18 Inspiring Messages From Young African Leaders

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Pan-Africa Youth Leadership Program participants spell out their vision for Africa.

Listen up. Young African leaders have a few things to say about youth leadership.   These 24 incredible changemakers from Togo, Senegal, Chad and Mauritania traveled to the United States to learn and discuss social entrepreneurship, civic engagement, and community building.   The leaders were here last month as part of our second cohort of Pan-African Youth Leadership Program, a program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.   Each student developed a community service project or small enterprise to implement upon their return home. Projects ranged from jewelry-making ventures to new libraries to school clean-up initiatives. We’re excited...

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Announcing the Mural Arts Exchange Artists

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Artist selections for the upcoming Community Engagement through the Arts: Mural Arts Exchange with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State

The Meridian Center for Cultural Diplomacy (MCCD) is pleased to announce its artist selections for the upcoming Community Engagement through the Arts: Mural Arts Exchange with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Each participant will travel to one of four countries to carry out collaborative murals with local artists representing underserved populations. These shared murals will be designed during each 3.5-week exchange program and will depict social themes that are relevant to each country. Continue  

The Impact of Exchange: Changing Race Relations in South Africa

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Frederik de Klerk & Nelson Mandela - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 1992 (Copyright: World Economic Forum)

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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Creating Africa’s Future Leaders – PAYLP Participants Convene in D.C.

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Participants with Meridian staff

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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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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