Grant Will Celebrate 13 Years of Accomplishments, Including an Alumni Convening on the Continent to Sustain CADFP’s Long-Term Impact
Washington, DC, March 3, 2025 — Carnegie Corporation of New York has awarded the Institute of International Education (IIE) a $1.3 million grant to implement the final phase of the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program (CADFP) with a focus on supporting the accomplishments and legacy of the current program while planning for its future with the program’s esteemed Advisory Council and alumni.
The CADFP was designed to strengthen capacity at the host institutions and develop long-term, mutually beneficial collaborations between universities in Africa and the United States and Canada. Each project focused on at least of one of the following areas: curriculum co-development, research collaboration, and graduate student mentoring and training.
The impact of the CADFP is far-reaching. Since the program’s inception in 2013, over 750 grants have been awarded. CADFP Fellowships have been completed at 207 individual universities in 11 countries on the continent of Africa. While the program initially focused exclusively on the countries of Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and Ghana, the program expanded to other institutions through partnerships with the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) and the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA).
Through the CADFP, grantees have served as mentors to nearly 5,000 graduate students at their respective host institutions. Research collaboration through the CADFP has resulted in grantees and their hosts presenting their projects at conferences worldwide and publishing articles in a wide range of peer-reviewed publications. Overall, 92% of Fellowships resulted in continuing collaboration between Hosts and Diaspora Fellows.
The program has also provided over 130 grants for conference participation to Hosts and Diaspora Fellows who were selected to present their research accomplished through the program at an international conference. Over the full span of the program, conferences took place in 29 different countries on six continents, ranging from Australia and Taiwan to Brazil and Mexico.
The upcoming activities of the CADFP under the new grant will focus primarily on strengthening the alumni community and laying the groundwork for the program’s future, including an Alumni Convening.
The CADFP is funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York and managed by IIE in collaboration with the Association of African Universities (AAU). The program’s Advisory Council consists of leading academics from Africa and the African diaspora. Please see the CADFP’s website for a full list of selected projects, hosts, and scholars. Please direct all questions to AfricanDiaspora@iie.org.
About Carnegie Corporation of New York
Carnegie Corporation of New York was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding. Today the foundation works to reduce political polarization through philanthropic support for the issues that Carnegie considered most important: education, democracy, and peace.
About the Institute of International Education
The Institute of International Education (IIE) is the leader in designing and implementing international education strategies and program services. We work with governments, policymakers, educators, and employers across the globe to prepare students and professionals for the global workforce and equip them to solve the increasingly complex challenges facing our interconnected world. With support from donors, we also create initiatives that assist students, scholars, and artists whose lives and work are threatened; expand teaching and learning across cultures; and provide life-changing opportunities. A not-for-profit organization founded in 1919, IIE has a network of offices and affiliates worldwide and over 1,600 higher education partners. Visit iie.org.