GKI office moves to the American Association of the Advancement of Science
US National Academies building on
Constitution Ave, Washington DC
Moving often brings with it an opportunity to reflect on where you have been, and where you are going. June 2010 marked the Global Knowledge Initiative (GKI) move from its first home in the National Academies to its new home in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The National Academies building on Constitution Avenue, where the original GKI offices were housed, recently closed for a three-year renovation project.
Reflection on where we have been…
It was within the walls of the National Academies that GKI experienced its first ten months of growth. During that time, we brought in our first seed grant from the Richard Lounsbery Foundation, which supported the design of pilot activities in the US, India, Eastern and Southern Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Middle East and North Africa. Our community of partners blossomed from the 200 universities that attended the 2008 Higher Education for Development Summit, from which we arose, to hundreds of allies in the public, private, and academic sectors. We engaged with a diverse community of partners, each one committed to a shared vision of international collaboration to solve shared challenges through science, technology, and innovation. These new partners include UNESCO, the World Bank, the Regional Initiative for Science and Education, Supercourse, Medical Missions for Children, the Inter-University Council for East Africa, the University of Maryland, and COMSTECH, the OIC’s Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation and many more. During our first year, we also grew our staff and advisory team, which includes current and former Science and Technology ministers from around the world as well as globally recognized entrepreneurs and thought leaders in science and technology for development. The National Academies proved to be a welcoming, vibrant environment in which to launch this initiative. Though we are no longer within its walls, we know the partnerships forged there will remain dynamic and fruitful long after our departure.
The headquarters of the American
Association of the Advancement
of Science and the new home of
the Global Knowledge Initiative
Reflection on where we are going…
As we enter this next chapter in our growth, we are excited to have AAAS as our new institutional home. The GKI-AAAS partnership is multifaceted, and we look forward to fostering this relationship further. We are in close collaboration with a number of the programmatic offices within AAAS, including the Center for Science Diplomacy and the Center for Science, Technology and Sustainability. Dr. Romain Murenzi, former Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Scientific Research of Rwanda and GKI advisor, is currently serving as a Senior Scholar for AAAS. Dr. Nina Fedoroff, Co-Chair of the GKI Advisory Board, was recently named AAAS President-Elect.
In regard to the move, Dr. Fedoroff stated “We are deeply grateful to the National Academy of Sciences for its wonderful support and hospitality through our early months. And we are very excited to be joining the AAAS enterprise, where science diplomacy is taking on such an important profile.”
Written by: Amanda L. Rose, Program Officer
Photo credit: US National Academies
Photo credit: AAAS
