ASU, Millennium Challenge Corporation announce new Innovation Fellowship

Arizona State University and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) have announced a new Innovation Fellowship that will work across various teams within MCC’s Washington, D.C. office to help address some of today’s most compelling development challenges.

ASU, MCC and the New America Foundation invite applicants with an advanced degree and technical expertise in social and physical sciences, supply chain or other business management, medicine, engineering or other relevant disciplines to apply to the Innovation Fellowship. The application period opens Nov. 1, closes on Nov. 25, and is open to those who meet the qualifications listed online at mccif.asu.edu.

“ASU’s New American University model is designed to rapidly focus science, technology and innovation on acute global challenges and to bridge knowledge creation and implementation,” said ASU President Michael M. Crow. “We are excited, along with our partners at the New America Foundation, to support MCC as they advance their next-generation programs and projects in international development and global poverty reduction.”

Fellows will be placed throughout MCC operations to advance the effective application of business, science, technology and related expertise in international development and the foreign affairs activities of the U.S. Government.

As an Innovation Fellow duties will be dependent on the individuals’ expertise and capacity and may include, but are not limited to:

• conduct research, survey existing best practices and generate knowledge to enhance project implementation

• measure and compare social and economic benefits of new and existing projects

• assist MCC and its partner countries to enhance the use of technology in development projects

• develop new approaches to building sustainable public-private partnerships in MCC partner countries

• work with monitoring and evaluations team to address questions beyond standard M&E activities

• conduct cross-compact evaluation and identify opportunities to improve efficiency

• provide MCC with recommendations to build the capacity of partner countries

"We hope to attract experts from a range of fields to this unique and prestigious opportunity to work among the world’s leading foreign aid experts in MCC,” said Mariko Silver, senior advisor to the president of ASU and director of the Innovation Fellowship. “Since the first round of fellows will start January 2013, this application process is efficient, yet will allow us to identify the top candidates to advance MCC’s mission."

Each fellow will be paired with a mentor within MCC as well as at least one leadership mentor from academia, the development community, and/or the private sector. Mentors will be selected based on fellows’ individual goals and interests. All leadership mentors will be at the top of their respective fields and will support fellows and help them expand their professional networks.

“MCC was founded with a focused mandate to reduce poverty through economic growth,” said Omar Hopkins, MCC’s director of infrastructure. “MCC continuously reviews our operational experiences to inform and strengthen our development model and by partnering with ASU, MCC will leverage their expertise in research and teaching to help identify lessons learned, improve our own practice, and share our experiences broadly within the development community.”

More information about the fellowship and how to apply is available at mccif.asu.edu.