“An Enriching and Sharing Experience!” by Linda Luque, A Panamanian ‘Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists’ Participant

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Linda Luque at the U.S. House of Representatives

The United States Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs allowed me, a professional journalist from Panama, to participate in the International Visitor Leadership Program in the Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists. This experience provided me the opportunity to acquire the necessary knowledge to project journalism as a force of union between nations. Continue  

A Case for Global Leadership

Posted under: Center for Global Leadership By /

Ambassador Holliday and Ambassador Wendy Sherman assess the State of the World.

The world is at an inflection point. Throughout both the developing and developed world, people are unsure about their future and have lost faith in their leaders and their institutions. We are seeing this in the rise of populism and xenophobia – from the rise of ISIS to Brexit and the rhetoric of America’s presidential election. While the tendency in this environment is to look towards nationalism, the world is too globalized and interconnected for countries to solve domestic and international issues alone. Moreover, neither governments nor the private sector or civil society will be able to overcome these...

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UNESCO’s Announcement of New Intangible Cultural Heritage Is a Great Chance to Think about New Steps to Protect the World’s Properties

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New additions to UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced the addition of 16 new sites to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list on December 1. This gives us a great opportunity not just to celebrate new additions but to think about how to protect them. These 16 new sites are literally from all over the world: Europe, Asia, South America, the Middle East, and Africa. As a Japanese intern, I was personally glad to see that “Yama, Hoko, Yatai float festivals in Japan” was on the list. This tradition encompasses 33 festivals in 18 prefectures throughout Japan, showing the...

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“My First Day of YLAI” by YLAI Professional Fellow Ann-Sophie Ovile

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YLAI Professional Fellows bond as a community during the Program Opening

Ann-Sophie Ovile is the Founder and CEO of Mennen’m La Tours in Haiti, and she is one of 248 fellows participating in the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Professional Fellows Program, which brings entrepreneurs and civil society leaders to the United States for a five-week program. This U.S. Department of State-sponsored program empowers these young entrepreneurs to strengthen their capacity to launch and advance their entrepreneurial ideas and to effectively contribute to social and economic development in their communities. The day that we all have been waiting for has finally arrived! 248 young and dynamic entrepreneurs from Latin America...

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On the value of networks

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YLAI Professional Fellows Program 2016

As a new intern and a young professional in the making, one is always made aware of the multiple networking opportunities that arise in any given environment. We are encouraged to network, to update our LinkedIn profiles, and make eye contact when firmly shaking people’s hands. Flash forward a month into my summer experience interning for Meridian’s Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative  (YLAI), I have learned the true value of creating a network. Needless to say, my networking awareness was not exclusively informed by my peers, colleagues, or from my fellow interns. Rather, it came from reading more than 300 applications out...

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