A program for young and mid-career professionals sponsored by the U.S. Department of State
Magteld Smith, a Public Policy Humphrey fellow from 2012-2013, has been using the skills gained during her Humphrey year in Minnesota to work towards providing opportunities for those with disabilities in South Africa. Throughout her career, Smith has helped establish the analysis of disability as a field in academic research and teaching.
Earlier this summer, Judy Gibson, director of the Humphrey Fellowship Program at the Institute of International Education, had the opportunity to meet with Humphrey alumni who were attending the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) annual conference in Puerto Rico. Nearly 20 Humphrey Alumni were in attendance at the four-day forum which focused on building international collaborative research on drug abuse. During the conference, Humphrey alumni sat down with Ms. Gibson to discuss the impact that the Humphrey Program has had on their career trajectories.
Ms. Lu Sam, a 2013-2014 Fellow placed at Vanderbilt University, was recently the recipient of the annual Humphrey Community Service Award. Ms. Sam has pursued several volunteer assignments during her long-term English placement at Virginia Tech and at her Humphrey campus at Vanderbilt, dedicating much of her spare time to the service of others. Whether sorting packages of school supplies and frozen foods, serving young children with developmental disabilities, or leading students through service-learning projects, Sam has demonstrated the spirit of a servant leader.
On February 7-8, 2014, a group of Humphrey alumni organized the inaugural Egyptian Humphrey Alumni Forum in Cairo. The event brought nearly 25 Humphrey alumni together to discuss the unprecedented challenges that the country has faced since 2011. The two-day event featured sessions on politics, economics and the role of the private sector, law and constitutional issues, education, health, media, women, and ethics and national identity.
On January 14, 2014, Coca-Cola Brazil and the Coca-Cola Foundation announced an investment of $2.1 million in projects intended to promote the social and economic inclusion of Afro-Brazilians in Brazil. One of the NGOs that will receive funding from this generous investment is the Instituto Mídia Étnica, an organization co-founded and directed by Humphrey Alumnus, Paulo Rogério Nunes (Brazil, University of Maryland-College Park, 2011-2012).
The Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board recently released the 48th edition of its Annual Report, which highlights the impact of Fulbright programs and Fulbright alumni around the world. This year, five Humphrey alumni were featured in the publication. Congratulations to Kenneth Kanda (Ghana, Princeton University, 1979-1980), Teresa Nwachukwu (Nigeria, Tulane University, 2010-2011), Edmon Marukyan (Armenia, University of Minnesota – Law School, 2009-2010), Tashi Chhozom (Bhutan, American University, 2005-2006), and Aneesa Ahmed (The Maldives, Pennsylvania State University, 1985-1986) for being selected to share their stories.
On November 7, 2013, Humphrey alumus Illac Diaz (Philippines, MIT, 2005-2006) was awarded the Sustainia Community Award in Copenhagen, Denmark for his Liter of Light (Isang Litrong Liwanag) initiative. The Sustainia Award is an annual international award given to a solution, technology or project with a significant potential to help build a more sustainable future.
For this month’s Humphrey Photo Contest, we asked Fellows and Alumni to send us pictures of their favorite American traditions. Fellows submitted pictures from their Halloween festivities, Thanksgiving dinners, and community service activities. The two photos displayed above are the winning photographs for the month of November. They are displayed in their respective portals as well. Congratulations to the winners!
From October 20 to October 24, 2013, 180 Humphrey Fellows representing 93 countries attended the 2013 Hubert H. Humphrey Global Leadership Forum, “Confronting Global Challenges: A Focus on Climate Change,” at the Key Bridge Marriot Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. During the five-day Forum, the Fellows focused on how global warming affects the world, their nations and even their professions. They also explored the importance of developing leadership skills, managing change and making the most of their program year.
In 2011, Teresa Nwachukwu (Nigeria, Tulane University, 2010-2011) received an Alumni Impact Award to develop and implement a youth leadership program in Abuja, Nigeria. Her goal was to provide orphaned and disadvantaged youth with the resources necessary for them to “grow into well-adjusted adults, ready to take on the challenges of a highly interdependent world.” While Teresa saw that orphans in Abuja were provided with food and shelter, she noticed that they “had a very poor self-image, low self-esteem, [and] a feeling of worthlessness from being abandoned.” As a result, she set out to recruit 60 teachers and 30 mentors to provide leadership training to 100 children in Nigeria’s capital city. Using the skills and training she received during her Humphrey year, Teresa created the Steps to the Top Leadership Center, which recently held its second annual summer leadership camp for Abuja youth.
