The Global Democracy and Development Foundation, represented by its president Leonel Fernandez, has signed agreements with two Chicago educational institutions, DePaul University and the Illinois Institute of Technology. The agreement with IIT will allow teachers from Chicago to come to the Dominican Republic and carry out research. Students from the DR will have access to research opportunities, workshops and other academic activities at IIT. The agreement with DePaul University was signed by Fernandez and Father Dennis H Holtschnieder, the president of DePaul University. Funglode and DePaul had an agreement to carry out a cycle of training courses on programming and the development of applications for video games in the Dominican Republic. DePaul is the largest Catholic university in the United States, founded in 1898 by Vincentian fathers from the order of Saint Vincent de Paul, a 17th century French priest.