Lee Global Education Awards

$500 - $10,000
Deadline: Application closed for 2024-25; please stay tuned for 2025-26

Award Information

The goal of the Lee Global Education Awards is to create and support opportunities for young Albertans to become more knowledgeable about, and experienced in, the challenges and issues facing developing nations, related to socio-economic development, environment, human rights, civil society, peace and security, and social justice, and to contribute to their understanding of Canada's role in meeting these challenges. The Lee Global Education Awards were established in 2004 through an endowment by the Clifford E. Lee Foundation, as one of its wind-up legacy grants.

The Awards will support global education programming undertaken locally by the University of Alberta as well as provide awards in the form of financial assistance to individuals or organizations on and off-campus to engage in experiential global education activities for young Albertans.


There are two kinds of Lee Global Education awards: Organization Awards and Individual Awards.

Organization Awards

Organization awards support global education programming or activities undertaken locally that target Edmonton-area youth. Preference is given to proposals that develop the knowledge, skills and attributes of responsible global citizenship.

Organization awards are available to:

  • University student clubs for campus-based projects of value to students interested in global issues.
  • Secular, registered charities based in the Edmonton region that are actively involved in developing and offering global education programming to Edmonton-area youth.

Awards for organizations vary according to the scope of the proposed project and the level of financial need. Awards for organizations range from $900 to $10,000.

Individual Awards

Individual awards provide young, Edmonton-area Albertans with funding so they may engage in out-of-country experiential learning activities related to international development and other global issues. Preference is given to experiences that take place in countries of the Global South and to applicants without significant prior experience in the Global South.

Individual awards are available to:

  • University of Alberta students who have been selected by a recognized sponsoring organization and who are returning as full-time students to the University of Alberta.
  • Individual young people (between 15 years of age up to and including 30 years of age) living in the Edmonton region, who have been selected in a competitive process by off campus, secular registered charities or government institutions.

Awards for individuals range from $500 to $750.


Award Details

1. Terms & Guidelines

Individual recipients (not organizations) must make at least one public presentation in the Edmonton region on his or her experience. All Lee Global Education Award recipients must report to the Lee Global Education Award committee on how the Award was used. The final report should be typewritten and must be submitted within three months of the conclusion of the out-of-country experience. The final report must include a report on the public presentation(s).

2. Eligibility

Travel must take place between May 1, 2024, and April 30, 2025.

Awards are available to:

  • University of Alberta students who have been selected by a recognized sponsoring organization to participate in an out-of-country experiential learning activity related to development and other global issues and who are returning as full-time students to the University of Alberta.
  • University student clubs for campus-based projects of value to students interested in global issues. 
  • Individual young people (who are at least 15 years of age up to and including 30 years of age) living in the Edmonton region, who have been selected in a competitive process by off-campus secular registered charities or governmental institutions to participate in an out-of-country experiential learning activity related to development and other global issues.
  • Secular registered charities based in the Edmonton region actively involved in global education activities for global education programming targeted to young Albertans

The awards are not intended to support student or staff academic research. Awards will not be given to those who have received funding through University of Alberta International's Education Abroad Award. Off-campus groups may be local, provincial or national in scope providing they have local representation and the award will benefit young Albertans in the Edmonton region.

3. Timeline & Selection

Applications are considered annually in the spring. A selection committee chaired by the Associate Vice President (International) or a designate will allocate awards. The number of Awards granted and the amount of each Award will depend on the number and quality of applications received.