Last month, Meridian hosted an International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) group of chefs, foodies, and culinary experts from the Middle East. They came to the United States to discuss economic development, explore food culture, and of course, to sample great food. They dined at restaurants, visited markets, learned about America’s slow food movement, and even fit in time for a food truck tour.
For the past semester, I have been extremely fortunate to intern in the GlobalConnect department of Meridian International Center. While I am still a bit in denial about the fact that the semester is almost over, this post will be an opportunity to reflect over the past couple of months and give my thoughts about interning at Meridian. First and foremost, for anyone who is interested in applying to intern in one of the many departments at Meridian International Center, I recommend it wholeheartedly. This internship has been a fantastic opportunity: I have been introduced to great people from...
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Today is Election Day in South Africa, 20 years after the country’s first all-race vote and the 5th national election since the fall of apartheid. Many are part of a generation of “born frees” – citizens born after apartheid that are voting for the first time. On this day, we remember a South African visitor that came through our doors for a project sponsored by the U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (formerly under the U.S. Information Agency) in 1976. He was a member of the South African Parliament under apartheid and had been serving for seven...
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This post is part of a recurring series about alumni of the Study of U.S. Institutes for Student Leaders for Public Policy and Government Leadership Program (SUSI) that is run by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and Meridian International Center. For other posts about progress SUSI alumni are making in their communities, click here. Thanks to governmental reforms, education in Bangladesh has continued to improve over the past ten years. However, this uplifting progress comes with some disheartening figures: according to a World Bank report, in 2004 almost 1.5 million students were not...
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The Pan-Africa Youth Leadership Program, Meridian International Center’s newest youth leadership initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is already proving to be a success. The 24 participants, who range in age from 15-18 and represent eight different African nations, arrived in the U.S. on Sunday, April 6th. Over the next couple days, the participants were then given the best D.C. had to offer: a tour of the Capitol Building; a meeting with the staff of Senator Jeff Flake; a briefing and visit to the National Museum of African Art with the director, Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole; an...
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