Jr., Vice Provost for International Programs University of Missouri Former Higher Education Partnerships HED offered higher education institutions opportunities to compete for higher education partnerships on a variety of issues. These institutions included Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), minority-serving institutions, and community colleges. The resources and diversity of higher education institutions in the United States made them good partners for many universities abroad. President Barack Obama on July 14, 2009 spoke about increasing support for community colleges at a Macomb Community College, an HED partnering institution. The Macomb Community College and Instituto Federal de Ciência e Tecnologia-Amazonas partnership was one of HED's 34 community college partnerships. Former HED Programs Some examples of program areas include LIPHEA, The Africa-U.S. Initiative and TIES, MEPI, CEPI. USAID/Haiti Associate Award USAID/Egypt EMBA Associate Award USAID/Jordan Strengthening Early Childhood Education Associate Award USAID/OMEP Strengthening Workforce Preparation in Algeria Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Civic Education Partnership Initiative (CEPI) Leadership Initiative for Public Health in East Africa (LIPHEA) USAID's Bureau of Global Health, in collaboration with HED (previously ALO) made an award of $2 million in October 2005, (since increased to $5.16 million) for a partnership among the Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences (MUCHS), the Makerere University School of Public Health (MUSPH), and the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHU) – with additional support from Tulane University and George Washington University – titled "Leadership Initiative for Public Health in East Africa (LIPHEA): Tanzania and Uganda." The goal of this partnership was to strengthen public health leadership in East Africa by improving the capacity of local institutions to train mid- and senior-level health professionals in leadership skills. This initiative was creating a cadre of professionally trained health leaders better able to envision, plan, implement, and manage effective responses to the health needs of Africans, especially in the areas of epidemiology, health policy and planning, public administration, budgeting, human resource management, emergency response, and applied field research. Former Africa-U.S. Higher Education Initiative An initiative focused on African higher education was a collaborative effort linking USAID, HED, the Africa-U.S. Initiative. After launching a request for application in late 2008, HED received more than 250 application from various U.S. higher education institutions for 20 planning grants of $50,000 each. The response was so profound that USAID provided an additional 10 planning grants of the same amount. An August 2009 conference gained recognition for its goal