Your tax-deductible donation is vital for helping us send outstanding young professionals abroad to acquire deep knowledge of global cultures and affairs—a mission as important today as when the Institute of Current World Affairs was founded in 1925. Institute fellows have become some of our nation’s leading experts in international societies, based on the unique fellowships designed by our founders Charles R. Crane and Walter Rogers. We continue their tradition with your support.
Dedicated support
The Institute of Current World Affairs advances American understanding of international cultures and affairs by sending outstanding young professionals abroad on two-year independent writing fellowships to study countries, regions and globally important issues. ICWA nurtures the kind of deep understanding future generations will need to ensure America’s role in the world is informed by wisdom, foresight and compassion. That’s why we developed the two-year David Mixner LGBTQ+ ICWA Fellowship. Mixner was a global leader in politics and human rights with a focus on LGBTQ+ issues. We aim to fully fund this named fellowship in his honor to advance understanding of the challenges facing global LGBTQ+ rights, and their advances.
Contribute to ICWA’s next 100 years by planning for a special gift, such as a bequest in your will or trust. There are many creative and flexible giving options that can benefit you and ICWA.
A former fellow in Africa in the 1950s who went on to a brilliant career as a Time Magazine senior editor and a founding editor of Money Magazine before he took over ICWA’s helm from 1978 to 2007, Peter became a formative influence in the lives of the fellows he mentored, edited, traveled to meet and support during his tenure. Please help us carry on his tradition.
Donations to the institute directly support fellows in the field. Please help transform fellows’ careers and advance our nation’s understanding of foreign countries and regions, and globally important issues.
Donations may be made here online or by postal mail.
Institute of Current World Affairs
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Thank you for your support!
The Institute of Current World Affairs is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and all donations are tax-deductible as provided by law. IRS regulations require that you retain a written acknowledgement from ICWA to support your claim of a tax deduction. A receipt of your gift will be sent to you shortly.
How the ICWA fellowship transformed my life
“This combination of working within a major center for academic study of science and technology policy issues, and having the responsibility for helping to support many nascent science and technology policy research groups throughout the developing world was a deeply rewarding experience. It was a huge and valued transformation from my oil company career as a geophysicist. This transformation was entirely due the ICWA fellowship.”
GEOFFREY OLDHAM, Geophysicist and fellow in China 1960-1966
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“… [M]y ICWA fellowship was a formative, life-changing experience for me. I honed my observer’s eye, analytical and writing skills, and developed my knowledge of the world, the USA, and myself… ICWA is a bridge from our island that enables both fellows and readers a chance to get a deep look at another place, people, culture… In the increasingly interconnected / interdependent world we live in, such bridges are so critical. We need more ICWA experiences.”
MARC MICHAELSON, Regional Superintendent of Achievement First and fellow in Ethiopia and Eritrea 1998-2000
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“I traded my job in corporate finance for a chance to understand rural poverty in Mexico as an ICWA fellow. The direct result of my fellowship is Root Capital, a company that has loaned over $836 million to more than 570 businesses representing 1.2 million smallholder farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America.”
WILLY FOOTE, Founder and CEO of Root Capital and fellow in Mexico 1995 to 1997
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“When I began my fellowship, I was an academic with a very narrow focus, but the ICWA experience broadened my horizons, exposing me to various dimensions of Chinese life.”
CHENG LI, Director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution and fellow in China 1993 to 1995
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“When I was looking to go to Russia and study environmental issues, it’s almost as if the ICWA fellowship was exactly the magic grant that I needed. I remember reading the description and thinking, ‘This can’t be true!'”
ELENA AGARKOVA, Attorney at the World Wildlife Fund Arctic Field Program and fellow in Siberia, Russia 2008 to 2010