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  • 7/28/2019 Spring2013_EuropeNewsletter_FinalPost

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    GREAT LAKES CONSORTIUM

    for International Training andDevelopment (GLC) GLC is a

    collaborative effort of the Bowling

    Green State University, Lourdes Uni-

    versity, The University of Toledo,and WSOS Community Action Com-

    mission, Inc - Contract Agent and

    Manager. Established in 1999.

    Dr. Elizabeth Balint

    Project Manager

    Juli Bertalan,

    Barbara Dennis,

    Viktoriya Maryamova

    Program Coordinators

    GLC Toledo Office

    P.O. Box 352424Toledo, OH 43635

    Phone: 419-725-0440

    Cell: 419-973-8007

    Email:

    [email protected]

    Website:

    www.GLC-Teachdemocracy2.org

    www.gl-consortium.org

    Find us on

    Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of the Educational and CulturalAffairs, Office of Citizen Exchanges, Professional Fellows Division

    The Great Lakes Consortium through

    WSOS Community Action Commission, Inc.

    as Contract Agent and Manager received a

    grant for a two-way exchange between Sep-

    tember 2012 and August 2014 from the U.S.

    Department of State for the Building Grass-

    roots Democracy in Minority Communities

    with at least 32 participants from four coun-

    tries of Europe and for 18 U.S. mentors.

    The overall goal of this exchange is to provide

    a professional development opportunity for

    up-and-coming and mid-level professionals

    to gain knowledge of the U.S. practices in

    citizen participation and advocacy, engaging

    minorities, and marginalized populations in

    civil society and politics, collaborating with

    community leaders to inform changes in

    legislation that make a difference in minority

    communities (incl. Roma, disabled, homeless)

    and building grassroots democracy.

    Foreign participants will be exposed to

    diverse community organizing methods for

    citizens in solving problems in their own

    communities and gain hands-on experience at

    both public and civil society institutions in the

    U.S. and a deeper understanding of U.S.

    society, culture and people. They will

    examine the relationship between civil society

    and government and learn U.S. practices on

    transparency and accountability. Through

    internship placements at national, state or

    local organizations across the U.S. they will

    gain knowledge and experience as well as

    adaptable approaches that they can implement

    after their return.

    U.S. mentors will travel for a reciprocal visit

    overseas. They will have an opportunity to

    share professional expertise and gain a deeper

    understanding of the societies, cultures and

    people of other countries. This citizen civic

    exchange will promote mutual understanding,

    create long-term professional ties, enhance the

    collaboration between GLC and its partners.

    The first delegation with a total of 19 fellows

    from Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slova-

    kia visit the U.S. from April 1 May 11, 201

    to participate in group seminars, round-tab

    discussions, site visits, and will hav

    interactions with United States leaders.

    tailored 3-week internship with mentorin

    multicultural events, and participation i

    volunteer activities as well as in th

    Professional Fellows Congress in Washington

    D.C. will be also included in the 6-wee

    professional fellows program. Participants wiprepare a 6-9 month individual and grou

    Action Plan for follow on activities. They hav

    various opportunities to experience th

    American family life and the diversity in th

    U.S. through staying with American ho

    families during their internship in Little Roc

    (Arkansas), Chicago (Illinois), Bosto

    (Massachusetts), St. Louis (Missouri), Man

    chester (New Hampshire), Raleigh (Nort

    Carolina), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Cha

    lottesville (Virginia), Seattle (Washington).

    A second European delegation is expectedi

    the U.S. from September 30 November

    2013.

    The Out-Bound component will include

    least two American mentors teams to travel t

    Europe (between June 2013 and March 2014

    for up to 21 days to provide joint workshop

    with the alumni and on-site consultation an

    fieldwork, and conduct wider outreach pro

    grams.

    U.S. and foreign participants will be involve

    in alumni activities through an alumni soci

    network in each country. We will also establish an online network for continued learning

    This program is a collaboration between GL

    and its overseas partners: CEGA in Bulgari

    Civil College Foundation in Hungary, CeRe i

    Romania and Center for Community Organi

    ing in Slovakia as well as the European Com

    munity Organizing Network (ECON) an

    many U.S. partner organizations involved i

    the joint program and the tailored internship

    and follow up mentoring activities.

    Building Grassroots Democracy in Minority Communities

    Professional Fellows from Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia

    in the United States, April 1 - May 11, 2013

    April2013

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    Milenko MilenkovLom, BulgariaE-mail: [email protected]

    Milenko Milenkov works at the Labor

    Bureau in Lom, Bulgaria as a Job Media-

    tor. His main responsibilities include infor-

    mation and counseling of inactive and dis-

    couraged Roma people for registration at

    the Bureau of Labor Lom, promoting the

    registration and inclusion on the labor mar-

    ket through professional classes and train-

    ings and also advice and assistance to job

    seekers for inclusion in employment. His

    daily activities include labor mediation in

    finding jobs and training courses for

    unemployed Roma, correspondence withemployers and so on.

    Mr. Milenkov also works in two

    NGOs in Lom. One of them is Commu-

    nity Fund Lom, where he is Member of the

    Board, since the establishment of the foun-

    dation in 2005. He is involved in the activi-

    ties of Community Fund Lom related to

    stimulation of public dialogue and

    participation of local resources to solve

    social issues. He provides support for

    talented children and preservation of life

    style and culture and works for citizens

    initiatives development and charity

    traditions revival in Lom region.Mr. Milenkov is an important part of

    the team of the organization, who contrib-

    utes to the timely implementation of activi-

    ties and tasks in different projects of the

    foundation. For example he was the Project

    Manager of "Together in Diversity through

    Ages", a project financed by the Open So-

    ciety Foundation in Budapest. The other

    organization is the Mladenovo Founda-

    tion, where Mr. Milenkov is the Chairman.

    in Economics and a Masters Degree i

    Business Administration. Both degree

    obtained at the New Bulgarian Universit

    in Sofia. Also Mr. Milenkov complete

    several trainings in fields of computeknowledge and literacy certificates an

    fundamentals in web-design, and took pa

    in training for teamwork, project writing

    project management, etc. He is fluent i

    English, German and Russian.

    Mr. Milenkov had several reasons t

    apply for this fellowship, and one of them

    is that he might be one very good examp

    for the young Roma from the town of Lom

    in Bulgaria. He wants to make change i

    the thinking of the young people in Lom

    The young people have to be active an

    they have to bring the changes in the Bugarian society.

    It will be his first visit to the Unite

    States. While in the U.S., Mr. Milenko

    would like to gain experience in differen

    programs for developing talents.

    After he will be back to Bulgari

    through the two organizations (The Com

    munity Fund Lom and Mladenovo Foun

    dation), and using all of the local, region

    and national media as partners, M

    Milenkov will inform the community abou

    the best practices in the U.S. He will try t

    apply some of these practices in his com

    munity, city and, if he has the toolMilenko will organize a national campaig

    for some identified problem.

    In his free time Milenko enjoys play

    ing basketball, volleyball, searching th

    internet for new technologies, and also ol

    audio equipments - speakers, amplifier

    and so on. He is also taking care of tw

    aquariums full with little fishes and tha

    also is his hobby.

    The organization is new, registered in Au-

    gust 2012. The mission of the organization

    is to stimulate the development of talents

    in Lom and in the region of Northwestern

    Bulgaria. Primary task for Milenko is therecognition of the foundation as an active

    working NGO for the development of

    Lom. All actions in the organization are

    focused on talented children and

    youngsters in the field of arts, education,

    culture, sport and dependences prevention.

    In addition Mr. Milenkov is involved

    in the activities of the Municipality of

    Lom, related to social, education and cul-

    tural activities, and also other activities for

    integration of Roma people from Lom.

    Previously, Mr. Milenkov has worked for

    the Regional Governor of Montana in Bul-

    garia. He was responsible for the imple-mentation of policies in the ethnic and

    demographic issues, religious, cultural

    activities and education in the region.

    Mr. Milenko shows perfection in

    organization, conducting and moderating

    all kind of events, including presentations,

    fairs, exhibitions, conferences, seminars,

    workshops, missions, forums, etc.

    Mr. Milenkov has a Bachelors Degree

    Participants from Bulgaria

    SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR PROJECT ADVISORS AND SUPPORTERS

    David Beckwith, Cris Doby, Paul Cromwell,

    Chuck Hirt, James Mumm, Bill O'Brien,

    Greg Markus, Deb Martin, Peter Ujvagi,

    Ramon Perez, Martin Nagy

    Page 2 Building Grassroots Democracy in Minority Communities

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    Delyana MihnevaPlovdiv, Bulgaria

    Email: [email protected]

    Delyana Mihneva is working as a re-

    porter, host and editor in the first private

    national radio at the Bulgaria Darik Radio

    from 2011. She has been a volunteer in

    National Alliance for Volunteer Action /

    NAVA since 2010, and has a good experi-

    ence in variety of volunteer actions as eco-

    campaigns at schools, national exchanges

    for youngsters, activities for better commu-

    nication between youngsters and elderly

    people, sport activities related to Interna-

    tional Youth Day, Anti-AIDS campaigns,

    fundraising for people with rare diseases

    etc. As a journalist, she gives tribute tomany different minority groups: Roma,

    LGBT, rare diseases, disabled, homeless

    people etc.

    Ms. Mihneva is a Youth Leader and

    Trainer. Since she has been working for

    NAVA, she is a trainer of young people

    aged 15-29 in different spheres of non-

    formal education, effective communication

    and skills for planning of one-day and long

    -term initiatives and campaigns.

