Advocacy

If you found your experience with Fulbright Finland valuable, now is the time to say it.

Alumni understand first-hand the impact and value of their exchange experiences. That is why you are the most effective voices. 

In recent years, public funding from both Finland and the United States for Finnish-U.S. exchanges has become increasingly scarce. Currently, the vast majority of the Fulbright Finland Foundation grants are funded by partnership agreements with private foundations and institutions and donations from private philanthropists. To sustain the exchanges going forward, it is essential that our funders, partners, and the general public recognize the impact and importance of the Fulbright Finland Foundation programs and the significant contributions they make to education, science, innovation, the economy, and all sectors of society. 

In their feedback to the Fulbright Finland Foundation, an overwhelming percentage of the Foundation’s Finnish and U.S. grantees and alumni underline the critical role of their grants for their academic and professional work, their discoveries and innovations, the creation of long-term collaborations and the societal and economic benefits. It is critical that the alumni communicate this broader impact and the societal value also directly to the Foundation’s funders and partners. Your authentic voice carries a lot of weight.

Contacting the U.S. Congress:

If you are a U.S. citizen, consider contacting your representatives in Congress to highlight the impact of the Fulbright Finland experience for you personally and, through you, the impact and benefit for your state and for the United States more broadly. 

They also may not know that the vast majority of the awards both to Finland and from Finland are fully funded by Finns and Finnish institutions, and hence the leveraging power and the return on the investment from the U.S perspective is highly impressive not only in terms of outcomes but also in financial terms. Your authentic voice is powerful. We hope you’ll use it.

Connecting with the Finnish Paliament:

Respectively, if you reside in Finland, consider contacting your representative in the Finnish Parliament in support of education, science, and international exchanges. How did your personal grant experience concretely benefit not only you personally but your field and/or the society at large? Here again, your authentic voice, your work, and your actions are powerful.

Using social media:

If you use social media, consider posting about how your Foundation grant benefited your research, work, and your field and society at large. 

Writing op-eds: 

Many Foundation alumni are very skilled at writing articles and op-eds. Now would be a very good time to write a piece about the impact and importance of the Fulbright Finland Foundation programs.

Whatever you do, never underestimate the value of your engagement. Even just talking with people in your daily life, or casually engaging with different audiences or organizations in Finland and in the U.S. is very valuable as it helps spread awareness of Fulbright Finland and what the exchanges are about in practice. And that in turn helps the Foundation garner the support that makes these types of educational and professional exchanges possible.

Thank you for all you do!