Education Bridge (Spring 2025)

Project Background

Education Bridge aims to create flourishing South Sudanese communities through holistic education and conflict transformation by educating a generation of peacemakers and transformational leaders to address the perpetual cycle of poverty and violence in South Sudan. Education Bridge drives this change through a unique and holistic approach to secondary education that merges peacebuilding curriculum, leadership development and academic excellence that is implemented through our schools - Greenbelt Academies.  Led by South Sudanese Notre Dame graduate Majak Anyieth ’17, the Greenbelt Academy currently serves over 1,200 students in grades 9-12 at two schools in the capital, Juba (Central Equatoria State), and in Bor (Jonglei State). These two high-performing secondary schools are ranked among the highest in the country. In addition to a desire to add more secondary schools across the country, Education Bridge has launched a teacher training network for its alumni as a pathway into primary school teaching. 

Education Bridge has worked with Notre Dame DAT teams over multiple semesters on projects related to developing a peacebuilding curriculum, enhancing opportunities for girls, contributing to organizational sustainability, and developing international partnerships. They are now considering the possibility of expanding schools and developing criteria for doing so.

Definition of Opportunity

Education Bridge wants to begin exploring a strategic expansion, potentially, to an additional state in South Sudan. This research project will assess the feasibility of expansion by conducting a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of three potential locations in South Sudan: Lakes State, Upper Nile State, and Western Equatoria State.

This project builds on previous work by a Notre Dame Development Advisory Team from Fall 2023, which explored Education Bridge’s organizational sustainability and international partnerships. The project proposes to:

• Identify key factors for successful expansion, including demand, infrastructure, security, teacher availability, and financial viability.

• Conduct a comparative SWOT analysis of the three target states to evaluate their suitability for a new Greenbelt Academy.

• Develop criteria and recommendations for prioritizing locations for future expansion.

Definition of Success

Success for this project means delivering a comprehensive SWOT analysis of the three target states, providing Education Bridge with a clear assessment of opportunities and challenges for expansion. The research will also establish a set of recommended criteria to guide strategic decision-making on where and how to grow the school network. Additionally, the project may include case studies on successful education expansion models in South Sudan or neighboring countries, offering valuable insights and best practices to inform Education Bridge’s approach.

Meet the Team

Final Deliverables

Partners In Health & PIH Engage (Spring 2025)

Project Background

Partners In Health (PIH) is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to providing high-quality healthcare to marginalized communities, addressing social determinants of health, and advocating for health equity. PIH Engage is its grassroots advocacy and fundraising network, mobilizing volunteers to support PIH’s mission through community organizing, education, and policy change efforts.  

PIH is a member of the EndTB campaign to combat tuberculosis (TB) through advocacy, treatment expansion, and awareness-building. As momentum builds, engaging incoming members of US Congress will be essential for advancing key policy initiatives, including the EndTB Act, the Paul Farmer Memorial Resolution (PMFR), and the Community Health Worker Access Act (CHWAA).

Definition of Opportunity

A Notre Dame student team will research and identify newly elected members of Congress with potential interest in TB advocacy, global health, and partnerships with institutions such as the NIH, CDC, USAID, and the Global Fund. John Green’s forthcoming book Tuberculosis is Everything and his advocacy, along with efforts from young activists (Nerdfighters), are increasing interest in TB activism, particularly among young people. His visit to Notre Dame on February 5, 2025, presents a strategic opportunity to expand engagement and advocacy efforts in legislative circles.

Definition of Success

• A detailed list of incoming members of Congress with relevant health and global development interests, including linkages with organizations such as NIH, CDC, Global Fund, and USAID.

• Develop bios and background information for use during PIH Engage’s Hill Day on April 9, 2025 equipping advocates with key details for meetings on Capitol Hill.

• A comprehensive Champion Scale assessment of targeted MoCs, with tailored engagement strategies to advance their commitment.

Meet the Team

Final Deliverables

U.S. Department of State (Spring 2025)

Project Background

The University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs is collaborating with the U.S. Department of State on an initiative focused on global conflict prevention research. As part of the Academic Centers of Conflict Anticipation and Prevention (ACCAP) partnership, the Department’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO) is engaging universities to provide supplemental research, analysis, and data to enhance its ability to anticipate, prevent, and respond to global conflict. 

The CSO leads the formulation and implementation of conflict prevention and stabilization strategies, policies, and programs for the State Department. This partnership will provide undergraduate and graduate students at the Keough School with access to key State Department research tools, including its Instability Monitoring and Analysis Platform, which officials use to monitor conflict risks and implement evidence-based policies.