    Ms. Mihneva graduated with her

    Bachelors Degree in Political Science

    wants to find out how community group

    work with the media and the media's in

    volvement in social justice issues. Recentl

    in Bulgaria the social side of media face

    more obvious than few years ago and th

    should be used to raise social consciou

    ness and empathy in society.

    Ms. Mihneva would like to train peo

    ple from different communities in order t

    work together, define problems and see

    for solutions and wants to find out ho

    things work in American society is it ju

    a matter of law or there is something i

    addition. She would like to learn successfu

    social practices and how to implemen

    them in Bulgaria.

    Delyana would also like to learn t

    prioritize tasks more clearly, to work mor

    effectively with different minority groupto participate more actively in decisio

    making process during a project, to lear

    how community organizing works throug

    field work. She would like to get mor

    information about organizing groups b

    interest, how to motivate people to figh

    for their rights and to pursue their aims.

    In her free time Ms. Mihneva like

    outdoor activities, reading, dancing an

    karaoke. Delyana is interested in multicu

    tural communication, peace journalism an

    conflict management.

    from the Sofia University St. Kliment Oh-

    rydsky in 2003. Delyana knows English

    and Russian, and speaks a bit of Spanish,

    Italian and Dutch. She has participated in

    some international trainings in Italy, Ro-

    mania, Turkey based on European UnionYouth in Action program.

    Ms. Mihneva currently is involved in

    LTTC in Budapest, Hungary focused on

    raising awareness of diversity based on

    gender, sex, nationality, social and marital

    status, age etc. Also defining and decon-

    structing stereotypes and creating new pro-

    jects related to Social Justice Topics.

    Ms. Mihneva is interested in Roma

    inclusion and exploration of society readi-

    ness to Roma integration and early leaving

    school prevention. As a journalist, she

    Dzhevid MahmudDobrich, Bulgaria

    Email: [email protected]

    Dzhevid Mahmud has been working

    until recently at the European Roma Rights

    Centre (ERRC), an organization based in

    Budapest, Hungary, combating anti-

    Romani racism and human rights abuse ofRoma through strategic litigation advo-

    cacy, human rights education, research,

    and policy development.

    At the ERRC Mr. Mahmud held the

    position of Legal Fellow as his task in-

    cluded assisting in developing and imple-

    menting legal strategy, handling selected

    cases, drafting amicus curiae briefs and

    legal submissions to domestic and interna-

    tional tribunals, working with lawyers,

    judges, human rights organizations and

    other relevant institutions. He was in-

    volved in legislative and policy review anddrafting, advocacy and lobbying, providing

    appropriate substantive input into research

    reports, donor reports and funding propos-

    als. Mr. Mahmud has been a Roma activist

    since the beginning of 2000, when becom-

    Hungary. During his student years, M

    Mahmud participated in the Roma Acces

    Program which aims at preparing youn

    promising Roma for entering quality inte

    national post-graduate studies. His secon

    Masters degree in Law was completed

    the Varna Free University in Bulgaria.

    In addition in 2008, Mr. Mahmud wo

    an internship with the European Commi

    sion situated in Brussels, Belgium, sponsored by the Open Society Institute Rom

    Initiatives. He speaks fluently in English

    Turkish, Russian, and Bulgarian. The com

    munity where Mr. Mahmud is interested i

    organizing is geographically situated in th

    North/East of Bulgaria consisted of Chri

    tian and Muslim Roma, who face everyda

    exclusion, discrimination, poverty, unem

    ployment and lacks access to services an

    goods.

    Mr. Mahmud has never visited U.S.A

    before, yet has been always interested i

    getting to know more on minority community organizing and its ways of implemen

    tation in the setting of Eastern Europe.

    In his free time Dzhevid enjoys study

    ing Romani culture from around Europ

    and practicing sports.

    ing a Member of the Board of the Student

    Society for the Development of Interethnic

    Dialogue in Bulgaria, an organization with

    the mission to accomplish complete social-

    educational cycle for the young Roma,

    including popularization of education, dis-

    semination of information on competitions,

    scholarships, qualification courses, appren-

    ticeships and carrying out pre-university

    application preparation. Since then Dzhe-vid is actively involved in different initia-

    tives related to Roma in Europe.

    Mr. Mahmud has acquired Masters

    degree in Public Policy at the Central

    European University (CEU) in Budapest,

    Professional Fellows Program in the U.S. (April 1 - May 11, 2013) Page

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    Hajnalka KissBudapest, Hungary

    E-mail: [email protected]

    Hajnalka Kiss works at a Photography

    School. She organizes photo exhibitions,

    deals with students and teachers, she is in

    charge of organizing events, responsible

    for fundraising and project management,

    and looks after the Foundations everyday

    life. There was always something in com-

    mon to organizing: Ms. Kiss started the

    projects finding out what is the demand of

    people; found the resources, co-workers

    and kept the contact with partners and

    sponsors. Ms. Kiss finds monitoring and

    feedback very important to guarantee the

    quality of any project.

    In the last 20 years she coordinated

    short and long term educational projects:trainings, seminars and conferences. She

    has been a participant in several interna-

    tional programs as coach and trainer

    (Youth in Action, Salto, EUROMED).

    Ms. Kiss still coordinates a project in

    her free time, called Social Transport. This

    project tries to bridge gaps between major-

    ity and minority groups like Roma and non

    -Roma. Within this project there was a

    social ad shooting opportunity for film

    students about minority peoples life. The

    topic was inclusion. The short film clips

    were taken to secondary schools and used

    as inspiration, a non-formal educational

    instrument encouraging dialogue, support-

    ing integration. These works are also

    screened at festivals, events and cinemas:

    www.socialtransport.net

    In 2007 in Cambodia through Global

    Education Network Ms. Kiss worked 3months for a Health Sector Reform Pro-

    gram. Her task was monitoring the process

    concluding focus group discussions and

    interviews in the field of providers and

    clients rights and duties.

    In 2009 in Canada she has spent 4 months

    in Montreal with an exchange program at

    McGill University. She visited the Faculty

    of Management, studied Managing of

    Globalization, HR, Managing of Organiza-

    tional Teams and Leadership. During her

    stay there, Ms. Kiss was very busy with the

    life of immigrant people from Hungary

    They left their country because of the 1s

    and 2nd World War, or the revolution i

    1956. She was so lucky that they opene

    up for her.

    Ms. Kiss holds a Diploma in Socia

    Sciences, Economics and Organization

    Development. She graduated with heMasters Degree in Sociology and Eco

    nomics from the Corvinus University i

    Budapest in 2009. After finishing her stud

    ies she worked for small foundations a

    Project Manager.

    Within the frame of this fellowshi

    program, Ms. Kiss wishes to learn mor

    about community organizing, methods an

    strategies for motivating volunteers

    NGOs, learn about different projects aim

    ing to assist minorities especially projec

    focusing on young people.

    Ms. Kiss would like to visit organizations, both governmental and nongovern

    mental that deal with issues related to eth

    nic minorities. She meets the problem o

    racism and xenophobia every day and sh

    would like to gain experience on how t

    treat the question of minorities.

    In her free time Ms. Kiss enjoys trav

    elling, taking photographs, watching goo

    films and discussing interesting storie

    Hajnalka enjoys being and working in th

    international environment.

    Participants from Hungary

    Georgi GeorgievLom, Bulgaria

    Email: [email protected]

    Georgi Georgiev has been the founder

    and member of the Managing Council of

    the Roma Integration Center Lom

    (RIC) since October 2012. The objectivesof RIC Association are to improve the

    quality of life in Roma neighborhoods,

    improve the level of education amongst

    children and youth and help eliminate dis-

    crimination. Before that he worked ac-

    tively with young people from the Roma

    community in Lom, and has been a youth

    leader at the local church named Sinai

    for the past 8 years.

    Mr. Georgiev founded RIC because he

    wanted to change the Roma neighborhood

    and reduce the school drop-out for Roma

    children, provide more opportunities for

    ness Administration.

    Georgi is actively looking to crea

    contacts with NGOs outside of Bulgaria i

    order to obtain and share experience i

    rebuilding an entire community.

    Mr. Georgiev would like to develo

    partnerships with these U.S. organization

    which will bring access to new exper

    ences, opportunities to work with new parners, and large-scale initiatives which wi

    help people. He would like to learn how t

    better motivate young people so they wan

    more out of their life, have higher expecta

    tions and be able to achieve them, by a

    lowing themselves to dream and work.

    In his free time Mr. Georgiev likes t

    practice his hobbies: playing basketball, a

    well as volleyball and soccer. Georgi als

    enjoys going to the gym and writing comi

    book scripts.

    the young to socialize and learn new useful

    skills and discover their true potential.

    Also Mr. Georgiev manages a TV program

    at a newly established Gypsy TV channel

    in Sofia. He is interested in the field of

    journalism.

    Mr. Georgiev graduated from the New

    Bulgarian University of Bulgaria in 2005,

    obtaining his Bachelors Degree in Busi-

    Page 4 Building Grassroots Democracy in Minority Communities

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    Anita VodalBudapest, Hungary

    E-mail: [email protected]

    Anita Vodal has been a Trainee Law-

    yer at the Roma Program of the Hungarian

    Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) since April

    2012. She advises and assists on legal mat-ters in connection with legal empowerment

    activities. She supervises the management

    of all legal documentation for the legal

    team. Ms. Vodal is responsible for the as-

    sistance in performance of legal issues, the

    assistance in negotiating terms and condi-

    tions on national and international cases.

