The Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA) at the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and Partners of the Americas (Partners) are pleased to announce the 2020 Mexico-United States Innovation Fund Competition to support higher education partnerships between Mexico and the United States to create new academic training and exchange programs for students in both countries.

This Innovation Fund grant competition is supported through generous contributions from the Mary Street Jenkins Foundation, along with the Coca-Cola Mexico Foundation and Sempra Energy.

The Innovation Fund provides unique opportunities to U.S. universities and colleges to partner with higher education institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean to create partnerships, build capacity, provide students with access to training programs, and strengthen regional education cooperation throughout the Americas.

The 2020 Mexico-United States Innovation Fund Competition is designed to support dynamic partnerships between Mexican and United States higher education institutions to work in teams to provide new models of academic training programs for students in multiple academic areas.

Themes

• Public Health
• Distance/Virtual Education
• Sustainable Construction
• Biochemistry
• Green/Renewable Energy
• Economic Empowerment
• Sustainable Agriculture
• Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH)
• Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)

Funding Information

The intent of the 2020 Mexico-U.S. Innovation Fund Competition is to award up to eleven Innovation Fund Grants of up to $25,000 each.

Eligibility Criteria

• Higher education institutions (HEIs) located and legally registered in the United States or Mexico are eligible to apply for the 2020 U.S.-Mexico Innovation Fund Competition.
• This Innovation Fund competition invites proposals from a diversity of HEIs, including four-year degree-issuing institutions (public and private), community colleges, technical/vocational schools, and other post-secondary institutions with credit-bearing programs.
• The Innovation Fund seeks the broadest diversity of institutions to compete for grants and to develop exchange program innovations that will have the greatest possibility of replication throughout the United States and rest of the Western Hemisphere.

For more information, visit Partners of the Americas Foundation.

Proposals must include a team of at least one higher education institution in the U.S. and one higher education institution in Mexico. Proposals may involve new institutional partnerships or build on existing partnerships, but in all cases, should demonstrate strong institutional support and should focus on creating sustainable exchange programs among the partnering institutions.