A Program of the 
Alumni Development Fund
The CLS Alumni Development Fund (ADF) periodically offers small grants to alumni
of the CLS Program through a competitive application process. The ADF has provided opportunities for alumni to continue their language
learning, pursue career development goals, and participate in community
outreach related to CLS languages and their corresponding world
regions. Particular emphasis is placed on projects with an impact beyond
the individual applicant, reaching students, CLS alumni, or others in
their community.
The ADF is not currently open for applications.
Examples of previous Alumni Development Fund projects can be found below.
Clara Haizlett (Arabic 2017), a 2018 ADF recipient,
utilized her Alumni Development Fund grant to begin a podcasting project to
challenge common stereotypes of the Arab world. The Sandstone Podcast was
geared toward an audience in her home state of West Virginia and aimed to
provide an accessible educational source of information about the Middle East
for her fellow West Virginians and explo…
Clara Haizlett
Arabic 2017
Arabic 2017
Wendy Gong (Chinese 2018), Taina Orellana (Chinese 2018), and Nicole Rojas (Chinese 2017), 2018 ADF recipients, organized an event at the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) in New York City with the aim of educating the public on resources for Asian Americans. The goals were to have a dialogue and educational programming on current issues pertinent to the Asian American community. Speakers from …
Wendy Gong
Chinese 2018
Chinese 2018
Taina Orellana
Chinese 2018
Chinese 2018
Nicole Rojas
Chinese 2017
Chinese 2017
Pooja Tilvawala (Hindi 2016), 2018 ADF recipient, hosted a 10-class lecture series on introductory Hindi for students at American University, which does not offer courses in Hindi. The series was supported by the Center for Language Exploration, Acquisition, and Research at AU and co-taught by Pooja and another teacher. This project grew out of a desire to demonstrate to AU that Hindi study was i…
Pooja Tilvawala
Hindi 2016
Hindi 2016
Tyler Prochazka (Chinese 2014), Elyse Mark (Chinese 2014) and James Davis (Chinese 2016), 2017 ADF recipients, held a series of multicultural and bilingual activities throughout Taiwan discussing the philosophical foundations of Universal Basic Income and the economic feasibility of such a policy. They were able to engage the Taiwanese public, from high school students, to university, to average …
Tyler Prochazka
Chinese 2014
Chinese 2014
Elyse Mark
Chinese 2014
Chinese 2014
James Davis
Chinese 2016
Chinese 2016
Paula Zhang (Korean 2017), a 2017 ADF receipient, carried out a virtual mentorship program from November 2017 to March 2018 pairing alumni of both NSLI-Y and CLS with alumni of NSLI-Y looking to apply for CLS, culminating in an event in New York City on March 13, 2018 featuring a Diplomat-in-Residence, a Peace Corps Recruiter, and a Fulbright alum. Her goal was for NSLI-Y alumni to have someone t…
Paula Zhang
Korean 2017
Korean 2017
Troy Spier (Swahili 2017), a 2017 ADF recipient, used his grant to establish an academic journal, the Arusha Working Papers in African Linguistics (AWPAL) with his colleagues. AWPAL is a peer-reviewed, free-access, online-only academic journal whose goal is to provide a forum for discussions about applied and theoretical issues in African linguistics. AWPAL welcomes original contributions on all …
Troy Spier
Swahili 2017
Swahili 2017
Melody Poland (Japanese 2011), a 2017 ADF recipient, launched a series of workshops on traditional Japanese paper crafts. The workshops were designed to teach Japanese culture and language to attendees. In addition to Melody, three native Japanese speakers facilitated the workshops: an artist, an art assistant, and an assistant at Atkinson elementary school. They provided workshops for children w…
Melody Poland
Japanese 2011
Japanese 2011
Ben Yarbrough (Chinese 2011) & Lin Yuan (Chinese 2011), 2017 ADF receipients, organized a project to provide education and outreach services for the caregivers and family members of those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in the Chinese-speaking community in New York. The event aimed to support the linguistic and professional development of the two CLS alumni involved and promote CaringKind’s goal of in…
Ben Yarbrough
Chinese 2011
Chinese 2011
Lin Yuan
Chinese 2011
Chinese 2011
Miranda Beggin (Arabic 2017), Tallie Hausser (Arabic 2016)and Costanza Maio (Arabic 2014, 2015), 2017 ADF recipients, collaborated to provide technology that can help promote virtual language exchange program called Banaat Connect. It is an online language exchange program between Palestinian women and girls in the Jerash Refugee Camp learning English and female Arabic students from the U.S. and …
Miranda Beggin
Arabic 2017
Arabic 2017
Kurt Ebsary (Swahili 2017), 2017 ADF recipient, recorded and produced a CD “Mwamba wa Imani Langu (Rock of my Peace)” which is a musical collaboration with Swahili speaking artists in Buffalo, NY. One of the musicians he met was Gabby Kaleja, a refugee of the Congo who arrived in the U.S in 2016 via Zambia. The recording sessions brought family and friends into the studio to record backing harmon…
Kurt Ebsary
Swahili 2017
Swahili 2017