Vilma Fuentes, Ph.D.
Dr. Vilma Elisa Fuentes is a higher education professional with over twenty years of experience who joined LSI as a Visiting Associate in Research to serve as the Program Director for FSU's Ukraine Task Force. Dr. Fuentes is responsible for facilitating connections between Ukrainian universities and FSU faculty.
She has worked at American community colleges and universities for over 25 years as a faculty member, researcher, and higher education administrator. She dedicated twenty years of her career to Santa Fe College, the 2015 Aspen Prize Winner for Community College Excellence. Her varied roles in higher education have given her extensive experience in curriculum development; online, in-person, and hybrid teaching; faculty training; youth mentorship; strategic planning; accreditation; project management; and community outreach.
She has directed, co-directed, or administered over twenty federal grants. These include fifteen U.S. Department of State-funded Community College Administrator Programs (two with Ukraine from 2015-2019), a small diplomacy grant from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv in 2017-2018 to Promote Inclusive Education through Youth Leadership, and a 2024 grant from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv to share the American experience of serving military veterans, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups."
Dr. Fuentes holds an M.S. in International Studies and Ph.D. in Political Science with a specialization in comparative politics and international relations. She has native fluency in Spanish and elementary knowledge of French, Portuguese, and Ukrainian. Dr. Fuentes has travelled to approximately thirty countries, including to Ukraine on five separate occasions since 2015. Most of her graduate level research took place in Honduras. Her doctoral dissertation studied how a major natural disaster and the massive influx of foreign aid that followed impacted national and subnational governance in the country. She conducted qualitative and quantitative research among rural peasants, poor urban dwellers, government officials, non-governmental organizations, and elected officials. Many of these were hurricane victims.
Collectively, her research and academic experiences have equipped Dr. Fuentes with the knowledge and skills needed to work with vulnerable populations impacted by war, displacement, and disasters. She is particularly well-equipped to develop education programs that will help historically marginalized groups develop new knowledge and skills needed to find employment and contribute to local economic growth.
