CIEE to Assume Stewardship of Farther Foundation's Assets and Mission to Support Study Abroad Opportunities for Low-income Students in the Chicago Area

CIEE to match the Farther Foundation's gift and create $2 million endowment to support Farther Foundation Scholarship Fund

PORTLAND, Maine, Feb. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) and the Farther Foundation today announced the establishment of the Farther Foundation Scholarship Fund, a permanently endowed scholarship dedicated to supporting study abroad opportunities for low-income high school students in the Greater Chicago area.

Founded in Chicago in 2008, the Farther Foundation awards up to $100,000 in scholarships each year to students from communities defined by historic inequities, opening doors to educational travel that broadens students' horizons and deepens their sense of possibility. 2026 will be the final year that Farther Foundation will run its scholarship program as an independent organization. Beginning September 1, 2026, CIEE, one of the nation's leading providers of educational exchange programs and administrator of the largest high school study abroad scholarship program in the United States, will serve as steward of the Farther Foundation's assets, ensuring continuation of the Foundation's mission to provide transformative global learning experiences to students from communities facing chronic disinvestment and inequality.

CIEE will match the Farther Foundation's gift and together the organizations anticipate an endowment of approximately $2 million, dedicated exclusively to supporting Chicago-area high school student participation in transformative global learning experiences.

"Too many students have their ambitions stifled by disinvestment and lack of opportunities based on race, ethnicity and other factors unrelated to their talents and aspirations," said David Weindling, President and Executive Director of the Farther Foundation. "By joining forces with CIEE, we will create lasting access to transformative global education programs that help students break free from these constraints and experience the wider world."

"We are honored to carry forward the Farther Foundation's mission to support meaningful global learning opportunities for low-income Chicago-area high school students," said James P. Pellow, Ed.D. President and CEO of CIEE. "For years to come, the Farther Foundation Scholarship Fund will help students who otherwise would not have had a chance to travel as teenagers to study abroad and learn to see other cultures – and themselves - in a new light."

About CIEE

Since 1947, CIEE has built bridges between people, nations, and cultures by supporting more than one million student exchanges across more than 140 countries. CIEE programs help young people develop intercultural understanding, global competence, and the leadership skills needed to succeed in a connected world. Learn more at ciee.org.

About Farther Foundation

Through participation in unique educational travel experiences, Farther Foundation inspires greater aspirations and achievement for students from families and communities that have faced chronic disinvestment and sustained inequities. Inspired by experience, students become active and engaged learners, full of potential and more fully aware of the world and its opportunities.

Media Contact:

Leslie Taylor
[email protected]
(207) 553-4274

SOURCE Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE)