AAI IMPACT PILLARS
Liberatory Education
AAI was founded on the belief that accurate and accessible education will advance justice by eliminating harmful norms, assumptions, and frameworks. By supporting 23,000, and counting, African scholars in their studies along with offering scholastic programming across the USA and the African continent, AAI is advancing liberatory education and helping to build a more sustainable world.
AAI is reframing knowledge and shifting mindsets to eliminate the ideology of human hierarchy.
STATE OF EDUCATION CONFERENCE
Our Premiere Conference Focused on Africa and its Worldwide Diaspora
The annual State of Education on Africa Conference is a free educational forum about Africa and its worldwide Diaspora. It reaches a widespread audience of students, parents, teachers, school administrators, academic scholars, social justice activists, leaders in philanthropy, and other stakeholders who are eager to learn about the history, representation, and contemporary role of Africa and its worldwide Diaspora.
Announcing our January 2026 SOE Conference, in partnership with Howard University Center for African Studies and Boston University African Studies Center, entitled “The Gold Road: Global Medieval Africa in the Time of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai.”
View our full 2024 SOE Conference on “What is ‘the African Diaspora’—and Why Should it Matter to Me?” featuring keynotes by Dr. Kia Lilly Caldwell and Nemata Blyden, engaging panels with scholars and K-12 practitioners, and a book talk with the author of Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library.
View all of our previous State of Education on Africa Conferences
SCHOOL SERVICES
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The School Services program was originally launched in 1969 to “increase and improve teaching about Africa” in U.S. schools, and from 1972 to 1976 it flourished under the leadership of Evelyn Jones Rich, an activist and former New York City educator. Our program aims to eliminate the harmful practice of introducing students to Africa and its Diaspora solely through the lens of domination, and the persistence of poor educational outcomes, particularly among students of African descent in primary and secondary schools in Southeast Michigan.
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We provide partner schools with pedagogical training that draws on results-oriented research about teaching, learning, and the brain. Each training session equips teachers to transform students into cognitively independent, high-achieving, life-long learners.
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Our School Services Program provides content-focused training and supports the development of curriculum that is scholarly and free of misinformation. We support schools in creating curricula that serves as both "mirrors" for students of African descent and "windows" for all students to learn about diverse cultural experiences.
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We provide a variety of resources to schools and teachers to assist in elevating and learning from student voices, as they embrace their own learning. Resources at partner school sites are determined after a needs-based assessment and may include teaching materials, professional development, school personnel to strengthen school climates and/or improve student educational outcomes.
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Our School Services Program provides coaching and skills-building that is designed to strengthen the capacity of school staff to demonstrate culturally responsive teaching and/or leadership. This includes cultivating the active support and engagement of all stakeholders - students, parents, teachers, administrators, and community members.
SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS
Supporting 23,000 African Students, and Counting…
By supporting emerging African scholars in their studies along with offering scholastic programming across the USA and the African continent, AAI is addressing historical wrongs by advancing liberatory education. AAI has proudly provided over 23,000 scholarships and fellowships to African students. Please note we cannot accept scholarship and fellowship applications or other requests for support unless explicitly stated on our website.
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Less than 25% of African higher education students pursue STEM-related career fields. In 2023 AAI established the African STEM Initiative, supporting African students pursuing their education in universities across the United States. In partnership with NoirUnited, AAI identified and assisted a 2023/2024 cohort of scholars, all of whom are African students who were displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine but are now studying at American universities.
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The Jim Ovia Foundation Leaders Scholarship (JOFLS) is a partnership between the Jim Ovia Foundation and AAI that will have a long-term impact in creating a better and brighter future for young Africans. The JOFLS is funded by the generous donation of $2 million pledged by Mr. Jim Ovia, Founder/Chairman of Zenith Bank and the Jim Ovia Foundation, on behalf of the Foundation. Through our University partners, Covenant University in Nigeria and Ashesi University in Ghana, the Jim Ovia Foundation Leaders Scholarship provided to select high achieving students, from under resourced backgrounds, a full education that will offer them with the necessary skills for a dynamic and innovation-driven career.
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In partnership with the Africa-America Institute (AAI), the East African Development Bank (EADB) launched the EADB Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) Graduate Scholarship Program in 2015 to support the capacity of regional faculty teaching in STEM fields which are critical to local employment and the growth of national economies. The fast-track, 12-month scholarships provide experienced teachers and lecturers from EADB member countries (Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda) to earn a Masters’ degree in science, technology, engineering and math at Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA.
Since 2015, sixteen students have received this full scholarship to pursue a graduate degree at Rutgers University. As alumni, they have returned to their respective countries and are contributing towards building a skilled workforce in STEM fields in East Africa.