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Item Posted: June 18, 2013

Clockwise from top: Yuhyun Park, Stefan Reich, Christina Juhasz, Ayisha Osori

Eisenhower Fellows Connect at Powell Center

Last month, several of the 2013 Eisenhower Fellows took part in “Conversations in Leadership” at the City College of New York as part of the inauguration of the Colin L. Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. Ayisha Osori from Nigeria, Dr. Yuhyun Park from Korea, Dr. Stefan Reich from Peru, and Christina Juhasz from the United States spoke of their experiences in their respective fields and shared insights for students of the Powell Center.

Item Posted: June 13, 2013

Update: 2010 Multi Nation Program’s EF Social Initiative

Luis Adrián before & after

María del Carmen before & after

Last update, April 2013: http://www.efworld.org/news/
newsarchive/13/0413.php#efsi

As of May 15, 2013, Alejandro Alfonso Diaz, ’10, Mexico, celebrated the success of the most recent 2010 MNP EF Social Initiative, which collected US $4,500 for the ABC Medical Center´s Cleft Lip and Palate program in Mexico. These funds changed “the lives and the destinies of two underprivileged Mexican children. Thanks to the generosity of several of the Eisenhower Fellows, Luis Adrián Ávila and María del Carmen Morales now have the opportunity to smile and to enjoy healthier and happier futures. The multi-disciplinary treatment services offered at the ABC´s Brimex Clinic were able to give these children afflicted with cleft lip and palate a reason to smile and the capacity to do so”.

Item Posted: June 13, 2013

Filipina Fellow Elected Councilor

The Commission on Elections in Bacolod, Philippines declared 2012 Filipina Eisenhower Fellow Jocelle Batapa-Sigue as one of 12 recently-elected councilors with 90,270 votes – the second most number of votes in the district. With Batapa-Sigue’s efforts, Bacolod City was recently named as a Center of Excellence, joining Metro Manila, Metro Cebu and Metro Clark, as part of the Top 10 "Next Wave" cities by the Science and Technology department and the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) and are hoped to be areas where investors can expand.

Item Posted: June 13, 2013

Fellows in the News

Ayisha Osori, ’13, Nigeria, shares the highlights from her Eisenhower Fellowship this spring (Leadership Nigeria)

Laura Alonso, ’08, Argentina, is a “troublemaker” (Washington Post)

Shailesh Pathak, ’00, India, shares plans for a stronger India (Yahoo!)

John Della Volpe, ’08, USA, shares his insights into the voting mind of the Millennial generation (Time)

2013 Korean Fellow Yuhyun Park is “tackling infollution” (Today)

Simone Duarte, ’96, Brazil, shares the legacy of General Jorge Videla (Publico)

Anne Gordon, ’01, USA, named Sr. VP of Media and Communications for the Philadelphia Eagles, an American football team

David Clark, ’13, New Zealand, considers the balance between fairness and freedom (Otago Daily Times)

Brigitte Daniel, ’11, USA, and 2001 USA Fellow Dr. Christine Massey’s Knick Knack Learning selected as one of 11 international companies in GoodCompany Group’s first summer social enterprise accelerator (Technically Philly)

Item Posted: June 4, 2013 by Natalie Barndt

2013 Annual Meeting Day

L-R: John Wolf, Christie Todd Whitman, Sen. Richard Lugan, Gen. Colin Powell, Sen. Sam Nunn

On May 16th Eisenhower Fellowships welcomed General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), trustees, 2013 Multi Nation Fellows, 2012 USA Fellows and distinguished honorees and guests to the 24th Eisenhower Fellowships Annual Meeting Day at the Rittenhouse Hotel. The day was packed with business and networking events, including the organization’s annual board meeting, a trustee lunch, a seminar led by General Powell with the Fellows and a reception and awards dinner for all.

Gen. Powell engaged with and inspired the Fellows during the Chairman’s Seminar, focusing on leadership. Gen. Powell kicked off the session by sharing his background as the son of immigrants who attended public schools and as a soldier, having spent 35 years in the U.S. Army. He also shared some thoughts on leadership including the need for moral and physical courage, the importance of inspiring teams by helping them understand their purpose within a grand vision and making sure team members have the tools they need to get the job done and feel empowered and appreciated. He opened the floor to questions and discussion with the Fellows. This lively segment covered topics from the gridlock in the U.S. Congress to his role and experience as the Cold War came to a close, and circled back to leadership and the importance of leaders being their own role models. Upon the completion of the Seminar, Ching Ching Yen, '95, China (Taiwan), and Member of the Alumni Advisory Council presented a generous check and a promise for yearly contributions to Gen. Powell and the Board of Trustees.

