Posted by Ross Bowser, Co-Chair District 7070 Global Grant Scholars Committee

The Trustees of The Rotary Foundation recently confirmed the award of two District 7070 Global Grant Scholarships  for the  2021-2022  academic year.  Global Grant Scholarships are US$30,500  scholarships for postgraduate work in any  Rotary  Area of Focus . Rotary International's Global Grant Scholarship program began as the Ambassadorial Scholarship Program in 1947.  More than 40,000 men and women from over 100 countries have  studied abroad under this program.  Acknowledged as the world’s largest privately funded international scholarship program, today’s Global Grant Scholars are expected to be ambassadors for Rotary and Canada to their host countries. We are pleased to announce this year's recipients......

 Angela Khakali was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Willowdale.  Angela is a Toronto resident and received her Bachelor of Arts Business Economics (Bilingual) from York  University and Master of Science  Health Policy, Planning & Financing  from the London School of Economics/ London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.   Angela will be pursuing a Master of Business Administration Degree  through the  University of Cambridge,  in Cambridge, England.  This scholarship was awarded under Rotary Area of Focus  Economic and Community Development.

Angela, recently recognized by the BMW Foundation as a Responsible leader, hopes to leverage infrastructure investments to address socio-economic inequality, in the short-term with the Canada Infrastructure Bank and in the long-term with the International Finance Corporation.  Over the past eight years Angela has worked for the Ontario provincial government on economic development initiatives, most recently as the Broadband Strategy Lead, and previously  on health infrastructure programs,  at the Ministry of Health, Treasury Board Secretariat and at the Ministry of Economic Development.   Her vision as a Rotary Scholar will be to accelerate infrastructure investment across Indigenous communities,  where the infrastructure gap directly contributes to poverty and lowers the quality of life for Indigenous communities.

 

 

Brandon Nguyen was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Etobicoke.  Brandon is a Toronto resident, graduated from Martingrove Collegiate Institute,  and is a graduate of University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business, where he received his Bachelor of Science in Economics and his  Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.  Brandon  will pursue a Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Regulation at the London School of Economics and Political Science. This scholarship was awarded under Rotary Area of Focus Economic and Community Development..

Brandon, recognized as a Top 25 Environmentalist Under 25,  plans  to continue his advocacy  as an environmentalist,  building on his experience  working with governments of the Philippines, Ghana, Nicaragua, Chile and Canada, as well as the United Nations Environment Programme, to implement policies that prioritized green growth through sustainable economic development.     He selected the LSE program as it recognizes  the  impact of climate change on economic development and as a risk to  low-income communities;  and that economic appraisal and valuation  of climate risk  align with Rotary’s goal of ‘’strengthening communities’ economic resilience and adaptive capacity in response to environmental and climate-related hazards and natural disasters.’’  His goal is to  pursue a PhD in public environment  policy  and become a  policy maker at a multilateral institution, the Canadian government or an NGO

 

 

District 7070 is very proud to have been awarded  Global Grant Scholarships for these two motivated candidates. They represent Rotary’s motto of Service Above Self and their long term goals align with the respective  Rotary Area of Focus. 

 

For more information on the Global Grant Scholarship Program , please contact Ross Bowser, Co-Chair,  District 7070 Global Grant Scholarship Committee , 905-471-1706,  bowser21@sympatico.ca