1st In Bound Participants

GREAT LAKES CONSORTIUM

for International Training and

Development (GLC) — GLC is a collaborative effort of the Bowling Green State University, Lourdes College, The University of Toledo, and WSOS Community Action Commission, Inc - Contract Agent and Manager. Established in 1999.

Dr. Elizabeth Balint

Project Manager Barbara Dennis,

Viktoriya Maryamova

Program Coordinators GLC Toledo Office

P.O. Box 352424 Toledo, OH 43635 Phone: 419-725-0440 Cell: 419-973-8007 Email: [email protected] Website: www.GLC-Teachdemocracy.org www.gl-consortium.org Find us on

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of the Educational and Cultural Affairs, 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 September 2011 and May 2013 from the U.S. Department of State for the “Citizen Legislative Advocacy in Minority Communities” with 28 participants from four countries of Europe and for 17 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 U.S. practices in engaging citizens and community leaders in collaboration to inform changes in legislation that make a difference in minority communities (incl. Roma, disabled, homeless, immigrant populations) and strengthen democracy. Foreign participants will be exposed to diverse community organizing methods to engage citizens as active participants in solving problems in their own communities. They will also 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 methods to fight public corruption and develop accountability. Through internship placements at national, state and 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. The U.S. participants of this exchange 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 collabo-ration between GLC and its partners.

The first delegation with a total of 16 fel-

lows from Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania

and Slovakia will visit the U.S. from March 26 - May 5, 2012 to participate in group seminars, round-table discussions, site visits, and will have interactions with U.S. Leaders. A tailored 3-week internship

with mentoring, multicultural events, and participation in volunteer activities as well as in the Professional Fellows Congress in Washington, D.C. are also included in the 6-week professional fellows program. Participants will prepare a 6-9 month individual and group Action Plan for follow on activities. They will have an opportunity to experience the American family life and the diversity in the U.S. through staying with American host families during their internship in Detroit, Michigan; Youngstown, Ohio, Chicago, Illinois; New York, New York; Charlottesville, Virginia and St. Louis, Missouri. A second European delegation is expected

in the U.S. from October 2-November 3, 2012. The Out-Bound component will include 17 Americans in two teams to travel to Europe (July 2012 and February-March 2013) for 21 days to provide joint work-shops with the alumni and on-site consul-tation, engage media and conduct wider outreach programs. U.S. and foreign par-ticipants will be involved in alumni activi-ties through an alumni social network in each country. We will also establish an online network for continued learning. This program is a collaboration between

GLC and its overseas partners: CEGA in Bulgaria, Civil College Foundation in Hungary, CeRe in Romania and Center for Community Organizing in Slovakia as well as many U.S. partner organizations.

“Citizen Legislative Advocacy in Minority Communities”

Professional Fellows from

Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia in the USA

March 26 — May 5, 2012

March 2012

Page 2 “Citizen Legislative Advocacy in Minority Communities”

Bulgaria Full name: Republic of Bulgaria Head of state: Rosen Plevneliev (2012)

Prime Minister: Boyko Borisov (2009) Population: 7,093,635 Capital: Sofia (1,192,000) Area: 42,823 sq. miles (110,910 sq. km) Major language: Bulgarian Major religion: Bulgarian Orthodox Main exports: clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery

and equipment, fuels.

Hungary Full name: Hungary President: Pal Schmitt (2010)

Prime Minister: Viktor Orban (2010) Population: 9,880,059

Capital: Budapest (2,597,000) Area: 35,919 sq. miles (93,030 sq. km)

Major language: Magyar (Hungarian) Major religion: Roman Catholic

Main exports: machinery and equipment, food product, fuels

and electricity.

Romania Full name: Republic of Romania Head of state: Traian Basescu (2007)

Prime Minister: Emil Boc (2008)

Population: 22,181,287 Capital: Bucharest (2,210,800) Area: 91,699 sq. miles (237,500 sq. km) Major language: Romanian Major religion: Eastern Orthodox Main exports: textiles and footwear, metals and metal

products, machinery and equipment, minerals and fuels,

chemicals, agricultural products.

Slovakia Full name: Slovak Republic President: Ivan Gasparovic (2004)

Prime Minister: Iveta Radicova (2010) Population: 5,470,306 Capital: Bratislava (480,800) Area: 18,859 sq. miles (48,845 sq. km) Major language: Slovak Major religion: Roman Catholic Main exports: vehicles, machinery and electrical equipment, base

metal, plastics.

