Quarterly Report: April 1, 2015 – June 30, 2015

In the area of project development, the IIC confirmed five projects for the 2015-2016 project cycle. These projects include collaborations with prominent foundations and institutions in India, such as Tata Trusts and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation. The IIC has selected 23 fellows for the 2015-2016 projects to work in teams of 4 or 5. The IIC worked closely with these fellows throughout the quarter to prepare them for the fellowship and arrange necessary logistics. The IIC also completed planning for its summer training program. The IIC finalized five projects for the 2015-2016 fellowship: EPIC, Mission Garima, Millennium Alliance, CCE Rajasthan & Himachal Pradesh, and QIP Haryana. These projects formalize partnerships for the IIC with a number of prominent foundations and institutions in India. The IIC has secured $1,284,509 to fund these projects and will raise an additional $208,504. In the third quarter, the IIC completed the selection process for the 2015-2016 fellowship. As of June 30, 2015, the IIC has confirmed 22 of the 23 fellow positions, and will confirm the final fellowship position in the first few days of July. This cohort of 23 fellows includes 13 fellows from UChicago and 10 fellows from India. These highly qualified fellows bring a diverse range of skills, from civil engineering to political science, to bear on their projects. The IIC has completed final preparations for an institutional move to Chicago Harris. This move is effective as of July 1, 2015. The IIC will remain a joint program of Chicago Harris and the Law School, but primary activities will take place at Chicago Harris. Throughout the past several months, Harris has been active in helping to guide the growth of the IIC and start planning for the 2016-2017 project year, including beginning to identify new countries to expand the program to and brainstorming additional program activities to better connect IIC projects in the field to students and resources back at the University in Chicago. The IIC has implemented a new 'staggered start' component to its program model. Three of this year's projects will start on August 3, and the two remaining projects will start on August 31. This program component will help to fulfill the IIC's long-term goal for having a more flexible schedule for project start dates, so as to respond better to partner needs. The IIC decided to implement the staggered start this year in response to a delay with the two MSDF projects, as described below. By the end of Quarter 2, the first three projects described above (EPIC, Mission Garima, and Millennium Alliance) had already been finalized. During Quarter 3, the IIC continued to work with the partners on these projects to flesh out project scope, governance, and logistics. Fellows will begin working on these projects on August 3. During Quarter 3, the IIC cleared a regulatory hurdle in receiving funds from MSDF that allowed us to move forward with the two MSDF projects (CCE Rajasthan & Himachal Pradesh and QIP Haryana). Rather than giving the IIC funds in India, which would have required FCRA approval, the IIC will receive the funds in the United States and then transfer them to India. This will allow the IIC to move forward with the projects and ensure compliance with US regulations.