One of the nation’s first global education providers founded by a consortium of seven colleges of the Brethren tradition, BCA Study Abroad (BCA) is announcing a strategic partnership with Amizade, a pioneer and world leader in ethically considerate global service-learning.
“For nearly 60 years, BCA has provided opportunities for students to expand their horizons by connecting what they do in the classroom to the world around them,” said BCA Board Chair David Bushman. “We are thrilled that those opportunities will continue – and will grow – in the years ahead because of this strategic partnership with Amizade. It’s often said that we live in a global community – this partnership ensures that our students will be prepared to make that global community a more just and peaceful one.”
Since 1962, BCA has been committed to helping students understand the complexities of the contemporary world by providing quality academic programs and cross-cultural learning in locations around the globe. From its start, BCA focused its mission on bridging academic learning and connecting it directly to experiences with local people and the issues that impact their lives. As a result, students actively participate in their own learning and develop critical thinking skills that empower them to be engaged and informed global citizens.
Amizade is a 25-year-old non-profit with a mission to inspire empathy, catalyze social action and link diverse networks through Fair Trade Learning. Each year, Amizade collaborates with over 90 education partners—universities, high schools, government agencies, and community groups—to create life-changing experiences for young people.
“I admire the work BCA has been doing for many years,” Amizade Board Chair Michelle Zhu said. “In an industry that is often crowded with for-profit companies, it is refreshing to partner with a similarly mission-driven organization.”
Together, BCA and Amizade are committing to a new future. Peace and justice have always been at the core of both organizations’ missions and now the impact of this work will expand as Amizade assumes responsibility for BCA’s programs and carries forward its legacy.
Amizade will enrich and expand programming in many of BCA’s historic sites, as well as strengthen its program model and manage a study abroad endowment for low-income and at-risk students. Colleges and universities that have sent students to study abroad through BCA will now work with Amizade to enroll students in BCA semester programs in at least six communities around the world.
The new larger and more dynamic organization will have a combined 26,000 alumni network motivated to catalyze social good. It will also offer global education programming options for gap years, high school student engagement, solidarity-building exchanges and reciprocal study abroad experiences. Learn more about BCA and Amizade.