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The Billie Achilles Fund

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The Billie Achilles Fund — offered by Bechtel International Center — provides funding for student organizations to develop creative programming that brings people of different international backgrounds together to increase cultural awareness and understanding. To qualify for funding, your program/event must include an intercultural component.

The fund is named after Billie Achilles, a longtime friend to international students at Stanford.

Who Can Apply

To be eligible for funds, your organization must be a registered Stanford student organization with an international focus

Additionally, your event must be free and open to the entire Stanford community.

The fund does not support:

  • Events primarily social in nature (e.g., parties or student group planning meetings)
  • The purchase of alcohol

Funding Limits

Your organizations may apply for up to $1000 per event, not to exceed $2000 per group per academic year (while funds remain). Events not taking place at the Bechtel International Center cannot receive more than $500 per event.

See Additional Requirements below for requirements regarding funding attribution in all event advertising and promotion.

Funding Timeline

Funds will be transferred within 4 weeks of the applications approval. Please keep this timeline in mind when applying for Achilles funding. 

How to Apply

To allow sufficient time for funding approvals and fund transfers to your organization, you should submit your funding application at least eight weeks prior to your event. We accept funding applications throughout the year (but do not review applications over Stanford’s Winter Closure).

To make a funding request, complete and submit a Billie Achilles Fund Request.

Additional Requirements

  • Event promotion — Two weeks prior to the event, your organization is required to email a plain text announcement and a JPEG flyer to the Bechtel International Center for us to use with our Instagram and newsletter. Send your email to: bechtelprograms@stanford.edu.

    Your event flyer must have complete event information, including:
    • The hosting student group(s) name
      • Spell out the group's name, as community members may not be familiar with acronyms
    • Event name
    • Event date, time, and location
    • Event purpose/description
      • Keep in mind that the Billie Achilles Fund only supports events that foster cultural exchange
    • The Billie Achilles Fund attribution: “This event is supported by the Billie Achilles fund and the Bechtel International Center.”
  • Your event must be free and open to the entire Stanford community.
  • Following the completion of your event, your organization must email a written event summary to the Bechtel Programs Team. This report should include:
    • The number of people who attended
    • A list of attendee names, if possible
    • Pictures, if available

Contact Us

If you have any questions or need additional information, reach out to the Bechtel Programs Team: bechtelprograms@stanford.edu.