programs. Colombia is the leading country in this regional education initiative to partner with U.S. universities and colleges to create and implement new models of academic exchange and training programs.
The 2022 Cacao for Peace Innovation Fund Competition will support partnerships between a diversity of higher education institutions to design and implement scientific training programs between researchers (students and faculty) to expand cacao research collaboration and create access to inclusive exchanges of scientific and technical personnel in both countries. This 100K Innovation Fund competition will award up to eight grants of approximately $25,000 each to support innovative partnerships and inclusive exchanges between U.S. colleges and universities with higher education institutions in Colombia.
Brendan O’Brien, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, indicated in his remarks: “I am pleased to have this opportunity to celebrate the launch of a new round of the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Initiative, or 100K as it is known in Colombia. 100K is the Department of State’s leading public diplomacy initiative and seeks to promote cross-sector collaboration, as well as the transformative power of education in society, to increase access to inclusive education and workforce preparation programs. At the Embassy, we are very proud to work with the Government of Colombia in this and other initiatives that strengthen relations between higher education institutions in our countries.”
Anupama Rajaraman, USAID Mission Director in Colombia, affirmed that “The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the U.S. Department of State (DoS) have a long history of collaborating to achieve shared objectives. The USAID/USDA Cacao for Peace collaboration with the DOS 100,000 Strong in the Americas program, implemented by Partners of the Americas (POA) is the latest example of a whole of U.S. government initiative. The 100k Strong-Cacao for Peace program will partner with Colombian institutions to strengthen the Colombian cacao value chain from farm to bars by applying scientific research knowledge in the field. The 8 innovation grants will allow Colombian researchers to work together with U.S. researchers, including USDA scientists, to address challenges limiting the Colombian cacao sector from achieving its full potential. We are very excited to launch this initiative today and look forward to many more collaborations of this nature in the future.”
Teams of HEIs between the U.S. and Colombia are invited to submit proposals to design new models of inclusive training and exchange programs for students and faculty both virtually and in-person. Thematic areas in this 100K Innovation Fund competition include areas related to the cacao value chain, including production, processing, packaging, marketing, exporting, and other related areas. See the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the full list of thematic areas. The deadline to submit a grant proposal is January 31, 2023. For more details, please see the RFP at www.100kstrongamericas.org/grants.
With 73 projects, in 2022 Colombia is now the leading country in this regional education initiative to form partnerships with U.S. universities and colleges to create and implement new academic exchange and training programs.
The 100,000 Strong in the Americas (100K) Innovation Fund is the public-private sector collaboration between the U.S. Department of State, U.S. embassies, and Partners of the Americas working with regional private, public, and academic sectors to support innovative partnerships and inclusive exchanges for students and faculty between the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. As of September 2022, after 32 competitions over ten years, the 100K Strong Innovation Fund has awarded 278 grants ($25,000-$35,000 each) to teams of 534 higher education institutions working across 25 countries and 49 U.S. states. As a result of 100K Strong partnerships, thousands of students and faculty have gained access to innovative, inclusive exchange and training programs in the Americas. The 100K Network, a virtual platform for higher education collaboration, includes 4,000 members.
To Join the 100K Network: www.100KStrongAmericas.org // Follow: #100KStrongAmericas
The mission of Partners of the Americas is to connect people and organizations across and within borders to serve and change lives through lasting partnerships. These partnerships create opportunity, foster understanding, and solve real-life problems. Inspired by President Kennedy and founded in 1964, under the Alliance for Progress, Partners is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with international offices in Washington, D.C. Learn more at www.partners.net or via Twitter @partnersamerica.
In 2021 the U.S. government began the implementation of the second phase of the “Cacao for Peace (CfP)” program. The second phase of the program seeks to provide scientific support to foster the development of a self-reliant and thriving Colombian cacao industry. Due to greater interest in healthy lifestyles, the demand for premium chocolate that is dark, sugar-free, and organic is expected to sharply increase. As the demand for premium chocolate grows, so will the demand for fine flavor cocoa beans used to produce premium chocolate. Fine flavor cocoa beans are not produced in the U.S., being principally sourced from Latin American countries such as Colombia.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, ensuring access to healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
USAID is the world’s premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. USAID’s work advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity, demonstrates American generosity, and promotes a path to recipient self-reliance and resilience. To learn more, visit https://www.usaid.gov/.
Press Contact: Rachel Falek | rfalek@partners.net