On September 14, the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board will convene at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. for its quarterly meeting.  From 10:15 to 10:35 a.m., the board will hold a discussion about four proposed amendments to the policies governing the Fulbright Program.  Members of the public are invited to listen in on this discussion and to provide comments before the board votes on the following proposals:

• Establish the Alumni Benefits section of the policies for the U.S. program chapters and clarify policies related to Fulbright Alumni status for U.S. Fulbright grantees;
• Add a policy to the Fulbright Scholar chapters to require notification and approval for major project changes;
• Update Fulbright Specialist Program terminology;
• Authorize the board to waive any of its policies in rare and compelling circumstances.

For further information and instructions to call into the board meeting, please send an e-mail to fsb@state.gov

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The exchange concluded at the U.S. Department of State where participants presented their community service projects that will be carried out in their own communities. Inspired by the support from mentors during the exchange, a student team from Veracruz will create more opportunities for young entrepreneurs to connect with local business leaders in their home community. Another team from Mexico City will hold workshops for fellow classmates to promote a more inclusive environment for LGBTQIA students at their school. Other projects addressed issues such as violence and substance abuse, bullying, discrimination, school dropout, and environmental awareness.

The participants also stayed with host families across the United States. Jorge from Zacatecas spoke about the unique bonds he formed during his homestay where he was able to teach many people about Mexico and discover many similarities in American culture. This program is a joint initiative between the U.S. Department of State, the Mexican government, and the private sector.

Learn more about the program: https://exchanges.state.gov/non-us/program/jovenes-en-accion-youth-action

This October, 250 business and social entrepreneurs from Latin America and the Caribbean will arrive in Atlanta, Georgia to kick-off their five-week Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Professional Fellows Program. Fellows will collaborate with their counterparts in businesses and civil society organizations in 24 cities, strengthening business ties between the United States and Latin America and the Caribbean. The program concludes with a closing Summit in early November in Washington, D.C. focused on leadership and skills development training.

During the program, the 2017 Fellows will advance their entrepreneurial ideas and build leadership skills to effectively contribute to social and economic development in their communities. The Fellows are working on topics ranging from agriculture and technology to LGBTQI and women and youth empowerment.

Selected from over 3,000 applicants, the finalists represent 36 countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Upon completing the exchange, Fellows will return to their ventures with new insight, resources, ongoing support from U.S. counterparts, and an improved network.

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Volunteerism is a strong component of civic life in the United States. As such, the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs sponsors J Day, a nationwide event held every August that connects J-1 visa students and professionals with their local communities. State Department Designated Sponsors partner with a range of non-profit organizations, foundations, faith-based organizations, community groups and corporations in over 40 cities in the United States to coordinate community based service projects for exchange visitors. Through partnership with local service organizations, J-1 participants help address the needs of their communities as well as learn about America’s spirit of service. As one participant who distributed school supplies in Maryland noted, "I learned that even in America there are needy people. Americans of all ages do volunteer work. This never happens in my country." Participants observe the potential impact of service and gain an appreciation for volunteerism that they then take back to their respective communities when they return home.

In addition to helping spread the value of service across the globe, impact from J Day is felt locally across the country. Through J Day, J-1 volunteers revitalize community gardens in New York, help collect shoes for shoe drives, pick up trash from beaches and highways, and more. Over the course of a day, one group of J-1 volunteers made enough food packages to feed 54 hungry children for an entire year. Reflecting on her experience, a J-1 volunteer who planted trees in Utah said, “It [J Day] meant giving back to Utah and the local area, helping ReLeaf Utah, and meeting some local Utah residents and other J-1 interns from the area.”

J Day is a way for Americans and J-1 volunteers to work together to lift their communities, fostering cross-cultural understanding and allowing volunteers to share their perspectives and values. The effects of their hard work and collaboration leaves visible impact in American cities, and the experience participants take with them creates a legacy of promoting the spirit of service abroad. As one J-1 participant put it, “you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” Each year J Day hopes to continue to celebrate volunteering, help J-1 participants engage with their communities, and promote positive and sustainable impact in the U.S. and beyond.

