Clinton School student Heath Carelock has been awarded the Dr. Elliot Percival Skinner Scholars Fellowship from the Black Professionals in International Affairs (BPIA) to support his International Public Service Project this summer with the World Toilet Organization in Singapore.
Established in 2010, the fellowship is awarded based on economic need to graduate students and young professionals addressing cutting-edge issues in global affairs. Carelock is the inaugural recipient of the fellowship, which comes with a monetary award.
For his international project, Carelock is developing a business plan for the World Toilet College, which works to improve sanitation conditions worldwide through capacity building and training, and designing an advocacy evaluation tool for the World Toilet Day campaign, an annual event designed to raise awareness for sanitation issues.
The fellowship was founded in honor of Dr. Elliot Percival Skinner, a renowned anthropologist who President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Upper Volta in 1966. Skinner was also the first African American department chair at Columbia University.
Carelock offered thanks to BPIA for the award and expressed his appreciation to Jim Washington, BPIA’s Vice President for Education and Exchange and to Interim Executive Director Jennifer Douglas for their support and encouragement.
“After reading about Ambassador Skinner and his amazing personal investment in public service and academia, I couldn’t help but cherish being identified with such a legacy of lifetime learning and personal development,” Carelock said. “Since BPIA has such fervor in preparing students for global roles and global understanding of critical issues, it complements what the Clinton School is all about, giving me confidence in serving the 2.6 billion people troubled by the world toilet crisis.”
BPIA is a charitable, non-profit membership association founded in 1989 to increase the involvement of African Americans and other people of African heritage in the dynamics of political, economic and cultural relations between the nations and the peoples of the world.
BPIA promotes the greater involvement of the African Diaspora in international cultural, economic and educational endeavors. The association fosters international cooperation through the provision of technical and other expert assistance to developing nations and the promotion of international exchanges through public education forums and conferences, referrals, the publication of a newsletter, scholarship/fellowship programs, networking and outreach activities.
“We were delighted to name Heath Carelock as our first Skinner Scholars Fellow,” Douglas said. “What impressed us most was his passionate approach to learning about other cultures and diverse people in the world and his willingness and to use his skills and knowledge to make life better for people with limited access to development opportunities. These are qualities exemplified by the life of Ambassador Skinner. ”
Prior to coming to the Clinton School, Carelock was a teacher of English as a second language in five countries, including Iraq where he taught at the University of Duhok on a U.S. State Department grant.
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