There’s no mistake Jay-Z has been out here doing it for the culture for decades. Though he’s not one to brag about all the ways he gives back, his study abroad scholarship and cultural exchange programs are worth making noise about.
Through his Shawn Carter Foundation, Jay-Z is offering students unique exposure experiences through two study abroad and career development programs.
Jay-Z’s foundation has partnered with the Institute for International Education (IIE) and the University of the Arts London/London College of Communication for the IIE Gilman International Scholarship Partnership and the NY-LON Exchange Program.
According the Foundation’s website, the IIE Gilman International Scholarship Program is designed “to expand the global experiences and leadership opportunities for underserved students through establishment of full study-abroad scholarships.”
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NY-LON is a cultural exchange program designed “to increase the future employment prospects of underserved students by exposing them to a cross-cultural, academic, experiential, and professional development experience in creative industries.”
To apply for the programs, scholars must undergo a screening and selection process, Watch The Yard reported. Selected students must do a service project to share experiences and insights are shared back with their home, school and communities, a necessary component of “giving back.”
Jay-Z founded the Shawn Carter Foundation with his mother Gloria in 2003 to help “help individuals facing socio-economic hardships further their education at post-secondary institutions.”
The Foundation offers several other programs for which youth and young adults through the age of 25 can apply for. To learn more, click here.
Kaliah Kearney, a Shawn Carter Scholar who graduated from North Carolina Central University in 2017, spoke of the transformative impact of receiving a scholarship from Jay-Z.
“Coming from a single-parent household with few resources, earning a higher education is a privileged opportunity that very few of us are blessed to have. So thank you Shawn Carter Foundation and my alma mater for recognizing my mind’s worth and investing in my future. I will always humbly remember where I started and exceed all expectations,” Kearney said.
