In early December, President Biden and Vice President Harris joined renowned figures from the art and political worlds to celebrate the 45th annual Kennedy Center Honors. The ceremony honored U2, George Clooney, Amy Grant, Gladys Knight, and Tania Leon and will be broadcast on CBS on December 28 at 8 p.m.

The Kennedy Center Honors annually celebrate an artist’s cumulative body of work and influence in American culture. The rainbow medallions that signify the achievement were presented to the awardees at a dinner at the State Department hosted by Secretary of State Antony Blinken the night before the Honors ceremony.

"[T]he bonds between nations are not just forged by governments but by people, and sometimes those connections take root a little deeper when they come in the form of a song or a symphony, a painting or a performance,” Blinken said at the dinner. “That’s why cultural diplomacy is such a key pillar of our work here at the State Department....In a world where there are few big problems that the United States can solve alone, we can’t lose sight of this universal connection. The arts give us language to talk about the aspirations that we all hold, the emotions that we share, the challenges that we face.“

Those ideas were highlighted by a performance featuring Ukrainian artist Jamala that both honored U2 and called attention to the ongoing war Ukraine is fighting to defend its land, identity and culture.

Celebrate the importance of the arts as a force to uplift and unite on Dec. 28 at 8 p.m. on CBS.

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Article by Naomi Hampton, intern with the U.S. Department of State, currently studying History and Politics of the Americas at University College London.

[Mexico, November 2022] When talking about her business Negro Neón, which means “Black Neon” in English, Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) #ExchangeAlumni María Rojas said,“I think this chose me rather than I chose it!”

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image of maria garcia rojas AWE alum María Rojas got inspired to open a business that recycles plastic into fashion accessories. (Photo Credit María Rojas)

When she was studying abroad in Germany, while working towards her degree in industrial design, Rojas noticed a difference between how those working in waste management were treated in Europe compared to in her home country of Mexico. 

She says she was surprised by the respect the public had for those who collected trash and recyclable materials.  She was also shocked to see the general population recycle their own waste products at supermarkets and at home.

“They had these machines in supermarkets where you could exchange plastic bottles for money or store credit,” Rojas said.  “The job of recycling collectors is dignified unlike in my country where they are looked [down upon].”

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Negro Neón upcycles plastic into a wide variety of pieces. (Photo Credit María Rojas) Negro Neón upcycles plastic into a wide variety of pieces. (Photo Credit María Rojas)

After she returned to Mexico, Rojas felt inspired to do something to upcycle the plastic waste she saw at home. She discovered Precious Plastic, an online recycling and conservation community that encouraged her to go into the recycled jewelry making business.

Negro Neón now operates as both an online and retail business, with her products in boutiques and stores throughout the country. Rojas collects recyclable plastics from 3D printing runoffs and her local community which she sorts, melts down, and reforms into gorgeous earrings, rings and other pieces.  

Though she primarily runs the business alone, Rojas often gets help crafting from single mothers, students, and other women in her community who want a bit of extra cash during busy seasons.

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Part of the process involves melting plastic down to remold it into a new shape. (Photo Credit María Rojas) Part of the process involves melting plastic down to remold it into a new shape. (Photo Credit María Rojas)

“I think having them sand down the products for one or two hours a day is an easy and flexible job for them which can be done while attending online classes or watching Netflix, so very convenient.”

A 2020 participant in the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE), a U.S. Department of State initiative to empower women worldwide, Rojas is thankful for the skills she gained.  As part of AWE, she completed the DreamBuilder online training, developed by Arizona State’s Thunderbird School of Global Management, and learned how to fine-tune her business plan.  

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Rojas credits AWE for helping her to fine-tune her business plan and build a network of women entrepreneurs. (Photo Credit Sojamx) Rojas credits AWE for helping her to fine-tune her business plan and build a network of women entrepreneurs. (Photo Credit Sojamx)

Rojas said she had previously enrolled herself in several entrepreneurial programs, but AWE was the only one tailor-made for the needs of women specifically.  She said being a woman entrepreneur presents its own set of challenges, and AWE is able to confront and address them in a constructive way.

“[AWE] was very different because it focused more on women and the different challenges we would face compared to men,” Rojas explained.

Rojas went on to win the AWE pitch competition with a prize of $2,500, allowing her to open a workshop and studio showfront for in-person clientele.   For her, the most important takeaway from the program was the connections to other women in business – both around the world and right next door. Laughing, she explained she even found her accountant there.

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Winning a pitch competition helped her to expand her business, Negro Neón which recycles plastic into a range of colorful accessories. (Photo Credit María Rojas) Winning a pitch competition helped her to expand her business, Negro Neón which recycles plastic into a range of colorful accessories. (Photo Credit María Rojas)

“I think the greatest part was connecting with these women entrepreneurs that have kinds of businesses completely different from mine!”

Since then, Rojas has been pushing her business forward.  She hopes to invest in a machine to create her upcycled products with the same quality but at a faster rate, and is looking to expand her client base both in Mexico and in their neighbor next door - the United States.

Rojas recently participated in a six-week internship with a U.S. business as part of the prestigious Young Leaders of America Initiative (YLAI) Fellowship, a U.S. State Department exchange program that supports entrepreneurship and economic empowerment in the Americas. 

Every year, the YLAI Fellowship brings nearly 300 business and social entrepreneurs from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada to the United States for a fellowship that includes entrepreneurial leadership training, a four-week professional placement, and closing forum.  As a 2022 YLAI fellow, Rojas collaborated with Atacama Biomaterials, a robotics startup that develops renewable materials in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

For now, the 26-year-old entrepreneur is very excited by how far she has come in such a short time.  Rojas plans to leverage her AWE and YLAI alumni experience by giving back the knowledge she gained to other women interested in starting a business, and running workshops for other young entrepreneurs like her.

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Rojas is working to get her Negro Neon jewelry line into retail outlets in the United States. (Photo Credit Sojamx) Rojas is working to get her Negro Neon jewelry line into retail outlets in the United States. (Photo Credit Sojamx)

The Academy for Women Entrepreneurs, a program of the U.S. Department of State, gives women like Rojas the knowledge, networks, and access they need to launch and scale successful businesses.  Since 2019, AWE has used the DreamBuilder learning platform to empower more than 25,000 women entrepreneurs to follow their dream of owning a business in nearly 100 countries, and has operated in Mexico since 2019.

The Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Fellowship Program empowers emerging entrepreneurs from the Western Hemisphere to enable the full economic potential of the region’s citizens. YLAI promotes U.S. business models, increases trade, encourages job creation, and builds lasting and sustainable networks of young entrepreneurs and business and social leaders across Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, and the United States.

For more information about AWE, visit: https://eca.state.gov/awe
For more information about YLAI, visit: https://ylai.state.gov/ 

In November 2022, the U.S. Department of State and implementing partner World Learning hosted more than 150 business and community leaders from 42 countries in Washington, D.C., for the 2022 Professional Fellows Congress. The congress served as the capstone event for the Professional Fellows Program and took place November 1 to 3 under the theme: “The Power of Purpose: Global Leaders Navigating a Reconnected World.”

The Professional Fellows Program is an exchange program that advances good governance, economic empowerment, and civic engagement between Americans and citizens of other countries. During a five-week professional placement with U.S. companies and social enterprises in more than 20 U.S. states, the 2022 fellows collaborated with American counterparts to strengthen leadership development, deepen relationships, and address shared global challenges. For example, fellows worked with U.S. media organizations to combat disinformation, community organizations to support nonpartisan voter mobilization initiatives, and state and local government agencies to improve communications with key constituents.

Watch 2022 Professional Fellows describe their experience here:

From December 13-15, President Biden will host the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit (ALS) in Washington, D.C. The Summit will demonstrate the United States’ enduring commitment to Africa and will underscore the importance of U.S.-Africa relations and increased cooperation on shared global priorities. More than 40 of the 147,000+ African alumni of U.S. exchange programs will attend the summit to expand and strengthen partnerships with the United States, including those from the Mandela Washington Fellowship, the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Speaker Program, and others.


Attendees will engage in sessions on higher education and workforce development, the creative industries, environmental equity, diaspora outreach, and more. U.S. collaboration with African civil society, business, diaspora, and youth leaders is essential to tackling shared challenges and seizing some of the most pressing global challenges and opportunities.


By 2025, more than half the population in Africa will be under the age of 25. By the year 2050, one in four people on Earth will be African. These figures remind us how important it is for young people to be engaged and prepared to lead, and how important Africa is to the future of the world and to the United States.