    The main target group of the HCLUs

    Roma Program is those living in deep pov-

    erty; primarily the overrepresented Roma

    population. The aim of this program is to

    help the enforcement of their rights and

    interests to become more efficient and take

    a stand against discrimination based on

    ethnic background and deep poverty;

    therefore strive to provide the stakeholders

    themselves, as well as their communities,

    with the necessary knowledge and aware-

    ness of their rights. HCLU is conducting

    fieldwork in Northern Hungary and setting

    up legal support stations in a growing num-

    ber of settlements in order to provide free

    legal aid to as many people as possible.

    HCLUs Roma Program thus takes legal

    tools to communities that live in complete

    isolation and are therefore devoid of any

    possibility to enforce their rights.

    (such as refugees or stateless persons

    Through their legal counseling and trainin

    activities, they work towards ensuring hig

    -quality and rights-based asylum proce

    dures both in Hungary and the EU.

    Ms. Vodal graduated as a Lawye

    from the University of Szeged in 2010, an

    wrote her thesis on statelessness. Befor

    that, Anita worked for a year as volunteeat Belgian Youth Organization (JAVVA

    in Brussels, where she was in charge of

    European project.

    Ms. Vodal organized internation

    voluntary camps and discussions in orde

    to raise awareness about tolerance, antidi

    crimination and an open-minded attitud

    towards others. She speaks English, Frenc

    and Italian.

    Ms. Vodal considers this fellowship t

    be a great opportunity to acquire know

    edge on community organizing method

    and practical tools, and learn a new ap

    proach of working with minority group

    She is keen to see how American NGO

    work and what kinds of difficulties the

    face in working with minority groups. M

    Vodal is ready to talk more in detail abou

    the HCLUs network of legal support sta

    tions, which is a unique structure even i

    Hungary.

    In her free time, Ms. Vodal rides he

    bike, adores contemporary dance, whic

    she has been pursuing as a hobby since sh

    was eleven. Anita is fond of all kinds o

    sweets.

    Ms. Vodal has always been sensitive

    to minority issues; especially in Hungary

    where these matters are serious unsolved

    problems. HCLU is an ideal workplace for

    her, as she is involved in significant legal

    cases before both international and national

    courts. Ms. Vodal had the opportunity to

    represent the HCLU in the annual confer-

    ence of OSCE in October 2012 and held a

    presentation on violence against Roma

    people in Hungary.

    Prior to the HCLU, Ms. Vodal worked

    for almost two years as Project Coordina-

    tor at the Refugee Program of the Hungar-

    ian Helsinki Committee (HHC) on a pro-

    ject funded by the European Union.

    Ms. Vodal was in charge of the imple-

    mentation of a European project that in-

    volved three international partner organiza-

    tions. The HHC provides free legal assis-

    tance to asylum seekers arriving in Hun-

    gary and strives to ensure access to asylum

    for those in need of international protection

    Laszlo Oliver JakabKistelek, HungaryE-mail: [email protected]

    Laszlo Oliver Jakab is working as

    trainee at Southern Great Plains Region

    Social Research Association. His work

    focuses on the disadvantaged children. He

    is member of ternYPE International

    Roma Youth Network Network of youthand youth associations, which creates

    space for young people to become active

    citizens through empowerment, mobiliza-

    tion, self-organization and participation.

    The ternYPE believes in the common ef-

    forts by creating trust, and mutual respect

    between Roma and non-Roma youth.

    Since 2010 Mr. Jakab is a student at

    Romaversitas Foundation. The Romaver-

    sitas is the training and scholarship pro-

    gram of Roma youngsters in higher educa-

    tion. The Romaversitas Foundation has

    been acting as a Funder of university and

    college students for fourteen years.

    Romaversitas not only gives scholar-

    ships and various services, but also tries to

    create space for vibrant social life.

    Mr. Jakab graduated from The Univer-

    sity of Szeged as Social Worker. At the

    university, he was trainee in Szeged at the

    Dr. Farkasinszky Terzia Drug Rehabilita-

    tion Centre. He attended different kinds of

    short-term training programs including: (1

    ROMED European Training Program fo

    Mediators working with Roma commun

    ties organized by Council of Europe, an

    (2) Equal Treatment Authority Figh

    against discrimination project organized b

    Equal Treatment Authority.

    This is his first trip to the Unite

    States. Mr. Jakab is interested in how

    NGOs work in the U.S., how to involv

    people from the minority community to bactive. He believes this six weeks fellow

    ship in the U.S. can improve his skills an

    competencies such as team building, inte

    cultural communication, community orga

    nizing, and English language.

    Mr. Jakab would like to learn method

    and strategies which can be useful in Hun

    gary. He wants to visit NGOs workin

    with minorities and disadvantaged peop

    especially focusing on youth.

    In his free time Mr. Jakab likes play

    ing the guitar and watching movies.

    Professional Fellows Program in the U.S. (April 1 - May 11, 2013) Page

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    Timea Eva KovacsDebrecen, HungaryE-mail:

    [email protected]

    Timea Eva Kovacs is a Social worker at

    the Hungarian Baptist Aid The Happy

    Garden - Residential Home Care for Men

    with Addictions, which is a so-called Half-

    way House, which provides a link between

    the therapeutic community and independ-

    ent life. Ms. Kovacs job is to help the inte-

    gration/reintegration of 14 addicted men by

    providing counseling to maintain their ab-

    stinence, useful programs to spend their

    free time, help them in job seeking or get-

    ting the appropriate social service needed,

    etc. In addition to her work, she is doing

    voluntary work at a refugee camp. She is

    also a volunteer at the Eletfa Support

    Service Association, which has started

    community organizing activities in seven

    villages with significant Roma population

    Hungary. Her favorite target groups t

    work with are migrants, refugees and ad

    dicted people.

    Ms. Kovacs has a Bachelors degree i

    Social Work from the University of Debre

    cen. After graduation she started workinat Menedek Hungarian Association fo

    Migrants at Debrecen Refugee Camp. I

    2008 she participated in the Erasmus Pro

    gram studying for one semester at the Un

    versity College Cork in Ireland. In 201

    Ms. Kovacs began her Masters program i

    Social Policy majoring in Employmen

    Policy in the same institution. Her nativ

    language is Hungarian, but also fluentl

    speaks Romanian and English.

    Ms. Kovacs travels regularly to Roman

    and Slovakia. This is her first visit to th

    U.S., and she is looking forward to learn

    ing new methods and sharing experiencon how to work with people in minorit

    communities especially in the rural areas.

    In her free time Timea loves biking, hik

    ing, spending time with her friends.

    in Northern Hungary.

    Ms. Kovacs was born and raised in Ro-

    mania as a member of the Hungarian mi-

    nority. Her family immigrated to Hungary

    in 2002. She has worked as a social worker

    for 3 years. She began as a volunteer in

    2008 during her university years at theCordelia Foundation for the Rehabilitation

    of Torture Victims. That was the first time

    she got in contact with the refugees living

    in the second largest integration camp in

    THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

    TO DAVID GUSTAFSON, PROGRAM OFFICER

    AT THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE!

    Csaba SzikraBudapest, Hungary

    E-mail: [email protected]

    Csaba Szikra, as a Freelance

    Intercultural Trainer, collaborates with

    different NGOs and institutions. He is a

    community worker in the Glaser JakabMemorial Foundation, where he is

    responsible for the intercultural programs

    in the Jewish and non-Jewish population.

    Mr. Szikra helps to organize events for the

    interfaith discussion, and he guides special

    interactive tours in a slummy but

    traditionally multi-cultural neighborhood

    of Budapest: the Jzsefvros (Josephs-

    town). By the JMPoint for Jewish

    Community Public Benefit Foundation

    (JMPoint Foundation) Csaba is involved in

    the informal education program on

    festivals basically on the Sziget Festival.

    The JMPoint Foundation shares the

    cultural values of the Jewish culture not

    only among Jewish young people. By the

    Balint House (American Jewish

    Distribution Committees Community

    experience with homeless peopl

    alcoholics and drug addicts, and also h

    worked for the Menedek Hungaria

    Association for Migrants. Csaba manage

    a summer camp for refugee teens and kid

    and in his multi-ethnic neighborhood he

    always focusing on these groups too.

    Mr. Szikra has a Bachelors Degree i

    Social Work, and he specialized in youtwork. In 2009, he began his Master

    studies in Intercultural Psychology an

    Education at the Etvs Lorand University

    Mr. Szikra is working on his thesis abou

    the multi-cultural environment o

    Jzsefvros. Csaba fluently speaks Englis

    and German.

    Mr. Szikra is visiting the United State

    for the first time. He expects to learn mor

    about the minorities and cross-cultur

    topics in America in order to involve th

    locally applicable good practices into h

    community organizing methods i

    Jzsefvros.

    Mr. Szikras favorite free tim

    activities are travelling and sports such a

    horseback riding and krav-maga, an

    socializing.

    House), Mr. Szikra has been teaching in

    the KravJunior program: a unique

    combination for learning self-defense,

    playing games and also getting disciplined.

    KravJunior contributes to multi-

    culture through organizing multi-ethnic

    and multi-religion groups. Mr. Szikras

    students are Christian, Jewish, Muslim and

    Buddhist children and teens with Roma,

    Hungarian, Vietnamese, Georgian, French,

    American and/or other background.

    Besides his activities as a trainer, Mr.

    Szikra participated in many projects as a

    social worker. He has more than 8 years of

    Page 6 Building Grassroots Democracy in Minority Communities

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    THANK YOU TO ALL

    THE DRIVERS, ESCORTS AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS

    ASSISTING IN THIS PROGRAM

    ACROSS THE UNITED STATES AND OVERSEAS!

