Student Exchange for Global Change

Posted under: Center for Global Leadership By /

U.S.-Pakistan Global Leadership and STEM Program visits New York City

The U.S.-Pakistan Global Leadership and STEM Program brought ten innovative young women from across the globe to explore what is out there and waiting for them. By excelling in academia, the students from the Army Public Schools and Colleges of Pakistan had the opportunity not just to explore, but to question and to learn about culture, science, and methods around the world. I can’t believe it’s been one week since the end of the 2016 U.S.-Pakistan Global Leadership and STEM Program. This seventeen day program made me more conscious about the way I could have a career in the...

Continue  

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

Posted under: Center for Global Leadership By /

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...

Continue  

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

Posted under: Center for Global Leadership By /

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...

Continue  

Why Meridian Matters

Posted under: Center for Global Leadership By /

Kirsi (second from left) with WiSci participants at the program's opening reception.

At the entrance of my alma mater, there is a sign that reads, “Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve.” I passed by this sign every week on my way to school. It became a pivotal reminder as to the purpose behind my education – to become a more prepared global citizen and community leader. Since my time with Meridian International Center, I have continued to ponder on the sign and how it’s words apply to my experience with Meridian and its international programs. Last October, I decided to apply for the Washington D.C. Internship Program at my university....

Continue  

IVLP brings former white supremacist, Auschwitz Museum workers together

Posted under: IVLP By /

Auschwitz-Birkenau IVLP group at Meridian for their opening session (Photo credit: Matthew Brooks)

A recent IVLP project from Poland, “Educating about Holocaust-related Issues,” exhibited the power of unexpected encounters during exchange programs. Some professional appointments are more predictably impactful than others, but you can never calculate what will happen when strangers meet for the first time. Typically, the conversation ends when the visitors depart for their next meeting, however, one encounter forged an unlikely connection between one former white supremacist and five Polish visitors from the site of one of the world’s most tragic events.

Continue