1. Arab Youth and Civic Engagement

   Applying the leadership skills she developed during her exchange, Assi has become one of the most prominent youth activists and social media leaders in Iraq.

2. Increasing Religious Tolerance in Tajikistan

   A 2011 International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) participant, Hotam Fayzulloev was inspired by the relationships he saw in the U.S. between people of different faiths.

3. ECA Announces 2022 Fulbright HSI Leaders

   Watch this space for the 2022 Fulbright HSI Leaders announcement on October 11, 2022.

4. United We Serve: IVLP Volunteerism Project

   

   Inspired by President Obama's call for renewed commitment to public service, the U.S. Department of State created a new international exchange program "Volunteerism: United We Serve."

5. Inspired to Volunteer and Motivated to Change

   When Reham Al-Eryani applied to the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study program she was motivated by a desire to experience American culture first-hand.

6. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jennifer Zimdahl Galt’s Remarks at NAFSA Simon Award Ceremony

   Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jennifer Zimdahl Galt’s Remarks at NAFSA Simon Award Ceremony.

7. U.S. Department of State to Host Series of Career Readiness Workshops for Gilman Alumni

   The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ USA Study Abroad branch will host a series of career readiness workshops for approximately 150 alumni of the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program over the next two weeks.

8. NSLI-Y Alumni Learn About Digital Networking and Career Development

   Panel guests at the event included Assistant Secretary of State Evan Ryan who encouraged alumni to continue their language learning and consider a career with the Department of State.

9. Magda Bou Dagher Kharrat, Ph.D

   First Name

   Magda Bou Dagher

   Participant Headshot

   

   Short Biography

   

   Content created by Virtual Intern Meghan Crowley

   Magda Bou Dagher Kharrat is an important figure in Lebanese environmental conservation circles. She began her environmental career in 2008, and recently became the president of a nonprofit focusing on reforestation and launched an online database of native Lebanese flora (http://www.lebanon-flora.org).

   In 2013, she participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) entitled “Women’s Innovation in Science and Engineering,” and spent three weeks in different cities across the United States. She expanded her network due to her IVLP and now collaborates with colleagues she met from the Smithsonian Institution. Together, they've researched DNA barcoding and metabarcoding, with the goal of exploring biodiversity. Another favorite memory from her IVLP experience was visiting the National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C. to see how they bring science to the world through their interactive programming.

   Prior to her IVLP experience, most of Kharrat’s international collaboration took place with colleagues in other parts of the world. The exchange gave her an even broader network and provided opportunities to collaborate with Americans. Magda Bou Dagher Kharrat is a plant geneticist attempting to understand the historical evolutionary process of tree populations and flowering plants to help inform conservation policies. She has become a strong advocate for international exchange programs to build global connections.

   Content edited by Sallie Bestul, Regina Navarro-Gomez, and Jenna Williams

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   Home Country

   Lebanon

   Last name

   Kharrat

   IVLP Alumni

10. Lutfi Dervishi

    First Name

    Lutfi

    Participant Headshot

    

    Short Biography

    

     

    Content created by Virtual Intern  Kristin Mitra

    Prior to his visit to the United States in 2002, Lutfi Dervishi was working as the Editor-in-Chief at "Albania," a newspaper in Tirana. When he came to the U.S., he participated in an International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) titled, "U.S. Foreign Policy Structures," during which he developed a stronger interest in U.S. foreign policy, especially as it relates to the Balkans. Dervishi describes the impact IVLP had on his career as "immense in a different way," noting that the experience magnified his interest in and understanding of foreign policy.

    After his return, Dervishi began working in public television, where he organized a series of talk shows about U.S.-Albania relations and dispelled existing rumors regarding American foreign policy. He is now one of Albania's leading media experts and helps mold future journalists as a professor at the University of Tirana in Albania's most prominent journalism program. His influence doesn't stop at the university level; Dervishi is a founding member of the U.S. Embassy-supported Investigative Journalism Lab, which focuses on teaching transparency and investigative journalism skills to aspiring young journalists.

    Through his teaching and experiences, Lutfi Dervishi has improved the quality of Albanian journalism and built a more transparent way to keep citizens informed.

    Edited by Virtual Interns Regina Navarro-Gomez and Kristin Mitra

     

    Home Country

    Albania

    Last name

    Dervishi

    IVLP Alumni

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