To learn more about J Day 2017 and J-1 participants, see the Route J-1 Blog here.

Six new cultural heritage projects have been selected by the U.S. Department of State and World Learning to receive funding as part of the inaugural Communities Connecting Heritage^SM exchange program (CCH). CCH empowers youth to protect the cultural heritage of at-risk communities in the United States and around the world. Through the program, students, teachers, community leaders, and cultural heritage professionals will engage in online and in-person activities to initiate collaborations between communities in the United States and communities around the world.

Participants are matched with an overseas counterpart to collaboratively develop cultural heritage projects that engage their respective communities. CCH exchange partners will educate participants in skills and knowledge relevant to their projects, covering topics like digital storytelling and the role of artists in communities. Exchange participants will use what they’ve learned to complete various project activities, like curating public exhibitions, producing publications and creating their own artwork.

The virtual exchanges will commence in early 2018, leading up to the in-person exchanges and public exhibitions in the subsequent spring and summer. 

https://share.america.gov/sharing-ideas-on-black-market-antiquities-trade/

In the Middle East, an age-old problem has resurfaced. Thieves are taking advantage of any chaos caused by recent conflict to loot historical treasures.

But archaeologists, museum curators and conservators, customs and border agents, and auction houses all play roles in stopping the looting and trafficking of cultural antiquities.

Antiquities protectors from across the region came to the United States recently to hear how their American counterparts fight smugglers. They traveled the country on a State Department–arranged visit to meet with academics and experts from the Smithsonian Institution and other top museums.

Perhaps most beneficial of all, several visitors said, was that they met each other for the first time and shared notes on stopping the black-market trade and repatriating treasures. “It’s a great chance for me to [hear] about their problems, especially in the countries suffering from wars and conflicts,” said Essam Shihab of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, whose duties include research in Luxor, the city on the Nile River in southern Egypt that surrounds ancient monuments of Egyptian pharaohs.

Experts from nine countries — Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates — and the Palestinian territories participated in the three-week program.

They met with officials from State Department’s Cultural Antiquities Task Force and Homeland Security Investigations who work on keeping looted objects out of the U.S. and protecting cultural heritage. They heard about enforcement mechanisms, including U.S. laws restricting imports from Iraq or Syria. An executive from the Sotheby’s auction company spoke about its safeguards.

They toured the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, the Metropolitan Museum in New York and other cultural repositories to hear how curators document the provenance of their collections and see how they display treasures.

And they learned from one another. “It’s nice to hear others have the same problems and that it’s not only yours,” said Amir Ganor of the Robbery Prevention Division of the Israel Antiquities Authority. “We can learn new methods, new tactics, from each other.”

Thieves may hang on to their loot for years before bringing it to market. Hind Younes of the Lebanese Ministry of Culture’s Directorate of Antiquities said some objects stolen during Lebanon’s civil war were not marketed for a decade or longer.

Shaban Abdel Gawad, a supervisor in the Repatriation Department of Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities, said more than 500 objects were recovered last year. “We’re following all the auction houses in the whole world,” he said. “We also have friends everywhere to tell us if we didn’t see it ourselves.”

Brian Daniels, research director for the University of Pennsylvania Museum, stressed the importance of such networking. “The effort to protect cultural heritage and stop the theft of antiquities has to be through broad partnerships. Think international organizations, ministries of culture, and the local communities on the ground,” he said.

He told fellow archaeologists they must be the strongest advocates: “If it’s not us, it really isn’t going to be anyone.”

The antiquities experts were in the United States as part of the International Visitor Leadership Program.

