BMI, a global company well known for its events that connect international students to institutions around the world, is proud to announce the creation of the BMI Global Scholarship Awards.
The 2019 winners were revealed during the gala dinner at the BMI Global Scholarship Summit, a prestigious event which brings the world together to create scholarship and training partnerships. Each year, accredited institutions from around the world meet with the heads of over 70 international scholarship organisations and senior staff who manage public and private training programmes. They use the Summit to help decide which education providers will receive their funded students and train their staff. The event is highly unique in its ability to give institutions access to such a powerful audience of scholarship providers who are in high demand, but are often difficult to reach.
“We are always looking for diversity in our student recruitment, so coming here is another way to accomplish that. I have met with people from countries I can’t travel to because they don’t represent markets that are big enough to be affordable in our budget,” explained Roxanna Nuhaily, Associate Dean of International and Academic Affairs, UC San Diego.
She continued, “It’s also a great opportunity to find out exactly what [organisations] can fund, and know where the opportunities are to make our programmes known to them – or what has to be done in order for them to qualify us.
It’s just a fantastic way to connect, and instead of talking directly to students, actually finding out what kinds of funding are available to students, and then when we do go to student events sometimes we’re the one that tell students about what they can take advantage of in their home countries.”
Hundreds of scholarship connections made in London
Taking place in London over two days, this year’s Global Scholarship Summit hosted more than 200 attendees who participated in over 1,500 meetings.
The programme also included networking functions such as lavish lunches, coffee breaks, a cocktail reception and an impressive gala dinner where the awards were announced at the historic Hatfield House, the former home of King Henry VIII.
BMI’s CEO Samir Zaveri enthused, “We know that each of our attendees have made great contributions to the international education industry, and in light of this, we wanted to acknowledge these achievements through the launch of the BMI Global Scholarship Awards. Making our final selection was certainly a challenge, and we extend a hearty congratulations to the winners and to all those who entered.”
BMI is delighted to announce the following winners:
- Lifetime Achievement Award – Mr. Jeronimo Castro Jaramillo, Executive Director of COLFUTURO
- Best Scholarship Platform for Students – The Dubai Police
- Best Scholarship Programme Benefiting Underprivileged Students – Institute of International Education (IIE)
- Best Management of Scholarship Students Abroad – The Crowne Price’s International Scholarship Programme from Bahrain
The BMI Lifetime Achievement Award
Mr. Jeronimo Castro Jaramillo is one of the most admired people in the field of international scholarships. In 1992, he received a scholarship to the London School of Economics through COLFUTURO, the same organisation for which he has been the Executive Director of since 2001.
Jeronimo has also served as the Vice President of Coinvertir, a company dedicated to enhancing the image of Colombia, and helping to bring foreign investment to the country.
In his time with COLFUTURO, Jeronimo has dramatically increased the number of students who benefited from scholarships to study abroad from 96 Colombian students in 2000 to 1,367 in 2018.
Today, this programme is the model for many programmes across Latin America and also provides one of the most comprehensive online scholarship platforms for scholarship organisations, universities and many private companies.
BMI Outstanding Achievement Award for the Best Scholarship Platform For Students
The winner of this award has developed a smart platform that includes comprehensive and interactive features that contribute to providing services to students and other beneficiaries.
The platform from the Dubai Police seeks to employ smart applications to communicate directly with students. It also enables follow-up and evaluation of students studying both inside and outside the country and matches them with available employment positions after graduation. This has considerably strengthened the organisation’s relationship with its government partners, local authorities and students.
BMI Outstanding Achievement Award for the Best Scholarship Programme Benefiting Underprivileged Students
The need for higher education is especially acute in places of conflict where it is crucial in rebuilding societies and maintaining stability. Armed conflicts around the world have created academic emergencies leaving thousands of students seeking opportunities to continue their higher education. But sadly, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), only 1% of the 68.5 million forcibly displaced people enter or re-enter higher education.
Since 1919, IIE has offered scholarship programmes that provide refugees, displaced students, and students impacted by conflict or natural disaster with opportunities to pursue higher education. These scholarship programmes have provided over USD 8.45 million in assistance to nearly 1,250 students from around the world. In addition to awarding scholarships directly to students, IIE has leveraged its extensive network of global universities to provide over USD 7 million of support in the form of financial assistance and partial and full tuition waivers.
BMI Outstanding Achievement Award for the Best Management of Scholarship Students Abroad
The Crowne Price’s International Scholarship Programme from Bahrain truly stood out for its exceptional care of students throughout their academic journey. Every April, its scholarship recipients and their parents attend a reception to celebrate their selected students. Even before they leave, students also attend a workshop with presentations from alumni and current scholars teaching them how to adjust to new cultures, handle the separation from family, prepare for emergencies, and more.
Once they have completed this course, each student works with a specific advisor who escorts them to their new school. When they arrive in their country of study, the team helps them with various essential tasks such as purchasing laptops, opening bank accounts and obtaining a local phone.
Students are typically sent overseas to boarding schools first where they can boost their academic scores and get adjusted to living overseas before entering university. All first year university students are also visited by the director or adviser to ensure they are adjusting well and when the graduate, Bahrain also pays for the parents to attend the graduation ceremony.
BMI Scholarship Summits
Through the Summits, BMI is able to create the opportunity for international institutions to conduct high-level, private meetings with organisations that send or fund significant numbers of individuals for overseas study or training each year.
The company holds three such events each year:
- The Global Scholarship Summit in London, UK – April 29-30, 2019
- The Gulf Scholarship Summit in Abu Dhabi, UAE – October 16-17, 2019
- The Americas Scholarship Summit in Bogota, Colombia – November 21-22, 2019
About BMI
Established in 1987, BMI offers a variety of solutions to provide international education professionals with a multi-touch recruitment strategy covering both online and offline activities across Asia, Brazil, Latin America and the Middle East. BMI holds over 80 events across more than a dozen countries every year.
BMI has organised nearly 1,000 education events across five continents, which more than two million students have attended. BMI’s online marketing solutions also enable institutions to connect with over 1.2 million students a year. The company is a proud partner of UNICEF and works with national government bodies including The British Council, Education in Ireland, EduCanada, Education USA, the European Commission and the Ministries of Education of almost every European country as well as dozens more around the world.
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Email: Rupert@bmiglobaled.com
