Panda Diplomacy & Citizen Diplomats – Key Highlights of The First Lady’s Recent Visit to China

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First Lady Michelle Obama - State Visit to China - March 2014

U.S.-Chinese relations took an unusual turn last week as Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States, travelled to Beijing, Chengdu, and Xi’an as part of a goodwill visit to the People’s Republic of China. Trip highlights included playing ping pong with Beijing high school students; touring the Forbidden City with Peng Liyuan, wife of President Xi Jinping; exploring the Great Wall with her daughters; and promoting her “Let’s Move!” campaign by practicing tai chi and jumping rope with Chinese youth. On their last day in China, the Obama girls made a special trip to visit one of the...

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SUSI Alumni Making Changes: Olivier Senat

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Students listening to a Jeunesse Verte Haitienne presentation

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. Continue  

Youth Leadership Exchange between Central Europe and US Demonstrates Three Years of Success

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YLPCE Participants in front of the Capitol Building

How can young leaders impact a local community? This question, and others, is what the Youth Leadership Program with Central Europe (YLPCE) strives to answer. The program – funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau for Educational and Cultural Affairs and organized by Meridian International Center – ran consecutively from 2011 to 2013, and brought together over 170 participants from Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and the U.S. to work on leadership development through immersive exchange experiences. Unlike many of Meridian’s exchange programs, the Youth Leadership Program with Central Europe constitutes an actual bilateral exchange between different countries. Many of Meridian’s other...

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Economic Empowerment Program for Zambian and Zimbabwean Professionals

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Victoria Falls - At the Zambia/Zimbabwe Border

In the spring of 2014, Meridian International Center will begin the implementation of the U.S. Department of State’s Professional Fellows Program for Zambia and Zimbabwe. Beginning in May 2014, the program aims to bring 24 professionals to the U.S. from Zambia and Zimbabwe in two cohorts to introduce them to American business, entrepreneurial, and marketing practices that they can later implement in their home countries. The program incorporates a 3-week fellowship with an American business or NGO based in Denver, CO, or Charlotte, NC, as well as skills-based workshops, and culminates with a Professional Fellows Conference in Washington, DC. The participants will also benefit from a reciprocal two-week visit from eight American counterparts to Zambia and Zimbabwe in 2015.

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SUSI Alumni Making Changes: Swechhya Sangroula

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In collaboration with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Meridian International Center administered the Study of U.S. Institutes for Student Leaders for Public Policy and Government Leadership (SUSI) in the summer of 2013. The program was a combination of leadership training, cultural exchange, and rigorous classes designed to give participants a better understanding of the United States, as well as transform them into more effective and successful leaders.

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