Find out more about the 2022 Africa Leaders Summit here and on Twitter using #USAfricaLeadersSummit22. Follow @ECAatState on Twitter for content and stories about ECA alumni at the Summit.

The Cultural Property Advisory Committee intends to meet January 30 - February 2, 2023 to review (1) extending and amending the cultural property agreement with the Government of Cambodia, (2) to review a new request from the Government of North Macedonia, and (3) to review a new request from the Government of Uzbekistan for cultural property import restrictions.  The Committee invites public comment on these proposals.

Please scroll down for videoconference details to join the open session of the Committee meeting.

The State Department follows the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA) when considering cultural property agreements and import restrictions.  Requested categories of material will be considered if they meet the criteria for archaeological and ethnological materials in the CPIA. 

North Macedonia’s Request
The Government of North Macedonia seeks import restrictions on archaeological and ethnological materials ranging from 300,000 BC to the 20th century AD, including from the prehistoric periods (Paleolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age), classical antiquity (Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, and Late Roman periods), Medieval (Byzantine and Post-Byzantine periods), the Ottoman Period including the 19th century North Macedonian Revival and the Modern Era.  Requested archaeological material includes ceramics; stone; metal objects including coins; bone and ivory; and glass and faience; dating from the Paleolithic to the Ottoman Period.
 
Requested ethnological material includes three overarching categories: (1) Ethnological religious objects (Christian and Islamic) in stone, metal, ceramic, bone, ivory, wood, glass, textile, parchment, paper, and paintings from the 2nd century to the 20th century AD; (2) Artistic objects including vessels, monuments, and sculpture in ceramic, stone, metal, and wood; paintings; and mosaics from the 3rd century to the 20th century AD; and (3) ethnographic objects such as vessels, sculpture, monuments, tools, ornaments, musical instruments, clothing and other textiles, bags, and pipes from the 18th century to the 1950s AD.

Cambodia’s Request
The Government of Cambodia seeks an extension of current import restrictions on archaeological material and an amendment of the cultural property agreement to include new categories of archaeological and ethnological materials.  Newly requested archaeological material includes stone (e.g., sculpture, architectural materials, stelae, brick sculpture, jewelry, and stone tools); metal (e.g., statues, ritual and domestic objects, architectural materials, musical instruments, weapons and tools, and coins); ceramics (e.g., sculptures and vessels); glass beads; bone objects; and wood (e.g., architectural materials and sculpture) dating from the Pre-historical periods (circa 2500 BC) through AD 1750 from the entirety of Cambodia.  This amendment also includes the archaeological objects of ethnic and religious minority cultures found throughout Cambodia. 

Ethnological material requested dates from AD 1400 through 1891, and includes architectural elements from religious buildings (e.g., wooden doors and carved panels); sculpture (e.g., wooden figures and often decorated with lacquer, gold leaf, paint, and/or incrustations of glass); manuscripts (e.g., handwritten works on paper and/or palm leaf); funerary objects (e.g., ceramic or stone urns or wooden urns); and religious objects (e.g., bells, chariot fixtures, popil, musical instruments, and betel containers often made from bronze). 

Uzbekistan’s Request
The Government of Uzbekistan seeks import restrictions on archaeological material dating from the Paleolithic period (50,000 BCE) to the 18th century CE and including the following periods, styles, and cultures: Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Ancient Bactrian, Korezm/Khorezm, Seleucid, Kangjiuy, Kushan, Greco-Bactrian, Ephthalite/Hephthalite, Turkic, Somanite/Samanid, Karakhanid, Korezmsakh/Khorezmsakh, Mongol, Timurid, Bukhara, Kiva/Khiva, and Uzbek periods.  This material includes stone; ceramics, faience, and fired clay; metal; plaster, stucco, and unfired clay; painting; ivory and bone; glass; leather, birch bark, vellum, parchment, and paper; textiles; wood, shell, and other organic material; and human remains.

