The Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center at Howard University in Washington, D.C., has recently launched the Global Futures Collaborative. Led by director Alex T. Johnson and co-director Christopher L. Scott, the initiative will bring policy experts to campus to engage in collaborative knowledge exchanges and advance human empowerment.
“The Global Futures Collaborative will reimagine community agency and connection in international leadership,” said Johnson. “Recentering ancestral and community knowledge in global exchanges will drive innovative outcomes to counter an emerging era of global retrenchment.”
The new program will enable Howard to host a cohort of senior leaders and former government officials with expertise in global and domestic policy. These experts will serve as Alcee L. Hastings Global Leadership Fellows, named in honor of the late congressmen and pioneer of transatlantic cultural collaboration.
The inaugural cohort of Global Leadership Fellows includes Zakiya Carr, a Howard alumna and former chief diversity officer at the U.S. Department of State; Travis Adkins, former president and chief executive officer of the U.S.-Africa Development Foundation; and Desiree Cormier-Smith, former special representative for international racial equity and justice at the U.S. Department of State.
“The Global Futures Collaborative is about clearly defining the shared future that our communities have long demanded and rightfully earned,” said Scott. “Advancing efforts to reach the hardest hit, yet underserved communities, while supporting students, youth, and children of African descent, will be a focal point of our commitment as we build explicit, intentional strategies that support their well-being, access, and success.”