Definition of Opportunity

The student team will conduct research on illicit gold mining and its implications for violent extremism and broader instability dynamics in Coastal West Africa (CWA) focusing on Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, and Togo. The project will explore the relationships between illicit mining activities, financial flows, and governance challenges to inform future policy interventions. The student research will fill a critical knowledge gap for the Africa team within CSO, providing evidence-based analysis to support future Global Fragility Act (GFA) programming in the State Department. This project aligns with the broader mission of conflict prevention by identifying strategies to mitigate instability and strengthen governance structures.

Definition of Success

The team will explore the implications of illicit gold mining on violent extremism and broader instability dynamics in 1-2 countries in Coastal West African countries ((Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, and Togo). The final product should help address the following questions: What can legal mining operations do to promote formalization of these activities?  What local and national governments do to promote formal, legal employment and ensure gold mining revenues benefit citizens?

Meet the Team

Final Deliverables

The Jumbam Family Foundation (Spring 2025)

Project Background

The Jumbam Family Foundation (JFF) is a Cameroon-based non-governmental organization that aims to contribute to peacebuilding in Cameroon and support communities affected by the Anglophone crisis, primarily through women and youth empowerment, education, and healthcare. Co-founded by Desmond Jumbam (MSGH ‘16, MBA ‘25) and his mother, Seh Rebecca Jumbam, in 2020, JFF emerged out of a personal tragedy and their determination to transform it into a lasting impact and restore hope for victims of the crisis. The organization focuses on three core areas: women empowerment, as well as providing education and healthcare services to refugees and internally displaced people from Anglophone regions of Cameroon.

Definition of Opportunity

One of the most devastating impacts of the Anglophone crisis is the toll that it poses on women. In 2020 JFF launched a project focused on empowering widows who had lost their livelihoods as a result of the crisis. The program provides grief counseling, psychosocial support, and opportunities for widows to regain their livelihoods, including small business support and educational opportunities. The program has thus far supported 49 women to regain their livelihoods. Most women have started sustainable businesses, including a small poultry and pig farm, rearing and selling of goats, clothing retail and the production and sale of palm oil. The program has been in hiatus for the past year and a half while JFF established its Ngek C. Constantine Scholarship Program. In 2025, JFF plans to relaunch the women’s support program as the “Hope and Renewal Initiative.”

Definition of Success

JFF hopes to gain a deeper understanding of key factors that have led to the success of previous participants, i.e., bright spots, and practical recommendations for improving the next iteration of the widow’s project based on these findings. Ultimately, our goal is to generate evidence based on bright spots and comparative analysis to strengthen project relaunch. 

• Identify Success Stories: Highlight individual and collective success stories that demonstrate the effectiveness of the program's strategies and interventions. This will be done via remote interviews with previous participants and staff.     

• Find Bright Spots: Identify the project's most successful elements that can be scaled or replicated in future cohorts.

• Analyze Challenges: Identify and analyze the challenges faced by the participants and the project team, providing insights into areas needing improvement. 

• Recommend Enhancements: Provide actionable recommendations for enhancing the program based on the lessons learned and identified bright spots. Develop strategies to ensure the long-term sustainability and scalability of the project.

• Document Findings: Create comprehensive documentation of the findings, including case studies, data analysis, and strategic recommendations.

Meet the Team

Final Deliverables

Wellness TA (Spring 2025)

Project Background

Effective teamwork is a fundamental skill for tackling complex global challenges, yet many students and professionals struggle to collaborate productively. The forthcoming book, Learning to Team Up: Unleashing the Transformative Power of Collaboration in the Classroom, explores the mindsets and skillsets essential for successful team-based learning, particularly in higher education. It emphasizes reflective practice, psychological safety, belonging, and negotiation as critical elements of teamwork—principles that are equally vital in professional environments such as international development, where cross-disciplinary collaboration, problem-solving, and negotiation are key to driving sustainable impact.

Definition of Opportunity

This project invites a Notre Dame student team to create a series of short, engaging instructional videos that translate the book’s key lessons into accessible, practical, and easily implementable tools for educators and students. These videos will serve as learning resources to support more effective team-based learning in classrooms and professional settings.

A student team will develop high-quality, engaging video content that illustrates core concepts from the book, making them more accessible, actionable, and visually compelling. These instructional videos will support educators in implementing team-based learning strategies, reinforcing the book’s goal of equipping students with collaborative skills for both academic and professional success. The project will be supported by ND Studios and will include collaboration with Wellness TA for video production. Students will gain hands-on experience in educational content creation, storytelling, and media production, while contributing to a resource that enhances teamwork education globally.

Definition of Success

Success means gaining a clear understanding of the existing landscape, identifying what works and where gaps remain in available video content related to teamwork skills. It includes producing engaging, student-created instructional videos that bring the book’s themes to life—that ultimately will help equip instructors with practical tools and inspire them to implement its recommendations. Through this process, students will not only deepen their understanding of team-based learning but also enhance their storytelling and digital media skills, translating theory into real-world, impactful applications.

Meet the Team

Final Deliverables