A Program of the U.S. Department of State
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.
Anika Kabani (Arabic 2016), a 2018 ADF
recipient, worked with a local language cooperative to host Arabic
classes at Sanctuary for Families, the non-profit organization where she
works in New York City, NY. The Arabic classes took place weekly on
Thursdays from January 31, 2019 to March 14, 2019 for a total of seven
two-hour sessions. The sessions were offered to colleagues at her
org…
Anika Kabani
Arabic 2016
Arabic 2016
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
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
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
Eric Young (Arabic 2015), Joshua Von Trapp (Arabic 2016), Henry Thompson (Arabic 2017) and Aaron Davis (Arabic 2015), 2017 ADF recipients, launched a series of 20 lectures delivered by thirteen different speakers in Arabic at Brigham Young University. Each lecture was preceded by a consultation with the speaker that served to help the speaker select a culturally interesting topic and tailor their…
Eric Young
Arabic 2015
Arabic 2015
Joshua Von Trapp
Arabic 2016
Arabic 2016
Henry Thompson
Arabic 2017
Arabic 2017
Aaron Davis
Arabic 2015
Arabic 2015
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
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
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
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
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