The Department of State and RocketHub, an online crowdfunding platform, are pleased to announce the launch of Alumni Engagement and Innovation Fund (AEIF) 2.0. This initiative supports innovative solutions to some of the world’s toughest challenges by accelerating public service projects created by past participants of U.S. government-sponsored exchange programs based on the skills and knowledge gained through their exchange experiences. Both exchange program alumni from abroad who were past winners of AEIF from 2011-2013 and exchange program alumni from the United States will participate in AEIF 2.0.
Alumni teams will be able to find alternative funding and investment options beyond the U.S. government to maximize their projects’ potential to tell their stories, build the capacity of their organizations, engage local communities, and develop sustainable solutions through RocketHub’s crowdfunding platform, a space where large numbers of people donate small amounts of money to projects that are promoted online. Examples of the alumni projects now posted include:
- Women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship in rural Tanzania
- Access to education for indigenous children in Malaysia
- Women’s empowerment and civic engagement in Pakistan
- Youth empowerment in Bolivia
- Social entrepreneurship for inner-city youth in Detroit, Michigan
- Crowdfunding platform in local languages in Macedonia
- Youth entrepreneurship program in Morocco
The full list of projects can be found here. Projects will continue to be posted online until September 14, 2014. AEIF awards up to $25,000 to winning teams of exchange program alumni to fund projects on issues such as education, gender, the environment, development, women’s training, entrepreneurship, and interfaith understanding, among others. Through the annual AEIF competition, the U.S. Department of State has supported more than 150 alumni initiatives in more than 80 countries.
Potential funders, industry leaders, and other supporters can follow the initiative at #impactideas. For more information on AEIF 2.0, please visit http://eca.state.gov/highlight/innovative-support-innovative-solutions.
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