    THANK YOU TO THE UNITED STATES EMBASSIES

    IN BULGARIA, HUNGARY, ROMANIA AND SLOVAKIA

    FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT!

    Raluca Mariana

    NegulescuBucharest, Romania

    E-mail:[email protected]

    Raluca Mariana Negulescu has been

    working as a Policy Officer and Project

    Manager at the Policy Center for Roma

    and Minorities Foundation since 2009,

    when she started to collaborate as a volun-

    teer. Raluca develops and coordinates pro-

    grams focused on challenging negative

    attitudes towards Roma and grassroots

    projects aiming to stimulate active citizen-

    ship among people living in marginal

    Roma communities from ghetto type areas.On spring 2010, Ms. Negulescu started to

    work in one of the worst ghetto type areas

    in Bucharest Aleea Livezilor in Ferentari

    neighborhood.

    Through the European campaign RE-

    ACT (Responsibility, Empowerment, Ac-

    tivism, Citizenship, and Transparency) that

    she coordinated between June 2010 and

    December 2011, the Policy Center team

    created a platform that links grassroots

    level to local and national representatives,

    as well as to the European policy makers.

    Ms. Negulescu is very proud to contribute

    to the development of the Alternative Edu-

    cation Club (a safe haven for Roma and

    non-Roma children in Ferentari that offers

    them life and educational alternatives and

    the main project of the foundation).

    Prior to her collaboration with Policy

    Center, Ms. Negulescu volunteered in

    other NGOs and think tanks: Nu ma uita

    Association (Barlad), the Association of

    Political Science Students in the University

    of Bucharest, LMT Club Third Millen-

    nium Leaders Club, the Institute for the

    Investigation of Communism Crimes and

    the Black Sea Trust for Regional Coopera-tion (a project of the German Marshall

    Fund of the United States). Currently she

    voluntarily organizes activities for the chil-

    dren in the Day and Night Shelter for

    Street Children in Ferentari.

    Ms. Negulescu is also interested in

    academic research on the topic of ethnic

    minorities, antidiscrimination policies and

    European institutional mechanisms. In the

    past years she contributed to the Shadow

    reports on Romania for the European Net-

    work against Racism in Europe (ENAR),

    covering issues such as racism related dis-crimination in criminal justice, political

    and legal developments in anti-racism and

    anti-discrimination, policing and ethnic

    profiling, racist violence and crime.

    In 2010 Ms. Negulescu co-authored

    the report Racist Violence in Romania. In

    2011-2012 she contributed to the elabora-

    tion of the Methodology Guide Social In

    clusion through Sports: a possible mod

    (project MIMoSA Migrants Inclusio

    Model of Sports for All coordinated by th

    Italian Union Sports for All).

    Ms. Negulescu has a Bachelors Degree in Political Science from the Unive

    sity of Bucharest. In 2008 she received a

    Erasmus grant based on academic exce

    lence, and she studied at the University o

    Bologna for one semester. Raluca also ha

    a certification in project management, an

    completed trainings on the financial man

    agement of structural funds, communica

    tion, organizational analysis and leade

    ship.

    Ms. Negulescus field experience i

    ghetto type communities and, in particula

    in Ferentari neighborhood is strongly related to her professional interest to identif

    efficient mechanisms to authentically con

    nect grassroots issues to policy makin

    level. In Romania, the Roma are the mo

    marginal and discriminated ethnic grou

    and target of racism and negative attitude

    The persistence of this situation resides no

    only in the inappropriate policies discon

    nected from grassroots issues but also i

    the lack of knowledge of the Roma com

    munity members over their rights.

    During the fellowship experience i

    the U.S., Ms. Negulescu would like tlearn new methods on how to empowe

    people in minority communities and to se

    and understand the innovative approache

    of the hosting organization. Also, she

    very interested to learn more on commu

    nity organizing and on developing loc

    advocacy plans.

    Participants from Romania

    Professional Fellows Program in the U.S. (April 1 - May 11, 2013) Page

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    Ioana PetracheBucharest, Romania

    E-mail: [email protected]

    Ioana Petrache works both as a com-

    munity development facilitator and a com-

    munity organizer. At this moment she is

    working with three citizen initiative groups

    two of them are located in Southern Ro-manian villages, and the third is a

    neighborhood in the countrys capital. Her

    involvement with the community initiative

    groups in these villages is 3 years long.

    Ms. Petrache started grassroots work

    in 2009 with PACT Foundation, an NGO

    that targets rural and small urban areas in

    Southern Romania. Since then, she has

    worked on various projects. Some of them

    involved forming community development

    initiative groups, others dealt with empow-

    ering already formed community organiza-

    tions or groups, and developing skills forcommunity members. Ms. Petrache also

    worked as a researcher on assessing a rural

    communitys potential for supporting the

    development of agricultural social entre-

    preneurship projects. Through this work

    she has had several experiences of working

    with ethnic and religious minorities.

    Ms. Petrache facilitated the formation

    of these initiative groups during a 2010-

    2012 community-organization building

    program of PACT Foundation. One of the

    initiative groups has subscribed as an asso-

    ciation and has been implementing several

    community projects since. It represents

    Roma Pentecostals in the village of Span-

    tov. The other initiative group is represen-

    tative of Romanian Orthodox in the villageof Facaeni.

    Field experience in rural Romania,

    made Ms. Petrache curious about doing

    bottom-up work in Bucharest, where she

    lives. She was also interested in trying

    community organizing. This is how she

    started her collaboration with CeRe. Ioana

    has been organizing in a Buchare

    neighborhood area since September 201

    For Ms. Petrache community organizing i

    Bucharest proves to be especially challeng

    ing, but undoubtedly useful.

    Ms. Petrache has a Bachelors Degre

    from the Academy of Economic Science i

    Bucharest. She says that grassroots work

    her favorite type of work. This also ex

    plains Ioanas decision to start a new fielof study, anthropology, at the University o

    Bucharest, Faculty of Sociology and Soci

    Work, in 2012. Her previous studies are i

    business administration.

    This will be Ms. Petraches first trip t

    the United States, and she is especiall

    curious about how a culture that she ha

    seen depicted so often in the media look

    and feels in real life.

    Ioana looks forward to meeting organ

    izers and community organizations, learn

    ing more about how to build an initiativ

    group into a long term community organzation, and how can community organiza

    tions empower minorities and bridge soci

    trust gaps.

    What Ms. Petrache likes most are ex

    plorations of all sorts, nature - includin

    humans, games, her friends and spring.

    Simona BarbuIlfov County, Romania

    E-mail: [email protected]

    Simona Barbu is an activist for human

    rights, working for one of the oldest Roma

    nongovernmental organization in Romania,

    for 5 years now. During this period she has

    worked within Romani CRISS organiza-

    tion with the purpose to promote human

    rights of the Roma minority and improve

    the access of the Roma in Romania to

    health services and educational institutions.

    In the past two years Ms. Barbu has

    worked on projects meant to enlarge and

    improve the access to education of the

    Roma children, and she coordinated activi-

    ties implemented in 22 schools from Ro-

    mania. Her work is combining advocating

    and promoting human rights and equal

    access for the Roma communities in all

    areas of life, project management and also

    work in the community, organizing and

    participating at meetings with the members

    of the Roma community and accompany-

    ing them when needed, to address different

    services or institutions. At the same time,

    Ms. Barbu has been a volunteer for the

    Association of Health Mediators, a Roma

    munication skills, has a developed team

    spirit, perseverance, and seriousness, an

    has experience and abilities in organizin

    events and in project management. Simonhas been trained as an evaluator for th

    professional competences of the Rom

    health mediators, and she obtained a

    evaluator certificate recognized by the Na

    tional Council of Professional Training fo

    the Adults in Romania in 2008.

    Ms. Barbu is also co-author of tw

    studies in the field of access to health o

    the Roma population and the status o

    health of the Roma in Romania, publishe

    by Romani CRISS in 2009, and 2011.

    This is her first trip to the U.S., an

    Ms. Barbu looks forward to exchang

    know-how with the other fellows, discovethe free American spirit and would like t

    learn more about outside of the box wa

    of thinking. Simona is interested in findin

    out more about the organizing process o

    minorities in America, methods of empow

    ering the representatives of the minoritie

    to stand for their rights and to learn mor

    about advocating for public policies.

    She loves to travel, read, listen to mu

    sic, take photos or draw. Favorite sports

    are salsa and bacchante, but enjoys a goo

    soccer match of her favorite team.

    women association initiated in 2010, help-

    ing them to develop organizational support

    for activities and capacity building plans of

    the association and also for the members

    individually.Ms. Barbu has a Bachelors Degree in

    Sociology from the Faculty of Sociology

    and Social Assistance at the University of

    Bucharest in Romania. Currently she is the

    1st year Masters student within the Uni-

    versity of Bucharest, UNESCO Depart-

    ment majoring in Intercultural and Inter-

    religious exchange, and specialization in

    Intercultural Management.

    Ms. Barbu is an organized person. She

    is able to complete the tasks that she im-

    plements and coordinates, has good com-

    Page 8 Building Grassroots Democracy in Minority Communities

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    Ruxandra BorcaPetrosani, Romania

    E-mail:[email protected]

    Ruxandra Borca is writer and youth

    worker. She works as a Youth Program

    Coordinator at Spice of Life Youth Center,

    a nongovernmental organization she has

    founded in 2012 after she returned from

    her voluntary service in Serbia in April of

    the same year. Ms. Borca organizes train-

    ings and seminars for the young, informing

    them on the international opportunities

    they have. She is in tight contact with the

    migrant community in Cluj Napoca, work-

    ing on advocacy campaigns for the social

    integration of migrants.

