“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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Visitors from Mongolia translate historical tablet for University of Iowa Library

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Participants from the IVLP

In October of this year, a five-member group of Librarians from Mongolia participated in a three-week International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on Library Management.  Beyond Washington, DC, the group traveled to Baltimore, Maryland; Albany, New York; Akron Ohio; Iowa City, Iowa; and Reno, Nevada. Visits to public libraries were a principal component of the program and in one location, Iowa City, local librarians were grateful for the unexpected assistance of an IVLP participant.  The University of Iowa brought out an old wood block tablet from Mongolia to demonstrate the library’s broad reach in showcasing other cultures for the community....

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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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