Research and Community Partnerships

Elimisha Kakuma
EK is a refugee-founded and refugee-led college access program serving residents of Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. The CRMDS partnership with EK is deep and enduring.

Blacksburg Refugee Partnership
The Blacksburg Refugee Partnership is a non-profit organization committed to long-term, holistic support for individuals resettled in our region.  Since 2017, VT students have served as translators and as tutors for K-12 students in families served by BRP.

NXT Mission
NXT Mission supports members of the Female Tactical Platoon, an all-women unit in the Afghan Army, who are now in the US. Starting in spring 2023, VT students, faculty, and staff have held hourly Zoom conversations with FTPs across the US to improve their conversational English via the Afghan Conversation Project.

Montgomery County Public Schools
Scores of VT students have worked in local elementary and high schools supporting English Language Learners since 2023.

The Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration 
VT has been a member of PAHEI since 2022.

Every Campus A Refuge 
CMRDS/VT became a member of ECAR in 2023

YMCA at Virginia Tech
We consult and collaborate with the Y in their work to welcome international community members.

Refugees and Migrants in our Common Home: Mobilizing Academic Communities 
We are happy to contribute to the advocacy working group for refugee education.

Galax City Public Schools
CRMDS and the Center for Rural Education helped launch the Galax Mentorship Project, which is now the student organization Primeros Pasos, through which VT students provide mentorship to at-risk high school students in Galax.

She Leads Tomorrow
She Leads Tomorrow, founded by displaced Afghan women, connects Afghan women with the resources, mentorship, and global opportunities they need to access education across borders. This is one of our newest partnerships, and we are excited to assist them in their mission.