The ASLA-Fulbright Alumni Ambassadorial Award is a special award granted by the ASLA-Fulbright Alumni Association to one of the Finnish Fulbright Finland grantees of the past academic year.
The award is a recognition of a grantee that has fully committed to the values and purpose of the Fulbright Finland Foundation programs, fostering goodwill and mutual understanding between the United States and Finland in an exemplary manner. The purpose of the Ambassadorial Award is to highlight the role of individual grantees and alumni as ambassadors of the program and encourage new grantees to take initiative and to be active during their Fulbright Finland grant year.
An exemplary grantee participates actively in the enrichment programs offered in their U.S. destination and promotes knowledge about Finland and the Fulbright Finland Foundation while networking and building ties in the U.S. An exemplary grantee also makes effort to pave the way for further Finnish-American collaboration in novel ways. Moreover, an exemplary grantee shares their grant experiences on social media and/or by contributing to the Fulbright Finland News magazine. An exemplary grantee is happy to meet new people, to interact, and to make new connections.
The Ambassadorial Award was originally founded in collaboration with the Fulbright Finland Foundation in 2012 to highlight the importance of the role of the alumni, and the role of the grantees as future alumni and as ambassadors. Between 2012-19, the Award was given to a grantee showing potential to become an exemplary ambassador prior to the commence of their grant period.
As of 2020, the Ambassadorial Awardee will be selected based on their performance during their grant period. In other words, as of 2020, the Ambassadorial Award will be given to a current Fulbright Finland Foundation grantee who has been exceptionally active and successful in promoting the goals of the Fulbright Finland program as grantees during their academic year.
Prior to election, the Fulbright Finland Foundation grantees will be invited to report on their activities and what they have accomplished as Fulbright ambassadors to the Fulbright Finland Foundation and to the ASLA-Fulbright Alumni Association. The Awardee will be elected late spring/early summer as of 2020 in collaboration with the Fulbright Finland Foundation.
The recipient of the Award will be presented on the ASLA-Fulbright Alumni Association’s website and will be invited to events organized by the Association to shed light to what it takes to be an exemplary grantee.
To be elected as the Ambassadorial Awardee among a group of exceptionally talented Finnish grantees is an honor and a demonstration of an extraordinary capacity for promoting cross-national understanding and building bridges between people with different backgrounds.
The Fulbright Finland Foundation grant is so much more than money. It is a unique opportunity to learn from knowledgeable people from all over the world and across different fields of study. At the same time, it is an extraordinary chance to help strengthen and widen pre-existing ties between the U.S. and Finland and to create novel connections between our nations. Through our Ambassadorial Award, our Association aims to underline the potential of the Fulbright Finland Foundation grantees as individuals who can make an impact. See instructions on how to donate to the Ambassadorial Award.
ASLA-Fulbright Ambassadorial Awardee
2021-22: Agneetta Moisio
2018-19: Iida Tikka
2017-18: Kaisla Komulainen
2016-17: Petra Kuivala
2014-15: Ville Taajamaa
2012-13: Piia Björn
2011-12: Linda Haapajärvi