About the Cultural Antiquities Task Force

Homeland Security Investigations is a member of the Cultural Antiquities Task Force (CATF). Created by the State Department in 2004 at the direction of Congress, the CATF comprises federal agencies that share a common mission to combat antiquities trafficking in the United States and abroad. Since its creation, the CATF has supported more than 95 domestic and international cultural property training programs. CATF is managed by the State Department’s Cultural Heritage Center.

Five years after her International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) experience, Geraldine Mlynarz, a Chilean biotech CEO and entrepreneur, will share with her American counterparts the impact that her IVLP experience had on promoting women’s entrepreneurship in Chile and the region. Geraldine was selected out of thousands of IVLP alumni to become a “Gold Star” alumna and return to the United States for a second IVLP experience.

As a direct result of her participation in the 2012 “WEAmericas: Women’s Entrepreneurship Program for Latin America and the Caribbean” IVLP, Geraldine raised funds and organized the 2014 WEAmericas conference in Santiago, an initiative that sparked regional interest in promoting female entrepreneurship. The next year, under Geraldine’s leadership, WEAmericas launched a regional organization of IVLP participants to train mentors in a peer-to-peer network called Mujer Apoya Mujer (Women Helping Women). The Chilean association also partnered with Houston’s Angel Network to train Latin American entrepreneurs in securing investor funding.

During her return trip to the United States, Geraldine will speak about her experiences at the Diplomacy Begins Here summit in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She will then head to Seattle.

Join the conversation on social media by following @StateIVLP and @GlobalTiesUS or using #IAmDiplomacy.

Eleven years after her International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) experience, Chigozie “Gozie” Udemezue, a Nigerian social justice lawyer, will return to the United States to reconnect with her American counterparts and showcase her contributions to Nigeria. Gozie was selected out of thousands of IVLP alumni to become a “Gold Star” alumna and return to the United States for a second IVLP experience.

Her 2006 “Grassroots Activism” IVLP took her to Ebenezer Baptist Church and the Leadership Center at Morehouse College, which inspired Gozie to found a Martin Luther King, Jr. Club for schools in the city of Enugu, Nigeria to spread MLK Jr.’s message of nonviolent leadership. She also established the Healing Hearts Widows Support Foundation that supports more than 5,000 widows throughout Nigeria by providing medical assistance, food, loans, education, and legal services.

In 2016, she was recognized on the floor of the U.S. Congress by Michigan Representative Debbie Dingell for her “remarkable efforts on behalf of widows and children in Africa and around the world.”

During her return trip to the United States, Gozie will speak about her experiences on a panel at the Diplomacy Begins Here summit in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She will then head to Chicago to meet with Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Grassroots Collaborative and Teens Against Drunk Driving. Gozie will end her trip in Atlanta, where she will return to Ebenezer Baptist Church and Morehouse College to talk about how the message of Martin Luther King Jr. continues to inspire her work back home in Nigeria.

Join the conversation on social media by following @StateIVLP and @GlobalTiesUS or using #IAmDiplomacy.

The annual EducationUSA Forum attracts representatives of accredited U.S. colleges and universities seeking to recruit and support international students and internationalize the American higher education sector. Over 550 U.S. university representatives collaborate with more than 60 EducationUSA regional education experts based around the world and dozens of government officials to better engage international students, ensure their success on American campuses, and maintain the United States as the top host nation for international students globally.

Plenary session speakers include senior representatives from U.S. universities, as well as high-level officials from the State Department. Speakers for 2017 include Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Thomas Shannon, and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, Alyson Grunder.

Sessions focus on traditional and virtual recruiting strategies, promoting access to U.S. higher education through digital resources, and the importance of building an inclusive, diverse population of international students as part of a comprehensive approach to internationalizing U.S. higher education.  Participants also discuss emerging trends in international student mobility, foreign government scholarships, community college outreach, and holistic approaches to ensuring student success in- and outside of the classroom.

View the 2017 sessions open to the press here. Follow the conversation on Twitter at #EdUSAForum.