2012 FALL PROFESSIONAL FELLOWS CONGRESS

IN WASHINGTON, D. C. (November 7-10, 2012)

*/ Sponsored by the U.S. State Department

Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Organized by the Great Lakes Consortium for International Training and Development

with WSOS Community Action Commission, Inc. – Contract Agent and Manager

Website: http://www.glc-teachdemocracy.org/ Facebook: GLC_TeachDemocracy

Contact: glc_teachdemocracy@hotmail.com

During these days European fellows

got a chance to build an international

network of professional fellows in-

volved in legislative development,

young entrepreneurship or women

empowerment. In addition to new

contacts, participants of the Congress

gained additional experience that

they may use after returning home.

Establishing a broader network of

U.S. State Department alumni is es-

pecially useful when participants are

looking for alumni grants that re-

quires a broad collaboration.

At the end of the 6-week fellowship

program on “Citizen Legislative Ad-

vocacy in Minority Communities”

organized by the Great Lakes Con-

sortium for International Training

and Development, the second 16-

member delegation of professional

fellows from Bulgaria, Hungary, Ro-

mania and Slovakia joined with 240

other fellows from 51 countries from

around the world at the U. S. State

Department Professional Fellows

Congress in Washington D.C. for a 4-

day program (November 7-10, 2012).

The Congress agenda included shar-

ing experience on the U.S. fellowship,

skill building workshops, Open Space

activities, interesting speakers and

forums, a poster presentation, a

“Citizen Diplomacy Luncheon” with

representatives of different embas-

sies, meeting with leaders from the

U.S. State Department, and opportu-

nities for discussion, and comparing

methods from around the world.

It was also fun, including, at the end,

the dinner cruise on the Potomac

River. (continued on page 7).

Congratulations to the Fall 2012

Graduates of the "Citizen Legisla-

tive Advocacy in Minority Commu-

nities" program from Bulgaria,

Hungary, Romania, Slovakia!

Thank you to Ken Grossinger and

his family for hosting a celebration

for our delegation at their home and

presenting the program certificates.

Graduation Party at Ken Grossinger Residence

Professional Fellows Congress (November 7 - 10, 2012)

Page 2 “Citizen Legislative Advocacy in Minority Communities”

Page 3 Professional Fellows in the U.S. (October 1 - November 10, 2012)

Professional Fellows Congress (November 7 - 10, 2012)

“The change is possible”

Milena

Kacmarcikova

“Listen to us, we want to work!”

Monika Bandurova

Poster Session

“Alternative for All”

Nedka Taneva

“All Different All Equal?”

Henriett Dinok

“Social entrepreneurship: Minor-

ity craftsmen in the spotlight”

Nicu Dumitru

“The social inclusion of Roma

Minority in Romania”

Anda Lupusor

Mihaela

Grigoriu

“Inclusion Education in Bulgaria

– Myth or Reality”

Kaloyan

Damyanov

“Organizing against the national

workfare system in Hungary”

Balint

Vojtonovszki

“Building a culture of participa-

tion worldwide”

Andreea Buzec

“Communicating about Minority

Communities in Romania”

Radu Raileanu

“In villages, in towns we keep the

gas inside the shale”

Vlad Catuna

“Together for Another” – Human

Integra Foundation

Krisztina Molnar

Page 4 “Citizen Legislative Advocacy in Minority Communities”

Poster Session

“Working with minority commu-

nities – Szeged, Hungary &

Toledo, Ohio, U.S.A.”

Zsolt Peter Fugg

“Work with Roma children in

Community Centers in Eastern

Slovakia”

Marcela Beresova

“Work with Roma youth in Ban-

ska Bystrica – with support from

Sister City Charleston, West Vir-

ginia, U.S.A.”

Jolana Natherova

Page 5 Professional Fellows in the U.S. (October 1 - November 10, 2012)

Page 6 “Citizen Legislative Advocacy in Minority Communities”

Romanian fellows visited the Romanian Embassy in Washington, D.C. — Romanian group had

an opportunity to meet with Ambassador Adrian Vierita in the middle and his colleagues at the

Embassy, Adrian Tudorache and Janina Cismaru.

Norbert Brada in the middle from Embassy of

the Slovak Republic in the U.S. met with the

Slovakian fellows.

Meeting with Fellows Officers from Embassy

Deyan Katratchev in the middle from Embassy

of the Republic of Bulgaria in the U.S. met

with the Bulgarian fellows.

The Citizen Diplomacy Luncheon

Page 7 Professional Fellows in the U.S. (October 1 - November 10, 2012)

Dinner Cruise on the Potomac River

The dinner cruise on November 9th

on the Potomac river was a memo-

rable evening. The weather was

great everyone had a great time to

relax, enjoy the lights of D.C., to

taste the good food and wine, to

dance and talk - to enjoy the scen-

ery and other fellows. This was a

nice setting to celebrate Balint

Vojtonoviszki’s birthday!

Professional Fellows Congress Closing Day

Deb Martin, WSOS: “To all of our

professional fellows

from both groups, I

just want to say thank

you for sharing your

time and extraordi-

nary talent with us,

and I hope your ex-

periences here were as

enjoyable for you as they were for

Farewell Remarks to the Professional Fellows

us. I'm honored to have had the

chance to meet you and spend some

time with you, and wish you all

continued success.

I feel fortunate to have gained some

wonderful new friends through the

process and to have learned more

about your countries and culture,

and I hope that our paths will cross

again in the future.”

November 10th was the end of the

Professional Fellows Congress, and

also the final day for our delegation

before returning home.

On this last day of their 6-weeks

program in the U.S.A. they got to-

gether with Mr. David Gustafson,

Program Officer from the U.S.

State Department for a final dis-

cussion and evaluation of their ex-

perience and for summarizing their

individual and group action plans

with new ideas that they intend to

implement after returning home.

David Gustafson, Program Officer

(right) presented the Congress cer-

tificates to each of the European

fellows.

THANK YOU TO

the U.S. State Department for sponsoring the Fall 2012

Professional Fellows Congress and to World Learning to organize

all the Congress related activities in Washington, D.C.!