As the end of 2021 approaches, we wanted to extend our warmest wishes to our partners, supporters, friends, and all in the IIE community.
 
Despite the challenges of yet another year in the global pandemic, we accomplished so much as a community and want to highlight just a few of the many bright moments and key achievements that you helped us realize. As the world continues to grapple with natural disasters, unrest and conflict, and the COVID-19 pandemic, we are proud of how much the IIE community has done to help people across the globe in the face of these challenges.
 
Responding to Crises: In Afghanistan in particular, we were able to support students, scholars, and artists by launching a coordinated Afghanistan Crisis Response to safely evacuate people from the country, while also providing funds to help them continue with their studies. This included the involvement of the IIE Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF) and IIE Emergency Student Fund (IIE-ESF), as well as the launch of a scholarship for those who studied at the now-closed American University of Afghanistan. IIE-ESF also provided much-needed support to students affected by the earthquake in Haiti as well as conflicts in Ethiopia, Lebanon, and Yemen.
 
Increasing Access: Throughout the year, IIE has continued to focus on making international education more accessible with the launch of the IIE American Passport Project, which awards grants to colleges and universities in the IIENetwork so they can help students of limited financial means obtain a U.S. passport. The launch of the Odyssey Scholarship this year now allows IIE to provide funds to traditionally under-served, displaced youth in Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
 
Innovative New Initiatives: 2021 was a year full of innovation and new programming, with several other program launches that included the China-U.S. Scholars Program (CUSP), a one-time fellowship exchange program for scholars and students in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, and the National Academy for International Education, which galvanizes industry leaders to shape and advance the field of international higher education. A new partnership with the Albanian—American Development Foundation (AADF) saw the establishment of an Albanian Diaspora Fellowship Program called Research Expertise from the Academic Diaspora (READ).
 
Sharing Research: IIE continues to be a leading research expert in the international education space, and, together with the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, released the annual Open Doors® report in November 2021, which provides critical information on student mobility trends to and from the U.S. Throughout the pandemic, IIE has also provided timely data updates to the higher education community through our COVID-19 Snapshot Survey Series. These continue to serve as valuable resources among our peers, partners, and network members.
 
Celebrating Milestones: Several milestone celebrations took place over the past year, including the 30th anniversary of our IIE office in Budapest, and the 75th anniversary of the U.S. Department of State’s Fulbright program. We are also so pleased to be opening our new IIE-SRF project office in Brussels, Belgium.
 
IIE Commendations: IIE IIE’s efforts have been recognized with a number of awards throughout 2021, including NASPA’s (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education) Best Practices in International Higher Education Award in the Study Abroad category, Kansas State’s International Innovative Education Program of the Year Award, Infosec’s Inspire Security Awareness Engagement Award, a Gold MarCom Award for our member network magazine, IIENetworker, and a commendation from the Interact Excellence Awards for our internal organizational intranet resource.
 
IIE’s work remains as critical as ever. The people we support will help to build a more sustainable, peaceful, and equitable world for all. They are scientists and doctors who will help us get past the pandemic. They are the future leaders who will inspire our world to move beyond these turbulent times and foster mutual understanding and respect among people. IIE is honored to manage the programs that enable these intercultural interactions, and we are grateful to all in the IIE community who help make this important work possible.
 
With gratitude and best wishes for 2022.