    Ms. Borca has been an active local and

    international volunteer since her time in

    high school. During her student years, she

    volunteered at the Forum for Refugees inBucharest. For the last two years, Ms.

    Borca has been working abroad as a volun-

    teer in Serbia and Jordan, promoting diver-

    sity in conflict areas.

    Ruxandra has participated as a youth

    worker in several projects developed by

    the European Commission`s Youth in Ac-

    tion program in Romania and abroad,

    where she facilitated training sessions for

    youth workers on several topics: social

    inclusion, volunteering, mentoring, facili-

    tating for NGO workers.

    media. Previously, Ms. Borca has worke

    with Hungarian historian Andrea Varg

    under the supervision of the representatio

    of the European Commission in Buchares

    Together, they have edited a newspaper o

    recent history topics to be disseminated i

    schools: The Freedom Archive. The pro

    ject forms part of a bigger project that in

    tends to educate and inform people wh

    cannot access formal education. Also, thehave collaborated on a project on the top

    of refugees Borders Revisited, an exhib

    tion of refugees of the WWII.

    Ms. Borca holds the BAs degree i

    Foreign Languages at the Spanish an

    English department of the University o

    Bucharest. At the present time, Ruxandr

    is enrolling at the Master`s program i

    American Cultural Studies at the Unive

    sity of Bucharest. She is fluent in Spanis

    and English, and has a good understandin

    of Italian and Hungarian.

    Ms. Borca has travelled intensively tEurope and Asia, but this is her first trip t

    the United States. She would like to lear

    how community organizing is done in th

    U.S. migrant communities, how to identif

    their problems, involve members of th

    community in the decision-making proces

    and make sustainable changes in the m

    nority community.

    In her free time, Ruxandra enjoys mu

    sic, travelling, writing, she also like

    meeting new people.

    Deeply committed to the topic of in-

    tercultural dialogue and gender issues, Ms.

    Borca has conducted research on her own

    while being abroad, writing several articles

    on the condition of women in Muslim

    countries. Her interest in empowerment of

    women and human rights is also testified

    by a research she is doing at the present

    moment on sexual rights of women in

    communism with a grant offered by Litera-turhaus Berlin and Herta Muller.

    After coming back from Jordan in July

    2012, Ms. Borca has started collaborating

    as a journalist with the Intercultural Insti-

    tute of Timisoara. Here she met representa-

    tives of the migrant communities in Roma-

    nia and started working on the Migrant in

    Intercultural Romania project which prime

    goal is to enable the integration of migrants

    in the Romanian society, and diminish the

    rate of discrimination and stereotypical

    images of migrants created by the mass-

    Professional Fellows Program in the U.S. (April 1 - May 11, 2013) Page

    Silvia UrsuBucharest, Romania

    E-mail:[email protected]

    Silvia Ursu has been working for two

    years as a Communication Coordinator at

    Romanian NGO, National Organization of

    Disabled People Federation (NODPF) in

    Romania, founded in 1995, The aim of

    NODPF is to promote the rights of peoplewith disability, offering them direct

    services, on one hand and also, on the

    other hand, doing lobby and advocacy for

    their rights. Ms. Ursu started working in

    NGOs first as a volunteer, during high

    school, and after that she kept being

    involved in social projects. Ms. Ursu is

    interested in communication, raising funds

    and how to promote social projects with

    zero budget. Also, after doing a web

    research on some campaigns, Silvia

    discovered some activation methods within

    a community. Then, she started to search

    Also, she took a 6 months trainin

    course powered by the Internation

    Advertising Association. Taking int

    account all the tips learnt, Ms. Urs

    pitched a project for disabled people at th

    Restart Romania Gala, supported by th

    U.S. Embassy, and won a grant for th

    project. Ms. Ursu is fluent in speakin

    English and French and she starte

    learning Spanish.

    Ms. Ursu has never been in the Unite

    States before, but always wanted to. Wheshe was in college, she had a huge passio

    on American Pop Art, from Jasper Johns t

    Andy Warhol. While in the U.S., Silvi

    would like to gaine the knowledge i

    involving directly people with disabilitie

    in gaining some practical skills for doin

    so and also she is interested to find mor

    about the American model for buildin

    grassroots democracy and participation.

    In her spare time, Silvia likes to rid

    her bike, to read books (most of th

    communication and multimedia books) an

    also to find peoples stories.

    about the topic and got information about

    community organizing. Now she thinks

    that community organizing is one of the

    healthier ways to involve the beneficiaries

    in a project. She is hoping to see disabled

    people in Romania speak by themselves

    and for their rights.

    Ms. Ursu followed the classes of the

    Faculty of Communication and Public

    Relations, and also she has a Masters

    Degree in Communication and Arts from

    the University of Bucharest.

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    Participants from Slovakia

    Daniela BatovaBratislava, Slovakia

    E-mail: [email protected]

    Daniela Batova is working as a ProjectManager in the Office of the Slovak

    Government Pleni-potentiary for Roma

    Communities, an advisory body to the

    government on the issues of Roma

    communities in Slovakia. The office

    performs the tasks aimed to addressing the

    problems of Roma communities and

    improvement of their situation and their

    integration into society, particularly in the

    development, implementation and

    coordination of policies and effective

    implementation of systematic measures

    aimed at prevention of social exclusion ofRoma communities.

    Ms. Batova is mainly responsible for

    the areas of housing conditions, social

    infrastructure and approach to job market

    of marginalized Roma community. This

    community is characterized by poor

    housing conditions, low employment rate

    and level of employability, low education

    and discrimination, but also passivity and

    distrust in state authorities. Ms. Batova

    would like to gain some experience how to

    lead the members of community to

    become active in solution of their problems

    and responsible for their lives and livingconditions.

    Ms. Batova graduated with Masters

    Degree in European Studies from the

    Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences

    at the Comenius University in Bratislava.

    During the university time she was as

    Erasmus student in University of Coimbra

    in Portugal. As a student, Daniela worked

    as a Project Assistant in NGO called Th

    Transparency International Slovakia an

    volunteered in NGO Scouting Slovakia

    where she was actively involved in a

    activities tackling the protection an

    enhancement of the environmenprevention from the addictions, soci

    activities, and work with children an

    disabled people/communities. She als

    took part in some activities of NGO calle

    Independent Youth Organization an

    dedicated mainly to campaign for health

    lifestyle without alcohol and drugs fo

    young people.

    Ms. Batova has never been in the U.S

    before. From this fellowship exchange sh

    expects to gain skills and experience i

    community organizing. She looks forwar

    to see the work of the U.S. NGOs and thway, and how they work with minorit

    communities to lead them to activ

    citizenship and awareness of their ow

    rights and duties.

    In her free time, Ms. Batova enjoy

    reading, mainly detective books, visitin

    the course of Irish dance. She like

    cooking traditional and special recipes.

    Maros ChmelikZvolen, SlovakiaE-mail:

    [email protected]

    Maros Chmelik currently works as a

    Project Manager in Education Center for

    Non-Profit Organizations (CVNO), where

    he provides consultation services to Roma

    NGOs and leaders in the areas of

    education, analysis, problem identification,

    search for a solution, capacity building,

    creation of concepts and strategies, fund-

    raising, advocacy, etc. In addition, Mr.

    Chmelik helps to NGOs working with

    Roma population in process of preparing

    applications for receiving grants. Maros

    states: Our role is to advise them what

    program or what type of program has

    proved itself efficient and therefore

    suitable to be financed in the future.

    Mr. Chmelik would like to work more

    with young leaders of Roma minority. As

    he states: Young leaders are more willing

    to change the current system. Their ideas

    are based on courage and modern

    opinions. He would like to be able to

    establish sustainable projects where

    mainly young leaders of Roma communitywould be involved with only a little help

    and support from others.

    Mr. Chmelik has a Bachelors Degree

    in Political Science, and a Masters Degree

    in Cultural Anthropology. Both Degrees

    were obtained from the Westbohemian

    University of Pilsen Czech Republic. As

    a student Mr. Chmelik worked as volunteer

    for Erasmus department in his Alma Mater

    Westbohemian University of Pilsen in

    Czech Republic.

    Also Mr. Chmelik works part-time a

    a Spanish teacher in Institute of Language

    and Education. Maros is fluent in Englis

    and Spanish and has a good knowledge o

    French.

    This will be his first trip to the Unite

    States. While in the U.S., Mr. Chmeli

    would like to learn how to motivate youn

    people from Roma minorities to study an

    work. He would like to see some example

    of good practices in communit

    organizing, to gain experiences in this fiel

    and how to apply new skills into his work

    In addition, Mr. Chmelik would like t

    exchange professional experiences wit

    young managers from Europe and U.S.Aand to transfer new ideas to Slovakia. Als

    he expects to improve his leadership

    networking and language skills.

    In his free time, Mr. Chmelik

    interested in traveling, doing all kinds o

    sports activities, spending time with h

    two dogs and tasting high-quality wine

    while listening to jazz music. His mai

    hobbies are socializing, hiking, reading an

    watching good movies.

    Page 10 Building Grassroots Democracy in Minority Communities

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    Martin KlusBanska Bystrica, Slovakia

    E-mail: [email protected]

    Martin Klus is a Lecturer at the Fac-

    ulty of Social Sciences University of SS.

    Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Slovakia,

    where he runs courses on Public Policy and

    Political Sciences Issues.Mr. Klus actively participated in re-

    search projects with e. g. University of

    California Berkeley (USA), Charles Uni-

    versity Prague (Czech Republic) and

    Corvinus Society for Foreign Affairs and

    Culture in Budapest (Hungary). During his

    academic career he also actively partici-

    pated at international conferences, semi-

    nars, workshops and teaching nobilities,

    published monographs, university text-

    books and papers, some of them specifi-

    cally oriented on minority or/and grass-

    roots democracy topics.Also Mr. Klus is acting as Political

    Analysts cooperating especially with Na-

    tional radio and television RTVS, News

    channel TA3 and nationwide newspapers

    like Hospodarske Noviny and Pravda.

    He is active blogger within Slovak eco-

    nomic weekly - eTrend. Furthermore, Mr.

    Klus is very active as a volunteer in vari-

    ous NGOs in Slovakia - such as

    Banskobystricky Okraslovaci Spolok,

    the main aim of which is community-

    Currently, Mr. Klus focuses on Euro

    pean Studies, Public Policy issues as we

    as on Comparative Public Policies; one o

    the main topics within these fields is als

    minority policy issue studied from diffe

    ent perspectives.

    Mr. Klus has rich traveling exper

    ence. He has already been in the U.S. twic

    as a Work and Travel program partic

    pant, and twice as a Researcher at the Unversity of California Berkeley.

    His fifth visit to the U.S. is aimed t

    take part in grassroots democracy building

    communication, mobilization and variou

    kinds of event organization focused o

    minority and university issues in the U.S

    and Central Europe (particularly Slovakia

    and write a complex comparative paper o

    the subject. As an active volunteer of di

    ferent NGOs, Mr. Klus would like to pre

    pare special training for these NGOs vo

    unteers based on the knowledge obtaine

    during the fellowship program in the U.SHe is also interested in the opportunity t

    make contacts with professional organiza

    tions of teachers, students and researche

    especially on the university level as well a

    with politicians and public administrator

    on various levels.

    In his free time, Mr. Klus is occupie

    with various sports activities like skiin

    running, swimming, cycling and bowlin

    He likes documentary movies and facto

    graphic books and magazines.

    building and community cleaning and

    beautification activities; Turkish - Slovak

    Alliance for Education and Development

    (TSAFED), which focuses on NGO diplo-

    macy; Aliancia Nezavislych (Alliance of

    Independent) with community and civic

    society building activities; and at last (but

    not least), he is a volunteer of the Non-

    Governmental Organization Welcome to

    Slovakia, N.O., which focuses on commu-nity tourist industry and youth activities.

    Within this organization, Mr. Klus partici-

    pated in various youth seminars and train-

    ing focused also on minority issues across

    Europe and in Georgia (former USSR).

    Mr. Klus graduated in Political Sci-

    ences in 2003 and International Affairs and

    Diplomacy in 2004 from the Molde Uni-

    versity College in Norway. During aca-

    demic year 2005/2006 he was granted a

    Norwegian Government Scholarship.

    Miroslav RagacBanska Bystrica, Slovakia

    E-mail: [email protected]

    Miroslav Ragac is currently working

    for Interantional Organization for

    Migration (IOM) in Zvolen as a Project

    Assistant since 2010. His main role

    incudes integration of the migrants to

    Slovak Republic and providing assistance

    to the migrant during the resettlement

    period. Miroslav provides necessary

    assistance that is taking the form of one or

    more of the following services:

    employment search and placement

    assistance, vocational trainings, housing

    placement, medical assistance, language

    training, social and cultural orientation,

    assist the migrant to obtain the various

    documents etc.

    In 2008 Mr. Ragac started his work for

    Center for Community Organizing in

    Bansk Bystrica directed by Chuck Hirt.

    His more than two years of experience

    with community organizing gave him a lot

    of practical skills and knowledge when

    assisting with several larger and smaller

    successful campaigns. As a community

    organizer and project assistant working

    with different communities he believes,

    that the outreach work is one of the most

    important part of any social work that

    helps people and minorities to overcome

    their problems.

    In 2001 Mr. Ragac finished his higher

    education in Social Work in Doln Kubn,

    Slovakia with specialization in Social and

    Legal Work and then he has remained true

    to social work. His professional prortfoli

    includes work with people with physic

    and mental disablilities, with the homeles

    or the elderly.

    Five years of living and working i

    United Kingdom for PHSS (Peterboroug

    HIV Support Services) gave Miroslav a

    opportunity to work with people livin

    with HIV and AIDS, and help them wit

    their reintegration into society.

    Mr. Ragac has no previous experienc

    travelling to the United States. Therefor

    face to face contact, hands on outreac

    work and using community organizin

    practices as a problem solving method i

    the community or neighborhoods wit

    different backgrounds, cultures and issue

    interest him the most during visiting th

    United States.

    Mr. Ragac enjoys travelling, meetin

    new people, learning new cultures, cuisine

    and history. He also enjoys maintaining h

    personal fitness in the gym and by cycling

    jogging, swimming, trekking and hiking.

    Professional Fellows Program in the U.S. (April 1 - May 11, 2013) Page 1

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    Dr. Monika VaskovicovaBanska Bystrica, Slovakia

    E-mail:[email protected]

    Monika Vaskovicova is working as

    Director, Project and Financial Manager at

    the Agency for Development of Gemer

    region in Hnusta, south of Slovakia. She

    established her agency in 2008 and ever

    since she is together with her team and

    volunteers working for the community.

    The agency was established with the

    aim of initiation, realization and coordina-

    tion of strategic activities for multilateral

    and dynamic development of Gemer re-

    gion. Dr. Vaskovicova is preparing and

    managing innovative projects in order to

    obtain financial support for the schools,

    municipalities, community centres and

    minorities in the whole Gemer region.

    Since 2008 the agency became a trustedpartner for development of Gemer region,

    and viewed as an umbrella organization

    not only for partners within the region, but

    also on the international level.

    Dr. Vaskovicova is through creative

    projects, trying to move the development

    of Gemer region forward, mainly by

    pointing out the multicultural aspect of the

    region and helping minorities to to be

    included into educational process by using

    special educational tools. She and her team

    developed and copy-righted a non-formal

    Continuing Education. In 2012, sh

    received a Prince2 Certificate of th

    internationally recognized proje

    management methodology.

    Dr. Vaskovicova attended variou

    courses including non-formal learning an

    regional marketing, active citizenshi

    building and creation of social enterpris

    principles. She speaks fluently English an

    German.Dr. Vaskovicova has been in th

    United States several times. Once, sh

    visited as a participant of the Work

    Travel program, and then she had a

    internship in a private immigration la

    office in Florida where she looked int

    finding the appropriate law for asylees an

    immigrants in the U.S.

    Within this fellowship program D

    Vaskovicova wishes to experience th

    community collaboration in the Unite

    States, the role, function and motivation

    tools of the leaders in the community anthe principles of the informational system

    and channels in terms of providin

    effective information to the loc

    communities. Monika likes turnin

    impossible into possible, because sh

    believes that everything is possible, it ju

    takes a little BIT (Belief, Imaginatio

    Time).

    In her rare free time Dr. Vaskovicov

    likes running, going to the fields collectin

    herbs. She also is fond of music like

    listening classic rock and jazz.

    learning tool historical multicultural

    game GemerNation(R). In addition, Dr.

    Vaskovicova is a Project and Financial

    Manager for another educational project

    the creation of Museum of Socialist

    Curiosities. By using some non-formal

    learning approaches the young generation

    should understand, and appreciate, and use

    the rights and freedoms they have

    nowadays as compared to the past socialistregime.

    Also Ms. Vaskovicova is an active

    volunteer in three NGOs working with

    young Roma people and children with

    cancer as a pro-bono Project Manager,

    Lawyer and Facilitator.

    Dr. Vaskovicova holds a Ph.D. in Law

    (JUDr.) from Faculty of Law, Comenius

    University in Slovakia. Also she holds the

    Diploma in Introduction to English Law

    and the Law of The European Union from

    the University of Cambridge, Institute of

    OUR SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR U.S. PARTNERS AND

    INTERNSHIP HOSTING ORGANIZATIONS:

    Page 12 Building Grassroots Democracy in Minority Communities

    Action North Carolina (Charlotte, North Carolina)

    Action United (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

    Alliance for a Just Society (Seattle, Washington)

    Arkansas Public Policy Panel (Little Rock, Arkansas)

    Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (Chicago, Illinois)Granite State Organizing Project (Manchester, New Hampshire)

    Logan Square Neighborhood Association & Illinois Coalition for Immigrants and

    Refugee Rights (Chicago, Illinois)

    Massachusetts Communities Action Network & Organizing and Leadership Training

    Center (Boston, Massachusetts)

    Missourian Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (St. Louis, Missouri)

    Paraquad (St. Louis, Missouri)

    Virginia Organizing (Charlottesville, Virginia)

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    ITINERARY*

    Monday, April 1

    Detroit, MI/Maumee, OH1:30PM: Arrival at Detroit airport,

    Welcome by Elizabeth Balint and Mar-

    tin Nagy; drive to hotel in Maumee

    4:00PM: Check-in to hotel for 6 nights4:30PM: Pick-up GLC Orientation

    materials and supplies for finishing

    posters; finish the posters before dinner

    6:00PM: Joint dinner out of the hotel

    8:00PM: Return to hotel

    Tuesday, April 2

    Maumee, OH8:30AM: Set up the Poster Show by

    participants in the meeting room of the

    hotel

    9:00AM: GLC Orientation with Eliza-

    beth Balint

    10:00-10:30AM: Distribute allowances

    by Terri Laeng (WSOS)

    10:30-12:30PM: Getting to know you

    Poster Show and discussion in small

    groups

    Facilitators: Ramon Perez, Cris Doby,

    Dave Beckwith, Martin Nagy

    Discussion questions:

    - What inspires you?

