Meridians’ Role in Bridging the Gap Between Gender Roles in Iraq and Facilitating Positive Change

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IYLEP 2016 at the Washington D.C. Closing Conference

The Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program (IYLEP) recruits the brightest and most forward thinking minds in the country who come to the United States to expand and develop their leadership and cultural diversity skills. IYLEP, a State Department funded program, facilitated by Meridian International Center brought 100 participants, selected from over 2,000 applicants this year, to the U.S. to learn and experience student life at various universities around the country. The program also entails valuable workshops during the opening conference in New York City and during the closing conference in Washington, D.C. The IYLEP participants are consistently presented with...

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Into the Heart of Europe (From Right Here in Washington, DC)

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Networking at the Young Transatlantic Innovation Leaders Initiative

45 European entrepreneurs. 41 different countries. 2 days in DC. 1 marketing and communications intern (me). Last week was my first week interning at Meridian, and I was immediately immersed in European culture and all its diversity with my first project: the Young Transatlantic Innovation Leaders Initiative. I arrived at the State Department for day one of the program. A minute later, a large crowd of people came walking over and waited in line at the security check. Many looked over at me with curiosity, and some came right over, introduced themselves, and asked about my background. I expected...

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U.K. Parliamentarians Meet with U.S. Representatives through BAPG Exchange Program

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MP's Angela Crawley, Jim McMahon, Ranil Jayawardena, and David Mackintosh meet with Representative Pearce

In 2004, a rising Conservative in the United Kingdom Parliament named Theresa May participated in the British American Parliamentary Group (BAPG), a Department of State exchange program co-founded with the U.K. Parliament in 1977 and administered by Meridian International Center. Ms. May and several colleagues traveled to the United States for meetings with U.S. congressional representatives to learn about America’s political process and its domestic debates, in turn sharing their perspectives on pressing challenges facing the U.K. and Europe. Continue  

Checking In With The U.S. – Pakistan Global Leadership and STEM Program

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Pakistani students at the Potomac River (in their Army Public School uniforms!)

The U.S. – Pakistan Global Leadership and STEM Program is an exchange program that engages ten female Pakistani students in a variety of leadership building and STEM-focused educational activities. During their stay, students participated in an immersive nanotechnology curriculum at SUNY Polytechnic institute. When I arrived at the 4H Center a little over a week ago, I was greeted by a room full of exuberant smiles. Ten Pakistani girls, having just touched down from their respective hometowns the night before, were clustered at the long tables pulled together in the meeting room. They literally sparkled, clothed in traditional shalwar...

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Program Theme Spotlight: The Changing Face of Journalism

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IVLP visitors gather behind the newsdesk at KOMU Television in Columbia, Missouri.

Support for free and independent media has long served as a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy. In releasing the 2015 U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Secretary of State John Kerry focused on this point when he said “Far from threatening the democratic process, a free press and open civil society are the release valve and life blood of a thriving democracy.” Continue