Biography

Dr. Tonija M. Hope serves as the Assistant Provost for International Programs and Executive Director of the Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center at Howard University. In this dual role, she provides strategic leadership for the University’s internationalization agenda and oversees the Bunche Center’s mission to expand equitable global engagement for students, faculty, and partners worldwide. Her portfolio includes study abroad and global experiential learning, international partnership development, global programming, institutional risk management for global mobility, and the administration of the Patricia Roberts Harris Fellowship, as well as flagship fellowship programs supported by the U.S. Department of State, all aimed at strengthening diverse talent pipelines in international affairs and public service.  Also within her portfolio are the Center for African Studies, the Center for Women Gender, & Global Leadership, and the Office of International Student Services.

Dr. Hope’s career reflects a sustained commitment to international education, public diplomacy, and racial equity across the African Diaspora. After earning her B.A. in Latin American Studies and Spanish from Macalester College, she began her international work in South Africa at the University of Cape Town, collaborating with faculty and administrators to increase meaningful engagement between international and South African students in the post-apartheid era. She later earned a Master’s in Tourism Administration with a concentration in International Education from The George Washington University, further grounding her work in the design and management of global education programs.

Immediately prior to joining Howard University, Dr. Hope served as the founding Executive Director of the Baoba Fund for Racial Equity–North America, supporting Afro-Brazilian civil society organizations through a landmark $25 million challenge grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. In this role, she managed transnational partnerships across the United States, Brazil, Africa, and Europe and advanced philanthropic strategies centered on racial justice and community-led development.

A nationally recognized scholar-practitioner, Dr. Hope is deeply engaged in advancing racial equity through international policy and civil society engagement. She serves as Chair of the U.S. Civil Society Committee for the U.S.–Colombia Action Plan to Promote Racial and Ethnic Equality (CAPREE) and is a member of the U.S. Civil Society Committee for the U.S.–Brazil Joint Action Plan to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Discrimination (JAPER). She also serves as Chair of the Board for the Fund for Education Abroad, an at-large board member of the International Student House of Washington, DC, and a board member-at-large of the Association of International Education Administrators. She has been named one of Washingtonian Magazine’s 500 Most Influential People in Washington in the Foreign Policy category for three consecutive years.

Dr. Hope earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies from Howard University, where her doctoral research developed the framework of Black Internationalization as an equity-centered approach to global engagement. A native Washingtonian, she is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and is the proud mother of two exceptional children.