Soft Power: The Monthly Roundup (October Edition)
This is the third post in the Meridian Center for Cultural Diplomacy’s Soft Power: The Monthly Roundup, a small collection of unique efforts for global diplomacy through culture and the arts.
The Transatlantic Relationship: 10 Year Recap
Eleven alumni from the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) were reunited in Washington, DC yesterday for a timely discussion of the transatlantic relationship. Three members of the group sat on a panel at the Delegation of the European Union to the U.S. along with David Mark of Politix and a representative from the Atlantic Council. The alumni were Edmundas Jakilaitis of Media 3 Television Production in Lithuania, Eric Bo Axel Sundstrom of Sweden’s on-line progressive newspaper Dagens Arena and Aikaterini Sokou of Kathimerini, Greece and Cyprus’ largest daily broadsheet.
IYLEP 2014 Kicks Off in New York City
“I learn, I lead, IYLEP!” This was the rallying cry at the opening conference for IYLEP 2014 last weekend in New York City. IYLEP, which stands for the Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program, is an intercultural and educational exchange initiative funded by the U.S. Embassy-Baghdad and administered by Meridian International Center for the sixth consecutive year. While the students will spend most of the program in the U.S. at five American universities focusing on varying institute themes, New York City provided the perfect venue for the participants’ first weekend in the United States. Designed as a four-week summer program for...
ContinueThe Impact of Exchange: Changing Race Relations in South Africa
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...
ContinueThe Council on Women’s Leadership at Meridian Partners with Million Women Mentors
The Council on Women’s Leadership at Meridian, chaired by Michele Manatt, recently partnered with the Million Women Mentors in mobilizing the country to mentor girls in STEM Skills.