Attendees will hear from extraordinary speakers, engage in provocative panels, and benefit from extensive networking opportunities. Our conference venue is in the heart of Washington, D.C., with easy access to the downtown area and the National Mall. With a variety of opportunities to connect with fellow Fulbright alumni, share and discuss scholarly research, and build relationships within the international education community, our conference is a highlight for the hundreds of participants who join us each year. 

 

— Fulbright Association@ fulbright.org/2017-conference

 

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On November 4 – 7, Powering Potential Representatives Dana Rensi and Ena Haines attended the fortieth annual Fulbright Association Conference in Washington, DC. The Fulbright Association Conference is an opportunity for Fulbright alumni and others involved in international education and development to network, participate in panel discussions, and give presentations about their work and progress. Some participants also lobby Congress for support of Fulbright activities going forward.  

Dana Rensi recently joined the Powering Potential management team to facilitate our Latin America expansion. She is the recipient of a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching and also spent a year as a Fulbright Exchange Teacher in Iquitos, Peru in ’05-’06. She taught in Mexico under Fulbright’s auspices. Having made lasting professional and personal relationships in Peru, and wanting to continue working with the people of the Amazonian region, she returned in 2010 and 2017 to introduce digital educational materials (including World Possible’s RACHEL offline digital library) to schools and libraries. She also worked as a volunteer on a hospital boat providing puberty education materials and reusable feminine supplies to Iquitos’s under-served female population.

At the Fulbright Conference, Dana was selected to do a poster presentation about her work and her plan to install a Powering Potential SPARC+ computer lab in an under-served Iquitos school. Ena Haines (PPI Management Team) joined her in the poster session and the two spoke one-on-one as people came by to see the poster and learn about the cost-effective solar powered student labs and offline digital educational content.  Dana used the same type of battery-powered Aaxa P300 projector that she uses in Amazonian schools to present her slideshow.  Many people stopped by to check out their presentation, including individuals from many foreign and US universities, as well as people from organizations dedicated to international development, including the World Bank.

Dana and Ena also met with Christina Kwauk, a Post-doctoral Fellow in the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. They learned about the research and analysis that the Brookings Institution does to help organizations across the spectrum of government, non-profit, and private to share best practices in solving problems facing society at the local, national, and global level. Christina’s subgroup is focused on girls’ education. Dana and Ena shared information about Powering Potential’s SPARC programs in Tanzania and Powering Potential’s plan to expand to Peru.