About Global Innovators
The Global Innovators Initiative partners groundbreaking individuals from throughout the world with TCU faculty, staff and students on long-term collaborations that address critical global issues such as human trafficking, wildlife conservation, gender equality, indigenous rights, refugee education, resource sustainability, healing and reconciliation.
The Global Innovators Initiative is seeking to support the work of individuals who are actively engaged on the front lines of major global challenges. Each Global Innovator is invited to the TCU campus to receive the prestigious Global Innovator Prize and begin planning a long-term project with the university, initially funded through an internal grant of up to $25,000.
Those Global Innovator collaborations that have successfully used their initial award are eligible to apply for Continuing Engagement Grants, which are small awards of up to $5,000 each, for the purpose of sustaining the university’s engagements with these remarkable individuals.
Successful Global Innovator Collaborations Typically:
- Produce significant learning outcomes for TCU students while advancing the Innovator’s work in his or her home country.
- Link naturally to the TCU partner’s expertise and/or course offerings.
- Feature a multi-disciplined approach that involves a variety of departments and offices across campus.
- Evolve to include international experiences for TCU students.
- Inspire new programs and course offerings at TCU.
- Qualify for other funding sources, both internally and externally.
- Lead to publications and conference presentations, over time.
Innovators & I-Fellows
Global Innovators Initiative
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Gérald Oriol, Jr. is Haiti’s twice-appointed Secretary of State with the disability portfolio (2011 – 2016, 2017 – present). He partnered with Dawn Elliott (TCU Economics) and Fonkoze Foundation on a pilot Emergency Savings/Financial Empowerment Program for 30 persons with disabilities living in extreme poverty in the Central Plateau of Haiti.
Global Innovators Initiative
Grahamstown, South Africa
William Fowlds is a wildlife vet on the frontlines of South Africa’s rhino poaching crisis. He is partnered with Mike Slattery (TCU Environmental Science) on a “Blueprint for Survival” that includes demand reduction campaigns, rhino security and rescue operations, human development initiatives in rural communities and PlanetRhino.com, an online educational website.
Global Innovators Initiative
Cairo, Egypt
Hassan Azzazy is a Professor of Chemistry at the American University in Cairo and leader of the university’s Novel Diagnostics and Therapeutics Research Group. He is partnered with Giri Akkaraju (TCU Biology) on developing an affordable nanoparticle diagnostic for cancer.
Global Innovators Initiative
Beirut, Lebanon
Nadim Farajalla is an Associate Professor of Environmental Hydrology at the American University of Beirut. He is partnered with Jeff Geider (TCU Ranch Management), who is developing the TCU Living Laboratory to refine and share innovative techniques for conserving water, increasing crop yields and promoting better ecosystem management.
Global Innovators Initiative
Guna Yala, Panama
Cebaldo De Leon is a Native American activist, scholar and investigator with a long history of involvement in Guna political and cultural organizations. He is partnered with Peter Szok (TCU History) on a project to support indigenous artists in Panama.
Global Innovators Initiative
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Jacqueline Hendriksen is a Montessori educator and author from Amsterdam. She partnered with Cynthia Savage (TCU College of Education) on a pilot project that used Montessori techniques to educate refugee pre-school children living in Asylum camps in the Netherlands.
Global Innovators Initiative
Kalibo, Philippines
Chloe Reynaldo is a youth activist who promotes gender equality through peer mentoring in the Philippines. She is partnered with Jan Ballard (TCU Department of Design) on a collection of stories about young women in Southeast Asia. The book, which was written and illustrated by Reynaldo, aims to provide teens in the region with positive stories of youth empowerment and gender equality.
Global Innovators Initiative
Delhi, India
Ravi Kant is founder of Shakti Vahini, a non-profit based in Delhi that is dedicated to fighting for and rescuing victims of sex trafficking in India. He is partnered with Vanessa Bouche (TCU Political Science) on a project to construct a database of sex trafficking cases in India.
Global Innovators Initiative
I-Fellow
Wendy Williams
Mike Strausz
Nasushiobara, Japan
Tomoko Arakawa is Director of the Asian Rural Institute in the Tochigi Prefecture of Japan. She is partnered with Wendy Williams (TCU Honors College) and Michael Strausz (TCU Political Science) on a project to enhance the reconciliation and peacebuilding components of ARI’s Rural Leaders Training Program.
Global Innovators Initiative
I-Fellow
Susan D Roberts
Adam McKinney
Taba, Rwanda
Godelieve Mukasarasi is a genocide survivor and founder of SEVOTA, a grassroots organization that supports activities related to healing, peace, reconciliation, and the promotion of human rights, women’s rights, and the rights of vulnerable children, at home in Rwanda and internationally. SEVOTA works to improve the living conditions of its members, their families and their communities through education and skill building that impact mental and physical health, social, legal, and economic development and sustainability. One of the modalities used by Mrs. Mukasarasi and her staff is dance, she is partnered with Susan Douglas Roberts and Adam McKinney (TCU Dance Department) to expand SEVOTA’s reconciliation efforts throughout the country.