Fellows Gather in Washington, DC for Global Leadership Forum
From October 29th to November 2nd, the cohorts of all fifteen host universities—154 Fellows in total—gathered in Washington, DC as hosts of the State Department and the Institute of International Education for a week of meetings, presentations and receptions at the Humphrey Fellowship Program’s annual Global Leadership Forum.
The Schedule of Events included addresses and presentations by a wide range of officials and specialists including the following:
- Dr. John Sedlins, Chief, Humphrey Fellowships and Institutional Linkages Branch, U.S. Department of State
- Mr. Paul Schelp, Program Officer, Humphrey Fellowships and Institutional Linkages Branch, U.S. Department of State
- Mr. Kennon Jones, Regional Alumni Coordinator for East Asia and the Pacific Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State
- Dr. Allan E. Goodman, President and CEO, Institute of International Education
- Ms. Nancy Overholt, Client Engagement Lead, Humphrey Fellowship Program Institute of International Education
- Ms. Edith Cecil, Chief, Client Engagement, Government Institute of International Education
- Ms. Huma Haque, Program Manager, Humphrey Fellowship Program Institute of International Education
- Mr. Eric Schwartz, President, Refugees International; Former Dean, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota
- Mr. John Schaus, Fellow, International Security Program Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Ms. Lobna Ismail, Founder and President Connecting Cultures, Inc.
- Dr. William Dant, President, WPD Global Solutions, LLC
There were also presentations by four alumni, including Sujeev Shakya, a 2002–2003 alumnus of the BU program:
- Mr. Utku Cakirozer, Member of Parliament, Turkish Grand National Assembly / University of Maryland, College Park 2008-2009
- Ms. Harum Mukhayer, Visiting PhD Researcher, Harvard Law School / University of California, Davis 2015-2016
- Mr. Sujeev Shakya, Founder and CEO, Beed Management / Boston University 2002-2003
- Ms. Inga Spriņģe, Investigative Journalist & Co-Founder, Baltic Center for Investigative Journalism / University of Maryland, College Park 2010-2011
Each cohort was also assigned to produce a slide presentation and poster on the theme of Our Shared Global Future. The BU cohort prepared a presentation focused on leadership, meta-competencies and soft skills entitled “Investing in an Inclusive Global Society,” which was delivered by Waqas Munir of Pakistan. At the end of the presentation, Waqas was joined by his colleagues Alena Vachnová of Slovakia, Aziza Pulotova of Tajikistan, and Ziyad Abuo Habla of Israel, each of whom recounted situations in their previous work when such competencies were critically needed. Following the presentation, the entire cohort stood to take questions from the audience, which included the cohorts of Michigan State, MIT, Penn State and Vanderbilt.
The BU Fellows’ presentation and Q&A session may be viewed here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZFtVVQP30n3antnAdp7Vxr0VcJfuKZ8e/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10m4lW-yRoWBIKXYiYVBU8GkMqUE3f18s/view?usp=sharing
This year’s GLF also included a set of concurrent sessions entitled “Shared Challenges: Global Responses” featuring the following topics and speakers:
- How to Establish an NGO / Ms. Inga Spriņģe, Investigative Journalist & Co-Founder, Baltic Center for Investigative Journalism and HHHP Fellow at University of Maryland, College Park 2010-11
- Media Literacy in Today’s World / Dr. Kalyani Chadha, Associate Professor and Director, Media, Self and Society Program, Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland College Park
- Empowering Women for Sustainable Development / Mr. Wade Channell, Senior Economic Growth Advisor for Gender, U.S. Agency for International Development
- Leadership in Public Service
We were pleased that Ms. Thabsile Ntshalintshali of Swaziland was selected to moderate the session on Empowering Women for Sustainable Development.
On Tuesday night, October 31st, Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan hosted a grand reception for the Fellows in the Benjamin Franklin Room at the Department of State. IIE President and CEO Allan Goodman also addressed the Fellows.
We were also very pleased to see Ms. Beatriz Gonzalez, a 2016–2017 BU Fellow who is currently working at the U.S. Department of Transportation in an extension of her Professional Affiliation during the Fellowship year.
