IVLP Alumni Spotlight: Empowering Women in Rural Areas

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HOCIC's community service programs at a local children's home was inspired by Sunga's time on a Volunteerism IVLP project in 2014.

IVLP Alumni Spotlight features U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) alumni as they reflect on the impact of the program and how it has affected their work and lives. Here we feature the Director of Hope for a Child in Christ, a non-profit organisation based in Zimbabwe who participated on the IVLP in 2014. Ms. Sunga Mzeche spent three weeks in the United States visiting non-profit organisations, federal agencies, and corporations to learn about volunteerism and NGO best practices.  

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“Indian and American women, while unique in some ways, face similar challenges in the media” – Interview with Participant in the U.S Speaker Program in India

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Cristal Williams Chancellor pictured with Arch Academy of Design with founder and director Archana Surana, her colleagues, Conrad Turner, counselor for cultural affairs, and Mandeep Kaur, cultural affairs specialist, U.S. Embassy, New Delhi.

Meridian International Center has been implementing the U.S. Speaker and Specialist Program for India sponsored by the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi since 2013. By sending U.S. experts on various fields to India, the program connects U.S. experts with Indian audiences and institutions; promotes an understanding of U.S. strategic priorities, policies and institutions; and provides opportunities to discuss the political, economic, social, and cultural context from which they arise. Cristal Williams Chancellor, who serves as the director of communications for the Women’s Media Center, was one of our experts in this program in 2018....

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My Experience with YLAI – A U.S. Department of State Exchange Program

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YLAI 2018 cohort

From September to October 2018, Meridian International Center successfully implemented the Young Leaders of America Initiative (YLAI) 2018 cohort. This great program which is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, brought 250 YLAI Professional Fellows from Latin America and the Caribbean to expand their leadership and entrepreneurial experience. YLAI is designed to address the opportunity gap for youth, especially women, by empowering business and social entrepreneurs with the training, tools, networks and resources they need to transform their societies and contribute more fully to economic development and prosperity, security, human...

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PAYLP Alumni Share Their Knowledge With Local Communities Back Home

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Our Alumnus Clarence Sarty from the team Liberia who shared their experience in a local radio station in Ganta city Nimba County Liberia.

In August 2018, Meridian welcomed 109 high school students and adult mentors from twenty-three African countries to the U.S. for the Pan Africa Youth Leadership Program (PAYLP), an annual three-week academic and cultural exchange on leadership development and civic engagement. Below is a blog post written by Vanessa Elongo Meridian’s PAYLP Intern who is originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is an international student at George Mason University studying Integrative Studies with a concentration in International Studies. “It has been almost two months that our PAYLP 2018 Alumni of the summer cohort returned to their home...

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IVLP Interfaith Group Statement Affirms Importance of Religious Freedom after Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting

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Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Education and Cultural Affairs Jennifer Galt and Ambassador for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback met with the Interfaith Dialogue and Religious Freedom Multi-Regional Project participants.

On October 15, Meridian International Center implemented, in partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Office of International Visitors, a multi-regional project from 26 countries and representing all five major faiths on the theme of Interfaith Dialogue and Religious Freedom. The participants concluded their program in Los Angeles, California on Saturday, October 26 – just as news of the Pittsburgh shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue was breaking. The previous Friday evening was spent in a Los Angeles synagogue, where the group attended a Shabbat service and shared a Shabbat meal. Upon returning to their respective homes, the...

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