Requested ethnological material date from the 7th century CE to 1917 CE and come from the Early Islamic, Middle Islamic, and Uzbek periods.  This material includes weapons of historical, artistic, scientific and other cultural value; artworks containing precious metals and precious stones; objects and their fragments; completely handmade paintings and drawings on any basis and from any materials; sculptural works made of any materials, including relief paintings; original artistic compositions and montages made of any materials; artistically decorated objects for the purpose of worship; engravings, prints, lithographs, xylographs, other types of graphics and their original printed forms; practical and decorative works of art (art objects made of glass, clay, wood, metal, bone, fabric and other materials); traditional folk arts and crafts; components and fragments of architecture, history, artistic monuments and monumental art monuments; books, as well as printed works of historical, scientific, artistic, and literary significance; unique manuscripts and documentary monuments, archival documents; musical instruments; coins, bonistics, orders, medals, seals, postcards (envelopes), postage stamps, numismatics, phaleristics, and other collectibles; objects important for branches of science such as mineralogy, paleontology, anatomy; household and scientific equipment and tools; and other movable objects, including copies of historical, scientific-artistic or other cultural significance, as well as copies protected by the state as historical and cultural monuments.

Public Comments
The public may provide written comment in advance of the meeting and/or register to speak in the virtual open session scheduled for January 30, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. EST.

Public comments on the cultural property agreements should focus on the four determinations in the CPIA.

How to submit written comments:  Use https://www.regulations.gov/document/DOS-2022-0048-0001, and follow the prompts to submit written comments for Docket DOS-2022-0048-0001.  Written comments must be submitted no later than January 23, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. EST.

How to make oral comments: Make oral comments during the virtual open session on January 30, 2023 (instructions below).  Requests to speak must be submitted no later than January 23, 2023.

Join the Virtual Open Session
The virtual open session of the Committee meeting will be held on January 30, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. (EST) by videoconference.

To Speak:  Registered participants can speak and may be asked questions by the Committee.  If you wish to register to speak you must submit your name and organizational affiliation in an email request to culprop@state.gov by January 23.  After you pre-register you will receive an email response with a unique link and instructions on how to participate.  Due to time constraints, each participant will have no more than five minutes to speak.

To Observe:  Anyone may observe the open session through WebEx, but they will not be able to speak.  It is not necessary to pre-register to observe.  If needed, please request reasonable accommodation by email to culprop@state.gov no later than January 23.  It may not be possible to fulfill requests made after that date. 

Webex Information: 
https://statedept.webex.com/statedept/j.php?MTID=m58327dbc610e99a8ff17bcdb2568b2f8 

Webinar number: 
2764 165 0640 

Webinar password:  
JvFRb453834 (58372453 from phones) 

Join by phone 
+1-415-527-5035 USA toll 
+1-929-251-9612 USA Toll 2 
Access code: 276 416 50640 

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken traveled to Qatar on November 21-22 to launch the fifth annual U.S. – Qatar Strategic Dialogue. He also recognized Qatar’s important contribution to international sports diplomacy as it hosts the World Cup. The Secretary met with senior Qatari officials, including Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. Secretary Blinken reiterated the U.S. appreciation for the long-standing partnership between the United States and Qatar and discussed a range of priorities, including global health, humanitarian assistance, international development, labor and human rights, security cooperation, climate change, and trade and investment.  The Secretary also cheered on the U.S. Men’s National Team in its first game of the World Cup - U.S. vs. Wales.

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Back in the U.S., Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman hosted the State Department's 2022 FIFA World Cup Reception at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on November 21.

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To prevent illicit trafficking and to counter the effects of climate change on cultural heritage, the State Department-led Cultural Antiquities Task Force (CATF) trained foreign law enforcement officials through two workshops held in September 2022 in Greece and Qatar.

Building on the successful recent training in Cyprus, CATF supported a three-day workshop in Athens on protecting cultural heritage from climate change and illicit trafficking.  The workshop was organized by the International Council of Museums and featured CATF trainers from the Department of State, Homeland Security Investigations, and Customs and Border Protection, with additional climate experts from the Smithsonian Institution and the U.S. private sector.  This workshop delivered on a call to action by Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry for the United States and Greece to work together to combat the climate crisis and protect cultural heritage.

In Doha, the Qatar National Library hosted a regional workshop on countering trafficking in cultural property including documentary heritage like ancient manuscripts. The workshop was organized in coordination with the U.S. Embassy, the Ministry of Culture, the French and Italian embassies, and relevant Qatari stakeholders. CATF members from the U.S. Department of Justice, Homeland Security Investigations, and the FBI presented their work to disrupt the trafficking of international cultural property in the United States. The workshop also covered relevant international law, customs and law enforcement strategies, trends in cultural property trafficking marketplaces, and the role of the judiciary in restitution and repatriation matters. 

