Northern Nevada International Center

09/02/2026

🌍 Impact Through Exchange: From Collaboration to Community Impact

What can five weeks of learning, collaboration, and connection inspire?

In 2025, microbiology student Eruchalu Izuchukwu Augustine participated in the Study of the U.S. Institutes for Global Student Leaders (SUSI-GSL) on Natural Resources through the Northern Nevada International Center.

The experience expanded Eruchalu’s understanding of leadership, research, and service and strengthened his commitment to using science to address environmental and public health challenges in Nigeria.

“It strengthened my commitment to developing science-based solutions to environmental and public health challenges in Nigeria, while showing me the power of cross-cultural collaboration.”

Now in his final year at the University of Port Harcourt, Eruchalu is putting those lessons into practice through research, project development, and mentorship, helping others explore ways to create meaningful change in their communities.

✨ Exchange is not just about what we learn, it’s about how we implement what we learn!

🌎 What happens when Northern Nevada opens its doors to the world? Follow Impact Through Exchange to discover how shared learning and connections continue to grow into community impact around the world.

09/02/2026

NNIC team had a fruitful conversation this morning with U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto covering access to affordable housing, healthcare and mental health support, SNAP and Medicaid changes, interpretation and language access, immigration resources, workforce protections, and the impact of changing federal funding on local programs and international exchanges.

We also discussed how we can work together to counter harmful narratives about immigrants, strengthen community resources, and advocate for policies that ensure all Northern Nevadans can thrive.

These conversations matter because changes in federal policy have very real local consequences. We’re committed to keeping the conversation going and turning it into action.

Like, follow along and stay informed about conversations shaping our community!

08/28/2026

🌍 Impact Through Exchange: From Learning to Leadership

What happens when an experience in Northern Nevada shapes how someone serves their community back home?

In just five weeks, Elizabeth Chipulu strengthened her leadership skills and deepened her commitment to ethical public service through the 2025 SUSI Exchange Program for Student Leaders on the Rule of Law and Public Service, hosted by the Northern Nevada International Center.

During her time in Reno, a visit to a juvenile court introduced Elizabeth to rehabilitation-focused approaches and individualized case management for young people. The experience helped connect her studies in social work with the realities of legal and correctional practice.

Today, Elizabeth serves as a Sergeant in the Zambia Correctional Service and is completing her Bachelor of Arts in Social Work and Development at Information Communications University. She is also preparing to teach and mentor others in ethical public service and youth justice.

“I returned home with a renewed commitment to accountable leadership and a goal to mentor both junior officers and university students on ethical public service and youth justice.”

✨ The lessons of exchange travel home with participants and become part of how they lead, serve, and strengthen their communities.

🌎 What happens when Northern Nevada opens its doors to the world? Follow NNIC's Impact Through Exchange series to discover the people and possibilities that grow from those connections.

08/26/2026

🌍 Impact Through Exchange: Beyond First Impressions

Sometimes, exchange begins with a simple act: getting to know one another.

When Daniel Sokoyebomi Esenyi came to Northern Nevada through the SUSI Global Student Leaders Program (GSL) – Natural Resources, 2025, he was excited to learn alongside fellow participants and connect with the Northern Nevada community.

What he took home was something more personal: a reminder of the importance of meeting people for yourself rather than forming opinions based on what you've heard.

“My perspective shifted drastically when I realized the importance of experiencing people personally rather than judging them based on hearsay. Today, I don't just see NNIC as an organization. I know I have a family here.”

The warmth and openness Daniel says experienced from the NNIC team changed the way he sees cross-cultural relationships. Today, as a fourth-year Zoology student at Federal University Lokoja in Kogi State, Nigeria, he carries that perspective with him.

This is one of the quiet but powerful outcomes of exchange: a chance to replace assumptions with experiences, and distance with connection.

🌎 When we open our community to the world, we create opportunities to learn from one another.

Like, share, and follow our Impact Through Exchange series to see how these connections continue to shape people long after they return home.

08/21/2026

🌍 Impact Through Exchange: Leadership in Action

What happens when an exchange experience becomes part of how you lead?

In 2023, Carlos Alberto Vaz de Vilhena Coelho Júnior participated in the SUSI McCain program through the Northern Nevada International Center.

Connecting with experienced leaders during the program helped Carlos define the kind of leader he wanted to become and those lessons continue to shape his work today.

Carlos is a Police Officer with the Paraná Military Police (PMPR) in Brazil, where he serves in the Justice and Discipline Subsection and as a Unit Patrol Coordinator. He also teaches new PMPR soldiers in Applied Criminology for Policing and Human Rights, bringing lessons from his exchange experience into the classroom.

