From Participant to Programmer: Meridian IVLP Alumnus on Exchanges with Meridian

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Manuel Comeron (bottom) pictured with the American delegation meeting with the Liège Police Force during the Community Connections program

In the fall of 2018, Mr. Manuel Comeron, an alumnus of the 2017 Meridian International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) entitled “Strong Cities: Building Community Resilience to Radicalization and Violent Extremism,” was a programming partner for the Community Connections program. This iteration of Community Connections is a two-part international exchange program between Nashville and Chattanooga, Tennessee and Liège and Verviers, Belgium during which rising American and Belgian leaders in violence prevention exchange best practices in countering violent extremism. In the first part of the program, Mr. Comeron organized a one-week program in Liège for 8 American NGO leaders, government officials,...

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Program Theme Spotlight: Women’s Empowerment

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Participants from the

Women’s empowerment has long  been recognized as a pillar of successful economic, social and community development.  Since the 1946 U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, the international development community has focused research and attention on women’s rights in political, economic, social and educational fields, and one of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals focuses on Gender equality and women’s empowerment.

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IVLP Alumni Spotlight: Creating Jobs for Women in Rural Côte d’Ivoire

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Antoinette Botti (in green shirt), founder and owner of ASSÔWÔ (meaning Stand Up), a cooperative that involves every woman in her village in Cote d'Ivoire

IVLP Alumni Spotlight features U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) alumni as they reflecton the impact of the program and how it has affected their work and lives. Here we spotlight, Ms. Antoinette Botti from Cote d’Ivoire, whose work focuses specifically on empowering women in rural environments. Ms. Botti participated in a large group project on volunteerism, and she recounts below the impact that this program had on her, both personally and professionally.

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IVLP Alumni Spotlight: Empowering Women in Rural Areas

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HOCIC's community service programs at a local children's home was inspired by Sunga's time on a Volunteerism IVLP project in 2014.

IVLP Alumni Spotlight features U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) alumni as they reflect on the impact of the program and how it has affected their work and lives. Here we feature the Director of Hope for a Child in Christ, a non-profit organisation based in Zimbabwe who participated on the IVLP in 2014. Ms. Sunga Mzeche spent three weeks in the United States visiting non-profit organisations, federal agencies, and corporations to learn about volunteerism and NGO best practices.  

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Program Theme Spotlight: Technology Entrepreneurship

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High Tech Entrepreneurship in Low-Tech Environments Group

Entrepreneurship and innovation are key indicators of a community’s capacity to: grow its economy; develop its workforce; create a diversified workplace; develop leadership skills among its citizenry; and facilitate civic engagement. Entrepreneurship is a tremendous tool for engaging  young people, particularly in underserved communities, by helping them develop the skills necessary to compete in the 21st century economy. Tech entrepreneurship can open up potentially broader opportunities for partnerships with other community stakeholders. Numerous organizations – international, national and local – have focused their resources on developing tech entrepreneurship programs in partnership with educational institutions, businesses and government entities. Developing...

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