In the coming months, CATF will offer additional in-person training workshops in Latin America and Southeast Asia. CATF is a law enforcement-focus working group of the Cultural Heritage Coordinating Committee. Both are managed by the State Department’s Cultural Heritage Center. 

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Assistant Secretary Satterfield (first row, third from left) is pictured with CHCC members who attended the meeting in person. An additional 40+ members attended virtually.

On September 27, 2022, the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, Lee Satterfield, convened the 16 member agencies of the Cultural Heritage Coordinating Committee (CHCC) for the second time this year.  The Committee’s discussion focused on recent cultural heritage multilateral meetings, policy changes, and increased capabilities.

Assistant Secretary Satterfield and Cultural Heritage Center staff updated the Committee on outcomes of the G20 Culture Ministerial, where member states’ ministers of culture met to discuss shared goals, including post-Covid-19 recovery in the cultural sector.  At the Ministerial, the United States took a strong stance against Russia's attacks on Ukrainian cultural identity and the heritage of minority groups, and enhanced U.S. bilateral relationships with Indonesia (2022 G20 President) and India (2023 G20 President).

The Committee discussed the Smithsonian Institution’s new Ethical Returns and Shared Stewardship Policy released this spring.  The new policy allows for shared stewardship arrangements and the return of museum collections to individuals and communities in appropriate circumstances, based on ethical considerations and best practices.  The United States is an example of success for shared stewardship of cultural heritage and is eager to continue investing in long-term relationships and capacity building initiatives with countries or groups that engage with the policy.

The Committee also spoke about the recently reconstituted U.S. Army Monuments Officers.  These modern-day “Monuments Men” are members of the U.S. Army Civil Affairs Corps with responsibility to advise the military about cultural heritage issues, legal obligations, and diplomatic concerns encountered in deployments throughout the world—especially in times of war and political crisis.  The first class to graduate from Army Monuments Officer Training in August included 14 U.S. Army officers, one archivist, and eight foreign military representatives from the UK, Italy, Australia, the Netherlands, France, Lebanon, and Austria. This training was developed by the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative and the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command.

Following up from the April 2022 CHCC meeting, the Committee applauded the Institute of Museum and Library Services for its recent award of $50,000 to the University of Pennsylvania to support and expand the Cultural Property Experts on Call Program, which facilitates consultations between U.S. law enforcement officials and experts in archaeology and art history when expertise is needed during investigations.  The one-year grant will support program staff and broaden recruitment of subject matter experts for regions most in need.

The U.S. Department of State established the Cultural Heritage Coordinating Committee in 2016 to coordinate U.S. government efforts to protect and preserve cultural property internationally when it is at risk from political instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters. 

Article by Naomi Hampton, intern with the U.S. Department of State, currently studying History and Politics of the Americas at University College London.

Entrepreneur and AWE alumna Lynia Huang built a business on making health care more accessible using AI technology. (Photo: @Mix Design Co)

[Taiwan, November 2022] Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) alumna Lynia Huang had one main goal — to make mental health care accessible to all, which is why she co-founded Bamboo Technology as a mental health service company.

While serving in Taiwan’s military for ten years, Huang saw first-hand how the negative social stigma surrounding mental health was preventing people from getting the mental health care they needed. According to Taiwan News, an English-language newspaper, over 1.5 million people on Taiwan have experienced some form of depression, but often do not seek help.

“We are afraid that others will judge us or criticize us, that we are weak people,” Huang explains.

Huang received a degree in social work while in the military. When she completed her military service, she wanted to use her background in social work to find a way to make mental health care more accessible and acceptable to the people on Taiwan. So in 2019, Huang’s company, Bamboo Technology, created Here Hear, a revolutionary smart phone app capable of diagnosing and treating depression using artificial intelligence (AI).

Using AI technology, Here Hear diagnoses depression through the tone of an individual’s voice, their choice of words and changes in their heartbeat — which is monitored through depression, stress and sleep scales. This system allows the user to anonymously talk to the AI instead of a person, adding a layer of privacy that Huang hopes will encourage the app’s users to be more open about their mental health.