His journey shows how international exchange can influence leadership long after participants return home, from the way they manage teams to the way they teach and serve their communities.

✨ The most lasting lessons of exchange are the ones we carry into our work and communities!

🌎 What happens when Northern Nevada opens its doors to the world? Like, share and follow along our Impact Through Exchange series to discover the people and possibilities that grow from those connections.

08/19/2026

🌍 Impact Through Exchange: The Ripple Effect

What happens when Northern Nevada connects with a leader from Ghana? The impact can travel thousands of miles.

During the 2024 Mandela Washington Fellowship, Banasco Seidu Nuhu came to the University of Nevada, Reno through the Northern Nevada International Center, where he built connections with fellow leaders and members of our community.

One of those connections, with Leonard Lafrance of NCLab,continued long after the Fellowship.

Today, that connection has sparked a strategic partnership with NASCO Feeding Minds, Tech-Talent Africa, and NCLab to provide young people in Ghana with training in Data Analytics, Python Development, and Automation Technology.

Banasco, now Executive Director of NASCO Feeding Minds and CEO of NascoTech, continues to lead in digital education, youth empowerment, and sustainable development across northern Ghana.

“The fellowship proved that when global connections are leveraged intentionally, they produce tangible local outcomes.”

This is the value of exchange. A connection made in Northern Nevada can become a partnership in Ghana and create opportunities for young people thousands of miles away.

✨ Exchange creates connections that can continue to make a difference across communities!

Like, share, and follow Impact Through Exchange as we celebrate the connections and partnerships that continue to create impact around the world.

08/18/2026

Happy National Nonprofit Day! 💙

Today, we celebrate the people, organizations, volunteers, partners, donors, and communities who believe that positive change is possible and work tirelessly every day to make it happen.

At NNIC, we are proud to create better understanding across cultures, welcome newcomers, create more opportunities for international exchange, and strengthen our community through connection.

From refugee resettlement and language access to international exchange and community partnerships, every connection has the power to create impact.

To our incredible partners, volunteers, supporters, and fellow nonprofits: thank you for showing up, engaging in conversations, and building a stronger community together. 🌎🤝

Here’s to the power of the nonprofit sector and to the people who make the work possible.

💬 Tell us: What does community impact mean to you?

08/17/2026

We’re honored to have community partnerships like this that strengthen our work and help us share valuable community resources with visiting delegates. These connections create opportunities to learn, connect, and build a stronger, more globally connected community.

Thank you to the Northern Nevada International Center for allowing us to host several international delegates from a number of European countries, alongside two liaisons from the State Department. We have done this several times over the years, and it allows us to explain our criminal justice system and the WCDA's priorities, as well as hear about their countries systems.

08/15/2026

The NNIC team has been engaging in productive conversations this week with partners across Nevada, including the Nevada Office for Refugees, Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, the UNLV Immigration Clinic at the Boyd School of Law, and Iris Jones, Director of the Governor’s Office for New Americans.

We’re grateful for the continued collaboration, shared commitment, and strong partnerships that help strengthen support for our refugee communities.

We look forward to continuing this important work together! 🤝🌎

Like, share, and follow NNIC to stay connected with our work.

08/15/2026

🌍 Impact Through Exchange: Meet Aspen Neahusan Romero

For Aspen Neahusan Romero, participating in the Algerian Youth Leadership Program (AYLP) now known as Youth Leadership Program with Algeria (YLPA), in 2013 sparked a lifelong passion for cultural exchange, language learning, and global connection.

Aspen still remembers the excitement of meeting the Algerian students for the first time, the music, the dancing, and the joy of connecting across cultures despite differences in language and background. That experience opened the door to a world of possibilities and inspired a lifelong journey of learning.

The impact of AYLP extended far beyond the exchange itself. It inspired Aspen's family to host a Japanese exchange student, led her to spend a year studying in Germany through the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) program, and ultimately shaped her career as a high school German teacher.

Today, Aspen is helping the next generation discover the world through language and cultural exchange. As a teacher, mother to a bilingual Mexican American daughter, and chaperone for a summer study program in Germany, she is passing on the same curiosity and global perspective that AYLP inspired in her more than a decade ago.

Reflecting on her experience, Aspen shares:

"Programs like AYLP make the world a better place because they break down barriers and connect us to one another."

Aspen's journey is a reminder that one exchange experience can inspire a lifetime of learning, leadership, and connection—creating ripple effects that extend across generations and around the world.

✨ One exchange program. A lifetime of impact.

🌍 Like, share, and follow our Impact Through Exchange series as we celebrate the inspiring journeys of exchange alumni making a difference around the world, one story at a time.