    - Why do you want to work with mi-

    norities?

    - Best ideas from our work to solve

    problems with minorities?

    12:30-2:00PM: Lunch in the hotel;Selecting the two best posters to pre-

    sent at the State Department in May

    2:00-3:30PM: Brief Overview of the

    Community Organizing Cris Doby

    3:30-5:00PM: Joint Session discus-sion on experience learned from the

    Poster session in small groups

    Facilitators: Ramon Perez, Cris Doby,

    Dave Beckwith, Martin Nagy5:00-5:30PM: Reflections hour

    6:00PM: Dinner in the hotel

    7:00PM: (Optional) Shopping or time

    to rest

    Wednesday, April 3

    Detroit, MI8:00AM: Departing from the hotel and

    drive to Detroit

    9:30AM: Welcome at the Harriet Tub-

    man Center; Introduction of the dele-

    gation and the Detroit partners

    10:00-11:30AM: Building a Powerful

    Community Organizing Program toSolve Community Problems by Bill

    OBrien, Director of HTC11:45AM: Departing to Capucin

    Kitchen for lunch with Greg Markus,

    Professor at the University of Michi-gan, teaching community organizing in

    Ann Arbor, and volunteer leaders of

    the Detroit Action Commonwealth

    (1264 Meldrum St. Detroit, MI)

    12:45PM: Visit Solanus Center;Presentation and discussion with DAC

    leaders; learning about success stories

    and methods in homeless organizing.

    3:00-6:00PM: Travel to the meetingplace of the Youth Voice Leadership to

    meet with: Kayla Mason, Lead Organ-

    izer of Youth Voice and student volun-

    teers, who are leading the different

    chapters of Youth Voice in Detroit

    supported by HTC; learn about the

    Youth Voice activities

    6:00PM: Travel to Krakus Polish Res-

    taurant in Detroit with Bill OBrien

    and Detroit partners for reflections and

    dinner;

    Discussion questions:- How do you see these concepts heard

    today applying to the work youre do-

    ing?

    - What changes would you need to

    make in order to implement some orga-

    nizing elements into your work?

    8:00PM: Travel back to the hotel in

    Maumee

    9:00PM: Drop off at the hotel

    Thursday, April 4

    Maumee, OH9:00AM-12:30PM: Discussion of the

    short field experience in community

    organizing in Europe in small groups

    Facilitators: Dave Beckwith, Cris

    Doby, Ramon Perez, Adam Keck

    Topics to cover:

    - Listening: door-to-door, one on one,

    home meetings, etc.

    - How to select leaders and prepare for

    their role in the first community meet-

    ings,

    Posters Titles

    BulgariaDelyana Mihneva:

    We Act, We Organize

    Dzhevid Mahmud: 10 Million Rom= 10 Million Different Stories

    Georgi Georgiev:

    Together We Can Do More

    Milenko Milenkov:Together in Diversity

    Hungary:Anita Vodal: Hungarian Civil Liber

    ties Union - Roma Program Partnenot a target group

    Csaba Szikra: Tikkun Olam Buda

    pest - A Cross-Cultural Project in thDistrict 8

    Hajnalka Kiss:Social Transport

    Laszlo Oliver Jakab:

    All in One Society

    Timea Eve Kovacs:In Community We Trust

    Romania:Ioana Petrache: BE THE CHANGE

    inspired by Mahatma Gandhi

    Raluca Negulescu:

    Powerless to PowerfulRuxandra Borca:

    Diversity is the Spice of Life

    Silvia Elena Ursu:

    Together, One Voice

    Simona Barbu: The Roma: Nothin

    for Them, Without Them

    Slovakia:Daniela Batova: Social Inclusion o

    Roma Communities up to 2020

    Maros Chmelik: Giving the Rom

    community from Zvolen the Opportunity to Help Themselves

    Martin Klus: Grassroots Democrac

    Building within Community and Aca

    demic Environment

    Miroslav Ragac:

    Successful Integration =

    Self-Sufficiency and Independence

    Monika Vaskovicova:

    RegiON OFF the Duty? Bring it ON

    it is your RegiON!

    Professional Fellows Program in the U.S. (April 1 - May 11, 2013) Page 1

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    * Itinerary as of April 1, 2013 subject to change without further notice

    Page 14 Building Grassroots Democracy in Minority Communities

    - How to prepare for community meet-

    ing, media involvement etc.

    - Identifying issues, the top 3 issues

    12:30-2:00PM: Lunch in the hotel

    Facilitators will do an assessment and

    prepare for experience learned andhow to improve in each area

    2:00-5:00PM: Joint mentoring session

    with facilitators to improve experience

    5:00-5:30PM: Reflections hour

    Covered topics:

    - How do you see these concepts ap-

    plying to the work youre doing?

    - What changes would you need to

    make in order to implement some orga-

    nizing elements into your work?

    6:00PM: Dinner at the hotel

    7:00PM: (Optional) Shopping

    Friday, April 5

    Toledo, OH8:30AM: Departure from the hotel

    (passport is needed to enter to the Gov-

    ernment Center)

    9:00AM: Visit the One Government

    Center in downtown Toledo 8th floor

    9:30AM-12:30PM: Panel discussion

    on grassroots democracy & communityorganizing with elected leaders and

    community organizers from Toledo,and City or County representatives.

    Meeting with: Congresswoman Marcy

    Kaptur, Wade Kapszukiewicz12:30-2:00PM: Lunch

    2:30-4:30PM: Artists and social jus-

    tice discussion

    Facilitator: Martin Nagy

    Covered topic: Creative solutions toreduce the impact of unemployment

    with tourism, crafts, engaging youth in

    democracy, fundraising, etc.

    4:30-5:00PM: Reflections hourDiscussion questions:

    - How do you see these concepts ap-

    plying to the work youre doing?

    - What changes would you need to

    make in order to implement some orga-

    nizing elements into your work?

    5:00-5:30PM: Program assessment

    with Elizabeth Balint in preparation of

    the Chicago trip

    6:00PM: Joint dinner

    8:00PM: Visit the Toledo Museum of

    Art Its Friday activities with Martin

    Nagy (art and music)

    10:00PM: Return to the hotel

    Saturday, April 6

    Toledo, OH10:00AM: Departing from the hotel;

    Sightseeing (Optional) - Toledo Zoo

    and/or shopping

    5:00PM: Return to the hotel

    7:00PM: (Optional) Enjoy a dinner

    and the nightlife of Toledo

    Sunday, April 7

    Chicago, IL

    8:00AM: Leaving by bus to Chicagofrom the hotel (with all luggage)

    1:00PM: Arrive in Chicago; Sightsee-

    ing in downtown Chicago (as weather

    permits) Millennium Park, Navy Pier

    5:00PM: Check-in to hotel for 4 nights

    7:00PM: Dinner

    Monday, April 8

    Chicago, ILTraining day 1 at the Whitehall Hotel

    (105 East Delaware Place, Salon III)

    9:00-9:30AM: I. Overview of Training& Ice Breaker by Jim Field

    9:30-11:00 AM: II. History and Princi-

    ples of Organizing by Jim Field

    11:00-11:15 AM: Break

    11:15AM-12:45PM: III. Relationship

    Building by Jim Picchetti

    12:45-1:45PM: Lunch on your own

    1:45-3:15PM: IV. Effective Meetings

    by Rachel Ramirez

    3:15-4:30PM: Debriefing and program

    assessment

    4:30-5:00PM: Preparation for individ-ual travel to internship sites with

    Elizabeth Balint

    6:00PM: Enjoy Chicago, dinner on

    your own

    Tuesday, April 9

    Chicago, ILTraining day 2 at the Whitehall Hotel

    (105 East Delaware Place, Salon III)

    9:00-10:30AM: V. World As It I

    World as You Want It to Be by E

    Shurna (CHH)

    10:30-10:45AM: Break

    10:45AM-12:1PM: VI. Power an

    Power Analysis by Hannah Gelde(LAC)

    12:15-1:00 PM: Lunch on your own

    1:00-2:30 PM: VII. Cutting an Issue

    Wayne Richard (CCH)

    2:30-2:45PM: Break

    2:45-4:15PM: VIII. Media, Messagin

    and Actions - Jim Field (CCH)

    4:15-4:30PM: Debriefing

    4:30-5:00PM: Preparation for stayin

    with host families by Elizabet

    Balint

    6:00PM: Enjoy Chicago, sightseeingdinner on your own

    Wednesday, April 10

    Chicago, IL8:15AM: Departing from hotel to th

    training site

    Training day 3 at Chicago Coalition fo

    the Homeless (70 East Lake Street, 3r

    Floor Conference Room)

    9:00-10:30AM: IX. Grass Roots Fundraising by Jeff Pinzino (NPA)

    10:30-10:45AM: Break10:45AM-1:00PM: X. Popular Educa

    tion Methodology by Kara Bende

    and Saskia Harak (JASCC)1:00- 1:45PM: Lunch on your own

    1:45-3:15PM: XI. Path to Power th

    Magic Schematic by Josh Hoy

    (ICIRR)

    3:15-3:30PM: Break

    3:30-5:00PM: Evaluation of the 3-da

    training and discussion how to us

    these materials in community organiz

    ing field activities in EuropewitNancy Aardema (LSNA) & ActioPlanning with Elizabeth Balint an

    Martin Nagy

    6:00PM: Joint dinner and discussio

    of the Chicago program

    Thursday, April 11

    Travel da8:00-11:00AM: Check-out from th

    ITINERARY*

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    hotel; travel to internship site for 3

    weeks (the transportation to the airport,

    and/or to the host family have to be

    arranged on your own in advance)

    April 11 May 23-week Internship

    Tailored 3-week internship experience

    at the 11 U.S. hosting organizations in

    9 states across the United States

    Thursday, May 2

    Travel DayDeparture from the internship site and

    travel to Washington, D.C.; travel on

    your own to the downtown hotel and

    check-in for 6 nights

    7:00PM: Meet at the hotel lobby; joint

    dinner; planning for the weekend with

    Elizabeth Balint

    Friday, May 3

    Washington D.C.9:00AM: Depart to Center for Com-

    munity Change conference room (1536

    U Street, NW, Washington, D.C.

