2025-26 Global Impact Awards recipients announced
Contact: Nicol Tinsley
VCU Global Education Office
(804) 828-6463
nctinsley@vcu.edu
Richmond, VA (July 31, 2025) — The Global Education Office is pleased to announce the Virginia Commonwealth University faculty, staff and administrators who are recipients of the 2025-26 Global Impact Awards. The awards will fund 24 projects issued through two distinct tracks, the Global Learning Program Development Awards and the Global Impact Partnership Awards. All awarded projects will be completed by June 2026.
Both sets of awards will support the strategic goals of the Global Education Office to increase VCU’s internationalization, its collaboration with other universities around the world and to assist with the development of programs that offer innovative global engagement opportunities for students.
Jill Blondin, Ph.D., vice provost of global initiatives, remarks about the importance of the awards for the university. "These awards are designed to create more global opportunities for faculty and students, and to increase the internationalization of VCU in a strategic way," she said.
The Global Learning Program Development Awards will fund 16 awards of up to $5,000 for projects related to developing new global learning programs including education abroad, domestic study away with a global focus, or virtual exchange.
“This year's Global Learning Program Development Awards reflect the innovation and vision of our faculty across eight VCU schools and colleges, creating opportunities for student global engagement on four continents,” said Stephanie Tignor, executive director of global learning. "The various projects demonstrate that global learning can be woven into any discipline and is accessible to all VCU students.”
Below are the 2025-26 Global Learning Program Development Award project leads and their respective focus areas:
- Cherish Parham, College of Health Professions, Italy
- Christy Tyndall, Ph.D., Honors College, Iceland and Copenhagen
- Constance Relihan, Ph.D., College of Humanities and Sciences, UK
- Denise Burnette, Ph.D., School of Social Work, Portugal
- Elena Olson, Ph.D., School of Business, Spain
- Hilary Levinson, Ph.D., College of Humanities and Sciences, Chile
- Jeannine Diego, School of the Arts, Virginia
- Maurice Gattis, Ph.D., School of Social Work, South Africa
- Michael Paarlberg, Ph.D., College of Humanities and Sciences, Cuba
- Nicole Corley, Ph.D., School of Social Work, Ghana
- Oswaldo Moreno, Ph.D., College of Humanities and Sciences, Spain
- Phelton Moss, Ph.D., College of Humanities and Sciences, South Africa
- Sharon Zumbrunn, Ph.D., School of Education, Portugal/Spain/Gibraltar (UK)
- Shruti Syal, Ph.D., L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, India
- Stephanie Tippi Hart, School of the Arts, UK/Ireland
- Youngmi Kim, Ph.D., School of Social Work, South Korea
The Global Partnership Impact Awards focus on projects related to developing, strengthening, and broadening international partnership collaboration. Awards up to $5,000 each are granted to diversify VCU’s global partnerships with specific priority areas and were established to encourage collaboration in areas of strategic interest.
Marci Fradkin, executive director of international recruitment and outreach, hopes these grants “will help build bridges around the world for Virginia Commonwealth University through new partnerships and collaborations.”
Below are the 2025-26 Global Partnership Impact Award project leads and their respective focus areas:
- Jay Albanese, Ph.D., L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, Portugal
- Nichole Dorton, School of Education, Brazil
- Julian Glover, School of the Arts, South Africa
- Kyeongmo Kim, School of Social Work, Korea
- Jesse Senechal, Ph.D., School of Education, 12 nations
- Cristina Stanciu, Ph.D., College of Humanities and Sciences, Poland
- Garret Westlake, da Vinci Center, Portugal
- Sharon Zumbrunn, Ph.D., School of Education, Portugal