My Experience with YLAI – A U.S. Department of State Exchange Program

Posted under: GlobalConnect By /

YLAI 2018 cohort

From September to October 2018, Meridian International Center successfully implemented the Young Leaders of America Initiative (YLAI) 2018 cohort. This great program which is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, brought 250 YLAI Professional Fellows from Latin America and the Caribbean to expand their leadership and entrepreneurial experience. YLAI is designed to address the opportunity gap for youth, especially women, by empowering business and social entrepreneurs with the training, tools, networks and resources they need to transform their societies and contribute more fully to economic development and prosperity, security, human...

Continue  

Swedish Journalists Share Their Experiences About Being in the U.S During Midterm Elections

Posted under: MCCD By /

Swedish journalists and members of the Palmetto Council for International Visitors, Jim Byrum and Lisa Ewart, stand outside of the State House in Columbia, South Carolina while on a tour of the city.

The Swedish-U.S Foreign Policy and Media Exchange program, organized for the U.S Embassy in Stockholm by Meridian International Center brought seven central and southern Swedish journalists and editors to the U.S. from November 3-9, 2018, to examine the contemporary landscape of U.S media and political journalism. This program explored the media’s role in navigating and covering today’s political climate, challenges facing traditional media and the future of transatlantic writing. The group of Swedish journalists met with news organizations in Washington, D.C and in Columbia, South Carolina, including Politico, Axios, the Heritage Foundation’ media and communications department, The University of South Carolina’s communications department and COLAToday, among many more. Throughout...

Continue  

PAYLP Alumni Share Their Knowledge With Local Communities Back Home

Posted under: GlobalConnect By /

Our Alumnus Clarence Sarty from the team Liberia who shared their experience in a local radio station in Ganta city Nimba County Liberia.

In August 2018, Meridian welcomed 109 high school students and adult mentors from twenty-three African countries to the U.S. for the Pan Africa Youth Leadership Program (PAYLP), an annual three-week academic and cultural exchange on leadership development and civic engagement. Below is a blog post written by Vanessa Elongo Meridian’s PAYLP Intern who is originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is an international student at George Mason University studying Integrative Studies with a concentration in International Studies. “It has been almost two months that our PAYLP 2018 Alumni of the summer cohort returned to their home...

Continue  

Program Theme Spotlight: Technology Entrepreneurship

Posted under: IVLP By /

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...

Continue  

Visitors from Mongolia translate historical tablet for University of Iowa Library

Posted under: IVLP By /

Participants from the IVLP

In October of this year, a five-member group of Librarians from Mongolia participated in a three-week International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on Library Management.  Beyond Washington, DC, the group traveled to Baltimore, Maryland; Albany, New York; Akron Ohio; Iowa City, Iowa; and Reno, Nevada. Visits to public libraries were a principal component of the program and in one location, Iowa City, local librarians were grateful for the unexpected assistance of an IVLP participant.  The University of Iowa brought out an old wood block tablet from Mongolia to demonstrate the library’s broad reach in showcasing other cultures for the community....

Continue