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Grassroots Exchange Discretionary Grants 2014

International
Foster Care Alliance
 Seattle, WA  
Developing a Global Foster Youth Leadership Program
Project Director: Miho Awazu 
$10,000
The purpose of this project is to establish the first ever “US-Japan Foster
Youth Leadership Program”  that reforms both
countries’ foster care systems and improves the lives of peer foster youth and
foster care alumni. Both the US and Japan teams, will
meet in Japan to conduct site visits and attend Youth Summits as well as
provide policy recommendation presentations to government leaders. 

Sister Cities of Delray Beach, Inc. Delray Beach,
FL  
Exchange Visit to Miyazu, Japan  
Project Director: David Schimdt   
$7,700
Delray Beach will conduct a site visit to its sister city, Miyazu,
in order to hold meetings surrounding expending
 economic development and tourism between the two cities. In
addition, the project aims to also identify artists, musicians and dancers to
participate in a traveling festival which will occur in Delray Beach, Miyazu and possibly Moshi, Tanzania, which is another
sister city between the two. 

Tuskegee
University
 Tuskegee, AL   
Cultural Understanding through Design: A Joint Project for Kagoshima and
Tuskegee  
Project Director: Roderick Fluker 
$10,000
Architect students from Tuskegee University will travel to Kagoshima University
to meet the faculty and students. From there, the students will visit potential
design sites within Kagoshima prefecture, as well as to learn about the
physical communities, historical contexts and museums. The students will then
work collaboratively with Kagoshima University students to design and create
architectural models, which will then be presented to the local community
leaders in Kagoshima. 

Japan
America Society of Tennessee
 Nashville, TN 
JAST West: Developing Communities of Practice for Japan Outreach in the
Southern Tri-state Region
Project Director: Leigh Wieland    
$9,940
This project aims to build and maintain Japan-related networks in the sourthern Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas tri-state region
through outreach-based programs in order to increase the local communities’
understanding of Japanese culture. Such programs will include various
educational programs and digitial, interactive
resource materials aimed towards the local Japanese business community, K-12
students and the general public. 

Alabama A&M University Normal, AL
Cherry Blossom in the Fall: Japanese Culture and Clothing
Project Director: Ashley Simmons 
$4,995
To kick off International Education week, the university will hold a 3 week Japanese clothing and cultural exhibit in November.
In addition to the exhibit, a guest lecturer will speak about the influence of
Japanese culture on Western fashion. The aim of this project will be to
increase awareness and interest to the university and local community. 

North
American Japanese Garden Association ( NAJGA)
 Portland
, OR
NAJGA 2014 Biennial Conference – “New Pathways: The Role of the Japanese Garden
for Society and Self” 
Project Director: Kanako Yanagi 
$5,005
NAJGA will host its biennial conference at the Chicago Botanical Garden, for 3
days of lectures, panel sessions, and skills-building workshops focused on
supporting the Japanese Gardens across North America. The conference theme will
feature a lecture series on the emerging role of the Japanese garden in
healthcare, and sessions on garden design and maintenance, education and
cultural programming how to manage gardens.

University
of Alaska Anchorage
 Anchorage,
AK 
2014 Summer Institute 
Project Director: Hiroko Harada     
$11,854.30
The Summer Institute was created for post-secondary teachers of Japanese in
order to promote Japanese language education. For this project, 9 participants
from the Summer Institute were selected to create a Japanese language textbook,
with the theme based on “Disaster and Hope” and geared towards college-level
intermediate learners. 

Japan
America Society of Greater Austin
 Austin,
TX 
JASGA’s First Gala
Project Director: Hajime Nakai
$5,100
The Japan America Society of Greater Austin will host its first ever gala in
order to establish a community of those interested in US-Japan relations in the
area, as well as to initiate fundraising efforts and increase opportunities to
approach potential corporate sources of funding. Guest speakers include Dr.
William Tsutsui and Mr. Kenji Asakura,
a specialist in community and urban design.

Japan
Studies Association
 Saint Joseph, MO
Examining the Process of Seeking Peace through Mutual Understanding: Hiroshima
and Nagasaki 1945-2015
Project Director: Fay Beauchamp    
$10,000
This project will conduct a 9-day faculty development workshop in Nagasaki and
Hiroshima aimed at promoting peace and mutual understanding through the
remembrance of  the atomic bombings in these two
cities. The workshops will include roundtable discussions, plenary lectures and
study tours focuses on the role of these two cities in promoting peace and will
feature experts from various professionals in these fields of study. 

Tennessee
State University
 Nashville, TN
Japanese Cultural Festival and Exhibition
Project Director: Jewell Winn    
$6,1380
This project will hold a weeklong celebration on Japanese culture during
International Education week. The Japanese Cultural Festival and Exhibition
will feature the Consulate General of Nashville as the keynote global speaker,
a JET Alumni panel discussion, a lecture about the influence of Japanese
culture on Western fashion, a fashion show and tea ceremony. Participants will
also be able to sample traditional Japanese cuisine during the festival, and will be open to high school students as well
as students from other neighboring universities.