The Millennium Fellowship
United Nations Academic Impact · 2025
Millennium Fellowship
United Nations Academic Impact · FIU Chapter · 2025
The Millennium Fellowship is a United Nations Academic Impact program that selects student leaders committed to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. As a Fellow at FIU, I collaborated with three teammates on "Breaking the Digital Divide", a 10-week virtual education initiative connecting FIU students with youth and women from the Gihon Women Empowerment Center in Kenya.
Guided by UN Goals 4 (Quality Education) and 10 (Reduced Inequality), the project used weekly interactive workshops to promote shared learning, cultural exchange, and access to educational opportunities across two very different communities.
Ashley Prado
Millennium Fellow · Project Lead
Rocio Peña
Millennium Fellow
Alessandra Uribe Encina
Millennium Fellow
Houytieng Ung
Millennium Fellow
We designed and launched a 10-week virtual workshop series connecting FIU student volunteers with middle school students and women from the Gihon Women Empowerment Center in Kenya. Each session was interactive, hands-on, and built around topics that matter to the participants' real lives.
The project was inspired by our own lived experiences navigating education as immigrants and first-generation students. Our goal was not just to teach, but to create a community where participants support one another, learn from each other, and build confidence.
Workshop Series Designed
Successfully structured the full 10-week virtual workshop curriculum, with key themes identified for each session.
International Partnership Established
Built direct communication with the Gihon Women Empowerment Center in Kenya, laying the foundation for an ongoing cross-cultural program.
Community Built
Contributed 1,280 total hours as a team, positively impacted 10 to 49 participants, and gained 1 project partner and 6 volunteers.
Team Growth
Grew as a cohesive team by collaborating across different majors and backgrounds, learning to support one another through competing priorities.
- → Finding a shared project vision that all four team members were genuinely excited about took time and alignment.
- → Navigating the logistics of an international partnership, including coordinating across time zones and understanding the Gihon Center's technological limitations.
- → Adapting workshop structure to account for limited internet access and shared devices among participants in Kenya.
- → Balancing project responsibilities with school, work, and personal commitments as a team.
Hearing about other projects during the US x MENA exchange inspired us and helped spark new ideas. The Fellowship materials introduced us to frameworks we had never used before, helping us think more deeply about community needs, sustainability, and impact measurement.
The Fellowship also provided structure and accountability. Knowing that we were part of a global cohort encouraged us to stay focused, stay motivated, and push ourselves creatively. We were supported not just with information, but with the feeling that we were part of something meaningful.
"We didn't just create a project. We created a team dynamic that made us excited to show up, participate, and contribute."
Breaking the Digital Divide taught me that real impact starts with connection, connecting across cultures, across disciplines, and across the barriers that keep communities apart. This fellowship didn't just shape a project; it shaped how I see my role as a builder of AI tools for social impact and a global citizen committed to mission-driven work.