IVLP Alumni Spotlight: Strengthening U.S.–Japan Government Bonds

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G3P Fellows Visit Philadelphia

This blog post was contributed by Lee Norrgard, Program Officer in Meridian’s Professional Exchanges Division For almost 170 years, the United States and Japan have organized informational and cultural exchanges between our two countries. Arriving in 1871, Umeko Tsuda was a seven-year-old girl sent to learn Western ways in Washington, DC. Her foster parents provided schooling that led to her graduation from Bryn Mawr College. Upon returning to Japan, she founded the prestigious women’s school Tsuda University which continues the intercultural exchange first experienced by the young Umeko Tsuda. Carrying on this long tradition, in the 1970s, the Government of...

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IVLP Alumni Spotlight: Volunteering from Oklahoma to Kazakhstan

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Amina and fellow IVLP alumni with TGA Board Member John Harper at their Toast the Travelers Reception

The following was written by Bob Lieser, Vice President of Program at Tulsa Global Alliance. In October 2018, Tulsa Global Alliance (TGA), a Community-Based Member of Global Ties U.S., collaborated with Meridian International Center to host a U.S. State Department International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) from Kazakhstan titled “Volunteerism: Charity and Civic Action.” Their schedule included tours of the Little Light House, a faith-based non-profit providing free educational and therapeutic services to children with special needs, and Jenks High School, where they learned about special needs education at a public school district. The visitors also volunteered at Iron Gate,...

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IVLP Alumni Spotlight: Connecting People, Creating Understanding, Exploring Opportunities

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The following was written and submitted by Mr. Marco Polo. The author participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the U.S. Department of State from September 27 to October 20, 2019. He is an Associate Professor at the Communication and Journalism Department and concurrently the Director for University Advancement of De La Salle University-Dasmariñas in Cavite, Philippines. He is a former two-term national president of the Philippine Association of Communication Educators (PACE) and is a member of the Board of Management of the Asian Media, Information and Communication Center (AMIC). I have always believed that traveling is...

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Cartoons in the COVID-19 Era

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Safaa Odah of the Palestinian Territories

Political cartoons can be biting or amusing, and in a moment of crisis they can illustrate a simple, persuasive point with no words at all. It is a form of satire that gives insight into the events and issues happening all around us. Amid a global pandemic, when there is information everywhere, using a picture may be more poignant than a lengthy paragraph and political cartoons grab attention and make the reader pay head. So how are cartoonists in the Middle East depicting the coronavirus in their work? Meridian administered a U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) in the Fall...

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IVLP Alumni Spotlight: Promoting the digital economy through collaboration

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Mr. Hape with participants from Fiji and Indonesia in San Francisco, CA

In September of 2019, Mr. Aaron Hape of New Zealand participated in the multi-regional International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) project “Advancing an Open, Reliable, and Secure Digital Economy.” Working as a senior public servant in the New Zealand Government’s Provincial Growth Fund, his focus is aimed at helping guide regional economic development policies. For Mr. Hape, his IVLP experience highlighted the importance of global perspectives in pursuing his work remarking, “Because of the myriad of cultures I was exposed to in my IVLP cohort, I now have a greater understanding of how other countries support the growth of their digital sectors and encourage the uptake and use of...

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