Global Development Solutions has a global focus, working mainly on the African continent. Current funded GDS projects include:

• "Participatory Philanthropy and Service Learning," Alabama, Ghana, and Liberia

  • Daniel F. Breeden Endowed Grant Program. Total awarded: $3,000. Drs. Felicia Tuggle, Kelly Krawczyk, and Peter Weber (Co-PIs). ​Grant to support the purchase and use of the Foundation Directory Online (FDO) database of over 100,000 foundations, corporate giving programs, grant making public charities, and sponsoring companies. Faculty and students will use the database to conduct research on the giving priorities, trends, and geographic distribution of foundations that support sustainable development, protect civic space, and build capacity of community serving organizations. Research will be used to (1) map current funding, (2) compare existing funding priorities, trends, and distribution with actual community needs, and (3) develop recommendations for foundation program officers to help to them become more responsive to community needs.

• “Challenging Inequity Through Civil Society,” Liberia

  • ​Auburn University Intermural Grants Program (Interdisciplinary Team Research Grant). Total awarded: $20,788 (2020-2022). Felicia Tuggle and Kelly Krawczyk (Principal Investigators). Grant to design, implement, and evaluate civic engagement and social justice training for social work students and local NGO administrators/staff who aspire to advance social and economic justice through participatory advocacy and democracy in Liberia, West Africa.

• “Lending Corruption and Bank Loan Contracting: Implications for Gender Inequity and Inclusive Growth in West Africa,” Ghana and Nigeria

  • ​Anti-Corruption Evidence Programme and the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (ACE-SOAS). Total awarded: $120,000. Brian Ezeonu, Dr. Kelly Krawczyk, and Dr. Hayford Nesiah (Principal Investigators). Grant to investigates how lending corruption contributes to gender inequality using Ghana and Nigeria as case studies. The results of this study will help develop innovative approaches that will strengthen regulatory institutions to adequately address lending corruption in their financial sector.

• “Aligning Global Standards of Social Work Field Education with Social Development Practice and Sustainable Development Goals,” Ghana

  • International Association Schools of Social Work International Projects Grant. Total awarded $4,000 (2020-2022). Dr. Felicia Tuggle, Dr. Sevaughn Banks, Dr. Mavis Dako-Gyeke, and Dr. Esme Manful (Co-Principal Investigators). Grant to implement human rights focused Field Education Orientation and Training for field instructors affiliated with University of Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology social work programs in Ghana, West Africa.