Black History Month: Celebrating OpportunitIES by Elevating Black Voices

We believe it's important to celebrate and elevate Black voices all year long, and Black History Month is a reminder to not only shine a light on these important voices but to emphasize the importance of diverse perspectives, cultures, and ideas within study abroad. 

It's students like Ameer Dunston, who discovered in Cape Town that his perspective mattered beyond his home country, or Nneya Richards, who realized that study abroad opens up the world to possibilities, or Breana Ross, who explored the complexity of her identity—they are the reason we do what we do. 

Students tell it best, which is why we've collected blogs, social media posts, and more from our students making Black history abroad, so that you can experience the real life POV and behind-the-scenes look at the study abroad experience. 

Our 🌸Spring🌸 IDEA Social Media Correspondents are making the most of their semester and documenting their experiences. Follow along as they begin their semesters abroad! 

• Tag along with Aniyah Woods on Tik Tok while she heads to her IES Abroad London class!
• More from IES Abroad London: See a Day in the Life with Courtlyn Walker on Tik Tok.
• Check out Winston Francisco on Tik Tok and his packing attempt for IES Abroad Barcelona.
• Take a look at Myah Bridgewater on Tik Tok as she shows us a piece of IES Abroad Cape Town!
• Follow along with Dara Abimbola on Instagram for a taste of IES Abroad Milan.

From navigating making friends to exploring new cultures, hear from some of our students about their opportunities abroad. 

We had the chance to chat with Jannella Pérez Torres, Howard University alumna, IES intern, and recipient of the Patricia Roberts Harris (PRH) Fellowship at Howard University. Jannella ventured abroad with us for an internship at Superacció in Barcelona, Spain. Jannella shared her thoughts on the importance of providing access to study abroad opportunities for students of color, challenges she faced, opportunities that IES Abroad and the PRH fellowship brought to her, and emphasized the potential impact of sharing these experiences for other students contemplating studying abroad. 

Hear More From Jannella

As part of our campaign, OpportunitIES: Expanding the World of Study Abroad, we're aiming to share the many opportunities that students encounter throughout their study abroad journey and encourage future students to study abroad. 

As we explore what study abroad brings to students and how it impacts their identity, join us on Wednesday, February 21st at 2pm CDT for an exciting panel, hosted by Ashley Simmons, our IES Abroad Brand Coordinator and IES Abroad Granada alum, discussing the experiences of some of our Black alumni. Here are the panelists!

• Ameer ‘Dunston’ Naseer, IES Abroad Cape Town | Howard University | Spring 2019
• Timaira Hinton, Oxford Direct Enrollment | Howard University | Fall 2023
• Chimdi Marcus, IES Abroad Cape Town | University of Toledo | Summer 2018
• Kojo Clarke, IES Abroad Nantes | Franklin and Marshall College | 2006-2007
• Malik Ngugi, IES Abroad Madrid/Barcelona 2023 | Howard University
• Christian Herald, IES Abroad Cape Town | University of Richmond | Fall 2023

Take Me to the Event Details

We’re proud that our students are as diverse as the countries where they study abroad. 

It's the reason we launched our Initiative to Diversify Education Abroad (IDEA) in 2008 to make studying abroad a learning experience accessible to all students, creating a student body that reflects the diversity of both the U.S. and our college student population.

• Through this initiative, we have developed and expanded our financial and informational resources, collaborated with new partners who join us in our dedication to diversifying education abroad, and increased the enrollment of diverse and underrepresented students in our study and intern abroad programs.
   
• We have also built a legacy of partnership with Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic-serving Institutions (HSIs) spanning more than 50 years, which includes generations of graduates of these schools among our 120,000+ IES Abroad alumni.

At IES Abroad, we appreciate leaning into the discomfort and challenge that happens at the edge of our comfort zone—a space that we know through study abroad is the perfect opportunity for growth. The reality is that even as an organization with a longstanding, concerted effort toward diversifying our work and our student body, there’s always room for growth.