Colombia is bringing its educational and scientific diplomacy agenda to the NAFSA Annual Conference
On May 25, as part of the NAFSA Annual Conference in Orlando, Fulbright Colombia, ICETEX, and the CCYK network joined forces to host the Colombian Forum: Destination Colombia—a high-level event that brought together academics, researchers, institutional representatives, and members of the Colombian scientific diaspora to discuss the future of educational cooperation between Colombia and the United States.
Opening remarks were delivered by: Stewart Tuttle, Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Colombia; César González Hernández, Colombian Consul in Orlando; Vanessa Caicedo Sánchez, Head of the Office of International Relations at ICETEX; Milena Mejía, Director of Strategic Relations at CCYK; and Giovanni Anzola, Executive Director of Fulbright Colombia.
Over the course of more than two hours of academic sessions, the forum explored two main themes. In the first, Fulbright Scholar Kristine Muñoz, a professor at the University of Iowa with more than four decades of experience, delivered a strategic lecture on the structure of the U.S. higher education system and its implications for student mobility, academic recognition, and collaboration with Colombian institutions.
In the second session, a panel of experts discussed the role of academic networks, competitive grants, and the scientific diaspora in building a binational innovation ecosystem. The panelists included Dr. Pedro Guillermo Feijóo García, a 2018 Minciencias Fulbright Scholar and professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology; Carolina Forero, a 2008 Fulbright Suramericana scholar and instructor at the University of Alabama; and Estefanny Güechá, a 2023 J. William Fulbright scholar, with Alejandra González, Director of International Affairs at the University of La Sabana and Vice President of CCYK, serving as moderator.
The academic session concluded with a networking cocktail reception and a poster session—a forum for relationship-building where institutions, researchers, and diaspora leaders explored opportunities for collaboration, joint funding, and binational projects. It was a setting where informal conversations often serve as the first step toward lasting partnerships.