At the awards dinner, Eisenhower Fellowships President John Wolf welcomed Gen. Powell, and Eisenhower Fellowships Executive Committee Chair Governor Christie Todd Whitman, as well as U.S. Senators Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar, the Fellows and distinguished guests. John saluted the Fellows noting that 60 year ago, Thomas McCabe, the Eisenhower Fellowships first chairman, conveyed to President Eisenhower that the essence of the Eisenhower Fellowship was to select the best Fellows, give them personal opportunities to learn the most they could, see top people at work, meet with them, and get access to their problems, thinking, and solutions. Wolf noted that while times have changed, that process still works today as evidenced by the twenty-one 2013 MNP Fellows and nine 2012 USA Fellows who completed their program. He went on to say that “over the last seven weeks more than a few trustees have told me the MNP group is different – in a good way. They show an unusual degree of comity – and a perceptible passion to use their fellowships to make a difference. Those who have met the USA Fellows say the same.”

L - R: Aly Khalifa and Dr. Basma Al Buhairan

During the evening, two Fellows spoke about their fellowship experiences. Aly Khalifa, ’12, USA, explored the connection between local needs and the creativity, design, and manufacturing that fulfill those needs on his fellowship travel in Southeast Asia. Dr. Basma Al Buhairan, ’13, Saudi Arabia, looked at business models for healthcare, improved clinical care and women’s health research during her fellowship and related her experience breaking down misconceptions on her fellowship.

During the awards portion of the evening, Gen. Powell presented the Distinguished Alumnus Award to Minister, Secretary General and Cabinet Chief for the Presidency of the Republic of Paraguay Martin Burt, ’94, Paraguay. Burt is also the founder and CEO of Fundación Paraguaya, an NGO devoted to the promotion of entrepreneurship among the world’s poor which was created with other Eisenhower Fellows in Paraguay. In presenting the citation to Burt, Gen. Powell noted that he “is a pioneer in applying microfinance, microfranchise, youth entrepreneurship and financial literacy methodologies to address chronic poverty.”

Martin Burt accepts award from Gen. Colin Powell, with Dorothy Burt (Martin's wife)

In accepting this award, Senator Nunn related the Nunn-Lugar program to the Eisenhower Fellowships as follows, “During the course of the Nunn-Lugar program, defense and energy officials and workers in the United States and former Soviet Union faced a very difficult challenge. After 40 years of confrontation, they were asked to work together to inspect sensitive weapons sites, dismantle nuclear weapons, destroy missile silos, and safely transport and destroy chemical weapons and nuclear materials. Their work together reminds us that the development of understanding and a spirit of cooperation are essential if we are going to protect the future for our children and grandchildren in America and around the world. As I understand it, that’s what the Eisenhower Fellowships are all about, and that’s why this award is so meaningful to me. Your mission is to promote the spirit of international cooperation that is essential to the Nunn-Lugar program. More broadly, and more importantly, your mission is to help fulfill the Dwight Eisenhower vision once described by Colin Powell as “a world in which cooperation replaces confrontation and understanding replaces ignorance.”

Item Posted: June 4, 2013

Spanish Eisenhower Fellows Award Pedro J. Ramirez, Director of El Mundo

L-R: Eisenhower Fellows Andrés Font and Javier Cremades, Spanish Ambassador to the US Ramón Gil-Casares, awardee Pedro J. Ramírez, EF President John Wolf, and Eisenhower Fellow Pedro Ortiz

The Spanish Eisenhower Fellowship Association created the “First Amendment Award” that will be periodically given to people that have shown an outstanding commitment to the defense of freedom of speech and freedom of press. As President Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “History of free men is never written by chance, but by choice - their choice.” This well-known quote relates, among other things, to the First Amendment to the United States’ Constitution that prohibits the making of any law abridging the freedom of speech or infringing the freedom of speech. Pedro J. Ramirez, during more than 30 years as a journalist, has proven his commitment to the protection of freedom of press and speech. He consolidated El Mundo as a political reference Spanish newspaper and as a source for anyone interested in understanding the development of Spanish political situation during the last three decades.

