Adding Value into Education: Transforming Leaders

To celebrate International Education Day, we are highlighting our many inspiring alumni from our Study of U.S. Institutes (SUSI) for Global Student Leaders program. Through partnerships with five U.S. universities and a series of interactive classroom activities, community-based projects and site visits to U.S. cities of all sizes, SUSI students experience an in-depth investigation into program themes and enhance their understanding of American values. Rishitha Jaladi of India spoke with Meridian’s Center for Global Leadership to reflect on his experience and its impact. Jaladi participated in the Summer 2021 virtual Institute on Youth, Education, and the Future of Work...

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Discovering Your Potential: From SUSI Participant to Community Leader

To celebrate International Education Day, we are highlighting our many inspiring alumni from our Study of U.S. Institutes (SUSI) for Global Student Leaders program. Through partnerships with five U.S. universities and a series of interactive classroom activities, community-based projects and site visits to U.S. cities of all sizes, SUSI students experience an in-depth investigation into program themes and enhance their understanding of American values. Xavier Nhaule of Mozambique spoke with Meridian’s Center for Global Leadership to reflect on his experience and its impact. Nhaule is the Executive Director of Banco de Alimentos de Moçambique Association. This year’s International Day...

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Public Diplomacy Strengthens Democracies

It has been one year since the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and the day still looms over the diplomatic community. Dozens of countries and international institutions condemned the violence. Foreign leaders and diplomats followed suit with many calling it for what it was – an attack on democracy.      Eleven months later, U.S. President Biden emphasized the need to restore democracy in all its facets, calling it the defining challenge of our time at the inaugural Summit for Democracy in December 2021. However, his tone remained largely optimistic, saying, “Democracy — government of the people, by the people, for the people — can...

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Improving Partnerships and Collaboration in Cybersecurity

In May of this year, for the first time ever the GasBuddy mobile app earned the achievement of most downloaded on the U.S. App Store. Overall, total downloads increased almost 20 fold compared to an average day earlier in the year. This was not simply a huge influx of people who wanted to see if they could save an extra three cents a gallon. Rather, a cyber attack on the Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline in the U.S., caused a surge of panic buying amidst fears of an impending gas shortage. In early September, Howard University in Washington,...

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Investigating Human Rights Abuses through Advanced Technologies

The following post was drafted and submitted by Fernand Gouveia, Program Officer for Meridian’s Center for Global Leadership. Meridian’s Center for Global Leadership recently administered a project for the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) titled “Investigating and Prosecuting Human Rights Violations.” Participants included a group of 10 lawyers, prosecutors, government advisors, and advocates representing various countries with compelling human rights records, like Barbados, Colombia, Mexico, and Rwanda. Participants gained valuable insight on the use of evidence-based methods and innovative technologies that investigators increasingly rely on to hold rights violators accountable and protect vulnerable populations. These new tools and strategies,...

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