The donation recognises Johnson’s commitment to the initiative which was created to increase both the number and diversity of students studying abroad in Latin America, the US, and the Caribbean.

The association announced the 2017 Marlene M. Johnson Innovation Challenges at its annual conference in Denver this week.

“The NAFSA Board of Directors wanted to put its money where its mouth is,” said Fanta Aw, NAFSA president and chair.

“The NAFSA Board of Directors wanted to put its money where its mouth is”

“NAFSA is a founding partner of the 100,000 Strong in the America’s Initiative, and to honour Marlene, it made perfect sense to us to invest in this initiative that will diversify study abroad in a more efficient and effective way than any other model in existence.”

Johnson has served as NAFSA’s executive director and CEO since 1998. During her tenure, she was instrumental in launching multiple public-private partnerships to increase study abroad, including the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund, the recipient of the $250,000 donation.

The fund – led by Partners of the Americas in partnership with NAFSA, the US Department of State, and the White House– awards grants on a competitive basis to higher education institutions across the Americas to develop partnerships that make international study more accessible.

The programme aims to increase the number of US students studying in the Western Hemisphere to 100,000 annually and the number of students from Latin America and the Caribbean studying in the US to 100,000 by 2020.

“No one has been more committed to reaching that goal than Marlene,” commented Steve Vetter, president and CEO of Partners of the Americas.

“Her steadfast leadership at the helm of NAFSA has helped us develop a lasting and sustainable programme that will benefit institutions for years to come.”

The challenge will open to higher education institutions in the Americas in January 2017. Grant recipients will be announced at the 2017 NAFSA Annual Conference and Expo in Los Angeles.