John Wolf, President of the Eisenhower Fellows, accompanied Spanish Fellows during the ceremony hosted at the Spanish Embassy in Washington DC, where the “First Amendment Award” was bestowed upon Pedro J. Ramírez. 1998 Spanish Fellow Javier Cremades, and president of the Spanish Eisenhower Fellows alumni association, presented the award on behalf of all Spanish Fellows.
Among the attendees were several 1998 Spanish alumni Fellows in attendance were former Executive Director of United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM) Inés Alberdi, former Spanish Ambassador to the OECD and Fernando Ballestero, Professor of Economics at Universidad Autónoma of Madrid and Head of UAM-Accenture Department of Economics and Management of Innovation M. Paloma Sánchez, and Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for Monetary and Financial Studies (CEMFI) Rafael Repullo.

Item Posted: June 4, 2013 by Jason Riley

USA Fellow Joins Orchard Global Capital Group

USA Fellow Bradley Belt, ’97, joined Orchard Global Capital Group/Orchard Global Asset Management (OGAM) as vice chairman. Orchard is a global alternative asset manager with subsidiaries and affiliates in Asia, Europe and North America, that invests through hedge funds, managed accounts and structured investment vehicles on behalf of sovereign wealth funds, public and private sector pension plans, foundations, endowments and family offices. Belt said he looks forward to the opportunity to work with the executive management team to grow the firm and expand the investment products and structured solutions that best meet investor objectives.
Belt serves as chairman of Palisades Capital Management LLC, and formerly served as senior managing director of the Milken Institute, as well as executive director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. OGAM’s CEO Paul Horvath said that “with his leadership roles in both the public and private sectors and his in-depth understanding of financial markets and policy arenas, Brad is uniquely qualified to provide insight on the issues that matter to our clients and to help broaden the compelling investment opportunities we can offer them. He is well regarded both in Washington and on Wall Street for his knowledge of financial markets, expertise in regulatory matters, and track record of addressing complex financial, operational and policy challenges.”

Item Posted: June 4, 2013 by Jason Riley

USA Fellow Takes on Expanded Role as She Prepares for Fellowship

Deb Gordon, ’13, USA, is taking on an expanded role at Network Health as she prepares for her fellowship to Australia and Singapore in July. Gordon has been appointed chief external affairs officer, in addition to her role of vice president and chief marketing officer. On her fellowship, Gordon will explore consumer empowerment in healthcare, and will blog on her fellowship travel.

Network Health is a nonprofit health plan that provides access to high-quality, comprehensive health coverage for more than 215,000 Massachusetts residents.

Gordon was also recognized as a 2011 Boston Business Journal “40 Under 40” honoree. She serves on the editorial board of Marketing Health Services magazine; the Institutional Advancement Committee of the Crittenton Women’s Union Board of Directors; and the strategic planning and membership committees of The Boston Club.

Item Posted: June 4, 2013

Spanish Fellow Highlights Startups at Harvard

In May, 2011 Eisenhower Fellow from Spain Juan Jose Güemes, '11, spoke on entrepreneurism and start-ups at a Harvard University Executive Program. As the Chairman of the International Center for Entrepreneurial Management at IE Business School, Güemes spoke with Founder and Executive Director, Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard University School of Engineering Paul Bottino about FoodLinker as an example of how to launch a startup business in the global market. FoodLinker is an application which educates individuals with food allergies and intolerances to make safer food purchases. This session was part of a larger event organized through Real Colegio Complutense, an affiliate of Harvard University.

Item Posted: June 4, 2013 by Jason Riley

USA Fellow Recognized for His Footprint in Urban Design

Dan Douglas,’07, USA, was awarded North Carolina State University College of Design’s Wings on Wings award at its 16th annual Design Guild Award Dinner on April 13, 2013. The College of Design offers the Wings on Wings award to those individuals who have demonstrated a willingness to make significant contributions to the College of Design community at NC State University. The award was granted in recognition of Douglas’ decade-long commitment to serving as an active member of the annual Urban Design Conference committee. The conference was an initiative between the College of Design and the City of Raleigh, a partnership nurtured and fostered by Douglas since the beginning of his tenure as the City of Raleigh’s founding executive director of its Urban Design Center. Continuing to serve while in private practice, Douglas has played a critical role in shaping the urban design conference into a well-regarded educational resource for architects, landscape architects and planners throughout the Southeast U.S. Douglas served as co-chair of the 2013 conference, “Emerging Mid-South Cities: Leading by Design,” and stepped up to make a significant contribution to furthering the understanding of cities in the mid-South by reaching out to constituents across the states of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

Click here to read news from May 2013 or click here to read other archived news.

All items written by Alumni Coordinator & Website Manager Holly Logan, unless otherwise noted.