    20009)9:30-12:00Noon: Discussion of the

    fellowship experience based on the

    field diary overview of ECON

    (European Community Organizing

    Network) and how ECON can help

    implementing your action plans with

    Juli Bertalan, Friends of ECON U.S.

    Field Coordinator

    Session I What have you learned

    about the work of community organiz-ing and how might you apply this in

    your country & your field project?

    Reports on individual and group action

    plans & summaries by countries for the

    next 6-9 months

    Session IIHow does your host organi-

    zation work with minority communi-

    ties and those in poverty?

    12:00-1:30PM: Lunch on your own

    1:30-3:30PM: Individual and groupreport on planning of the Summer 2013

    U.S. Mentors visit to Europe

    Evening: Enjoy Washington D.C.

    night views; (Optional) travel to New

    York on your own

    Saturday, May 4

    Washington D.C.Enjoy sightseeing in Washington D.C.

    (Optional) Opportunity to have a day-

    trip to New York on your own

    Sunday, May 5

    Washington D.C.Sightseeing continues; free time

    Monday, May 6

    Washington D.C.9:00AM: Depart to Center for Com-

    munity Change conference room (1536

    U Street, NW, Washington, D.C.

    20009)

    9:30AM-12:00Noon: Discussion ofthe fellowship experience based on the

    field diary

    Meeting with: Cathy Woodson, Vir-

    ginia Organizing

    Session I How are citizen organiza-

    tions built, structured, grown and sus-

    tained?

    Focus on leadership development

    12:00-1:30PM: Lunch on your own

    1:30-3:00PM: Session II How does

    the organization deal with issues of

    transparency and visibility?

    3:15-4:15PM: Session III What the

    U.S. mentors find interesting during

    their trip to Europe? by Cathy

    Woodson (member of the Summer

    2012 delegation; share her Outbound

    experience and suggestions)

    4:30-5:00PM: Preparation for the Con-

    gress review of Congress activitieswith Elizabeth Balint

    6:00PM: Dinner on your own

    Evening: Free time to enjoy the night

    in Washington,

    Tuesday, May 7

    Washington, D.C.8:30AM: Depart to the meeting loca-

    tion at the Stewart R. Mott Foundation

    (122 Maryland Ave. NE, Washington,

    D.C. 20002)

    9:00AM-12:00Noon: Discussion of

    fellowship experience based on the

    field diary

    Meeting with: Ken Grossinger Co-

    founder and Chairman of the Cros

    Currents Foundation

    Session ICultural differences betwee

    your country and the United States?

    Session II How is community orga

    nizing funded and how is this differenfrom the experience in your country?

    Discussion topics:

    - Funding community organizing baseon your internship experience (grant

    membership, grassroots fundraising)

    - How cultural differences will have a

    impact on possible funding.

    - Resources available/needed for implementing follow on activities

    12:00-1:30PM: Lunch on your own

    1:30-4:30PM: Evaluation of the pro

    gram with Elizabeth Balint and JuBertalan and finishing the testimonia

    video clips;

    5:00PM: Early dinner on your own

    7:00PM: Joint Farewell Celebration

    presentation program completion ce

    tificates; group photo

    Location: Ken Grossinger and his wif

    Michelines home in Georgetown

    Wednesday, May 8

    Washington, D.C.

    Congress, 1 da11:00AM: Check-out of the downtow

    hotel with all luggage

    11:15AM: Depart to the hotel of th

    Professional Fellows Congress site an

    check-in for 3 nights; Lunch on you

    own

    12:00-5:30PM: Ongoing - Congres

    Registration (2nd floor); Early dinne

    on your own

    6:00-8:30PM: Orientation and Ne

    working of the Congress in the Bal

    room6:30PM: World Learning Welcome

    by Dr. Peter Simpson, World Learning

    6:40PM: Professional Fellows Pro

    gram Overview by Ms. Caro

    Herrera, U.S. Department of Stat

    Professional Fellows Division

    7:00PM: Orientation Information bMr. Adam Meier, U.S. Department o

    State Professional Fellows Division

    7:20PM: Introduction of Distinguishe

    Alumni

    ITINERARY*

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    ITINERARY*

    7:45PM: Icebreaker Activity intro-

    duced by Dr. Patricia Harrison, World

    Learning

    8:30PM: Refreshments at the foyerand casual conversation.

    Thursday, May 9

    Washington D.C.

    Congress Conference, Day 27:30-9:00AM: Breakfast

    9:00-10:15AM: Opening Plenary in

    the Grand Ballroom.

    9:00-9:10AM: State Department Wel-come by Mr. Michael Stanton, Chief,

    Professional Fellows Division, Office

    of Citizen Exchanges, Bureau of Edu-

    cational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. De-

    partment of State.

    9:10-9:15AM: Introduction of Keynote

    Speaker by Dr. Peter Simpson,

    World Learning.

    9:15-10:00AM: Keynote Address

    10:00-10:15AM: Short Break

    10:15AM: Return to Ballroom for Ex-

    planation of Fellowship Experience

    Exercise.

    10:15AM-12:00PM: Fellowship Ex-

    perience Small Group Exercise

    12:00-1:45PM: Citizen Diplomacy

    Lunch with Local Ambassadors andEmbassy staff in the Ballroom;

    Welcome to Diplomats and Fellows

    1:45-3:15PM: Skill-Building Work-

    shops:

    1. Coalition Building

    2. Strategic Planning for Your Organi-

    zation

    3. Media for the Next Generation4. Funding for Development

    5. Political Messaging and Speech-writing

    6. Social Entrepreneurship

    7. Community Mapping8. Grassroots Activism

    3:15- 3:45PM: Break

    3:45-5:15PM: Skill Building Work-

    shops (Sessions will be repeated with

    the same moderators).

    5:15 - 5:30PM: Group photo taken by

    Photographer Ralph Blessing.

    5:30-6:30PM: Dinner in the Hotel.

    Evening: Free time

    Friday, May 10

    Washington D.C.

    Congress Conference, Day 36:45-7:30AM: Breakfast at hotel

    7:45AM: Departure for Department of

    State (DOS) by board buses; bring

    your passport to enter).

    8:15-9:00AM: Arrival at DOS; Secu-

    rity Screening at DOS.

    9:00-9:30AM: Distinguished Alumni

    Award Presentations.9:30-11:00AM: Regional Briefings

    with Q & A

    11:00AM-12:45PM: Return to the ho-

    tel by board buses for lunch.

    12:45-2:15PM: Open Space Activity

    break.

    2:30PM: Return to Ballroom.

    2:30-3:15PM: Open Space Presentations: Three Things in Three Minutes

    3:15-3:30PM: Break to prepare foPoster Show.

    3:30-6:30PM: Poster Show Session

    6:30PM: Dinner at the Hotel.

    Evening: (Possible) Networking an

    Dancing Event at the Hotel.

    Saturday, May 11

    Washington D.C.

    Congress Closing, Day 7:30-9:00AM: Breakfast at hotel

    9:00-10:15AM: Alumni Panel an

    Outbound Planning Session: PFAlumni, DOS Alumni Outreach an

    others will share best practices.

    10:15-11:00AM: Farewell Session

    10:15-10:30AM: Alumni Outreac

    Representative, U.S. Department o

    State.

    10:30-10:45AM: Remarks by M

    Adam Meier, U.S. Department of Stat

    10:45-11:00AM: Evaluations and Ce

    tificates by Dr. Peter Simpson, Worl

    Learning.

    11:00AM-12:00Noon: Check-out fromhotel; travel to the airport with th

    group or on your own.

    Have a safe trip back home!

    * Itinerary as of April 1, 2013 subject to change without further notice

    Page 16 Building Grassroots Democracy in Minority Communities

    Special Thanks to the U.S. Mentors, their organizationsand all U.S. host families for welcoming the European fellows

    and working with them in the U.S. in April 2013:

    Dominik & Georgia Mjartan, Barbara Miles & Hank Bates, Debbie & Bill Goolsby from Arkansas (AR);

    Joanna Brown & Joshua Hoyt, Laurene Heybach, Jaquie Algee, Jim Field & Rachel Ramirez, Richard

    Goldstein & Julie O'Brien from Illinois (IL); Rachie Lewis (Moishe Kavod House), Sheila Decter,

    Beverly Ann Rock, Ann Grady from Massachusetts (MA); Tom & Carol Braford, Kathy & Julio

    Zegarra Ballons, Dana Gray & Jerry Basye, Brian & Dana Wallace, Sarah Durbin from Missouri (MO);

    Sarah Jane Knoy & Kevin Kintner, Kathy Urie from New