The Here Hear team visits a local high school to raise awareness among students about their mental stress levels, using the app’s AI technology.

After giving an official diagnosis, the app is then able to recommend virtual treatment options, which can range from relaxation techniques to anti-depression courses. Huang says what began as a mission to develop a system that could listen to users and identify mental health concerns has now evolved to offer a full cycle of care.

The success speaks for itself: “We launched in 2019 and very shortly in three months we had 50,000 downloads on Taiwan,” Huang says.

Though the app is currently only available on Taiwan, Huang’s next goal is to expand Here Hear’s reach to people all around the world. This is something she believes she can now achieve thanks to the skills she gained through participating in the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) program.

After a friend recommended it to her, Huang applied to AWE because she wanted help getting her app off the ground. It was harder than expected, but she says she is grateful for everything AWE taught her about creating her business plan.

“[AWE] helped me to write all my planning and connect it with my vision, framing our mission within a realistic finance plan which is operational,” Huang says.

She hopes to expand her business plan internationally, while also encouraging more women to pursue careers in the engineering field on Taiwan -- something she feels the industry lacks.

She will have the chance to share her story as of 30 AWE alumnae presenting at the Woman Impact Summit, an annual virtual global summit hosted by Heroikka, a digital platform that connects women’s project ideas and needs with global networks and social capital.

Lynia Huang and the Here Hear team. (Photo @Richard Chang)

“I still can’t believe it, it feels like a really big prize [to be invited to the summit],” Huang says.

Huang says she is proud that she has been able to help support veterans by primarily hiring former colleagues to work for Here Hear. She hopes the app will help more people on Taiwan handle their mental health concerns.

“I am just really dedicated to improving the public mental health and I think that mission is my whole life,” she explains. “I just like to help people.”

The Academy for Women Entrepreneurs, a program of the U.S. Department of State, gives women like Lynia Huang the knowledge, networks, and access they need to launch and scale successful businesses that help their communities thrive. Since 2019, AWE has used the DreamBuilder platform developed by Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management to empower an estimated 25,000 women entrepreneurs in nearly 100 countries and reigons, and has operated on Taiwan since 2021.

For more information about AWE, visit: https://eca.state.gov/awe.

 

Defending Democracy and Advancing Human Rights

How will young leaders promote democracy and stand up for human rights? That’s exactly what international exchange youth alumni will discuss when nearly 60 of them from around the world meet up in Philadelphia next week.    

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), in partnership with World Learning, is proud to announce the Alumni Thematic International Exchange Seminar (Alumni TIES) titled “Youth and Opportunities: Defending Democracy and Advancing Human Rights,” which will take place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from November 14-18, 2022. This seminar builds on momentum from the Summit for Democracy, hosted by President Biden in December 2021, to support democratic renewal, counter authoritarianism, promote respect for human rights, and combat corruption.  It also coincides with International Education Week, which celebrates the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide.  

During the seminar, the young leaders, who are alumni of ECA programs, will share their visions on how to promote free and independent media, fight corruption, bolster democratic reformers in their communities, and advance technology for democracy.  Following the seminar, they will have the opportunity to compete for grants of up to $10,000 to lead projects in their communities.  

With their knowledge and drive, these leaders will surely make a difference in the world! 

More Information  

Alumni TIES are funded by the U.S Department of State and implemented by World Learning. The seminars bring Exchange Alumni together to tackle key regional issues, receive training, build and strengthen alumni networks, and collaborate with fellow alumni to implement community projects in their home countries.  

The Office of Alumni Affairs at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) leads and coordinates efforts to engage alumni of U.S. government-sponsored and funded people-to-people exchanges in order to maintain relationships with these current and emerging leaders. The Office of Alumni Affairs is committed to providing resources that allow alumni to expand upon their international experiences to address shared global challenges, use the skills they developed to make an impact in their communities, leverage their expertise to prosper in a globalized world and professional marketplace, and promote mutual understanding between the United States and countries around the world. For more information, visit alumni.state.gov.  

For more than 90 years, World Learning has worked to create a more peaceful and just world. Its education, development, and exchange programs help people find their voices, connect with their communities, strengthen the institutions that form the backbone of a democratic society, and build relationships across cultures. With World Learning’s support, emerging leaders tackle critical global issues like poverty, conflict, and inequality.

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