“Citizen Legislative Advocacy in Minority Communities”

Participants of the First European Delegation from Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia

The program is funded by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Office of Citizen Exchanges, Professional Fellows Division

Locally organized by Great Lakes Consortium for International Training and Development through WSOS Community Action Commission, Inc. – Program Agent and Manager

Hungary

Slovakia Romania

Bulgaria

Page 3 Professional Fellows program in the U.S. (March 26 - May 5, 2012)

Ognyan Isaev Varbitsa, Bulgaria E-mail: [email protected]

Ognyan Isaev is a Coordinator of

the Youth program and PR in Integro Association. He is dealing mostly with high school or university students - organ-izes trainings in debating, public speech, behavior in front of Medias and effective addressing of messages. Also he coaches community leaders/workers in local advo-cacy – how to negotiate with the local au-thorities and unite/mobilize/organize the community to present an issue in front of the authorities. Ognyan is indeed interested and analyzes the role of Medias in creating of one society for all citizens and accelerat-ing of the process of building of political nation rather than ethnic. He monitors the hate speech and the prejudice in Bulgarian Medias toward the Roma.

Ognyan writes articles for the news-papers “Drom Dromendar” and “Novinar”, and for the magazines “Transitions Online” and “Obektiv”. Also he publishes his own blog where he expresses his opinion about the Roma issues, Also deal with the Medias issues and youth issues.

Since 2005 Ognyan is a part of the team of youth camp “Forward Together”, which every summer collect in one place

in building the personality of the students. Ognyan would like to gain skills about how the NGOs, local authorities and com-munity leaders interact in solving of social conflicts or problems.

Ognyan would like to know more about the legislation of the USA about the hate speech in the Medias - what was the situation 50 years ago and what were the first steps in eliminating of the discrimina-tion and the hate speech. Ognyan thinks that the Medias has decisive role in the process as Roma integration, because they create the image of the Roma, because they offer the model of thinking and acting of the majority toward the every Roma, and last but not least in importance – the Medias influence the rhetoric of the powerful per-sons of our days, respectively the policies for the Roma integration.

Ognyan would like to meet as much as possible new people – politicians, jour-nalists, trainers and etc. He is interested in movement of the Afro-Americans and especially of the actions of Dr. Martin Lu-ther King. He would like to know more about the process of organizing of the American reserves and of course to visit one of them. He would like to enjoy of his visit in the USA – to play basketball, to travel around the country, to try some special American dishes and etc.

high school students from Bulgaria. The camp equips promising youth with informa-tion, leadership skills, and motivation to develop and improve their lives and their communities.

Ognyan holds Bachelor in Journal-ism and currently is doing his Masters in Psychology. He speaks good English, Romanes and Turkish.

This his first trip to US. Ognyan would like to see good practices of leadership on community level, but also to learn more about the American way of advocacy. He is curious how the debating became part of the education program in the high schools and to contrive to propose the debating to Bulgarian government as an important step

Emil Metodiev Sofia, Bulgaria E-mail: [email protected]

Emil Metodiev is the Project Man-ager of Creating Effective Grassroots Alternatives Foundation (CEGA) where he is managing international projects re-lated to the Millennium Development Goals, as well as projects related to the Roma communities in Bulgaria and Europe since 2004. In addition to his employment, he is involved in few other non-profit or-ganizations like Pakiv European Net-work and Roma Fashion Foundation. In both he is a volunteer, organizing activi-ties, which promote diversity, tolerance and respect for others.

For 8 years now he is involved in com-munity development of Roma communities, especially youth initiative groups and or-ganizations. He worked mainly in the field of education, intercultural dialogue, cam-paigning for tolerance and raising aware-ness of Roma issue into the Bulgarian soci-ety.

Emil holds Bachelor in Business Administration and currently is doing his

relationship between the different ethnic minorities in the American society would be very helpful for his view in his own country, while he is implementing future activities promoting diversity and cohesion.

Emil would like to learn more about the fashion innovative IT technology, such like Facebook Applications, IPhone Applica-tions through which he believes he can reach out more audience of his work and engage the youth. Emil is interested to visit national organizations that work either through community development approach or community organizing. He would like also to see both local and national organiza-tions dealing with minority issues, espe-cially working with youths.

Emil would like to visit cultural or-ganizations dealing with arts, dances, events. He is interested how far the au-thorities or other stakeholders contribute to such events. His hobby is Latin dance, espe-cially the salsa dancing. He has competing for few years on professional stages and currently is managing web dance portal posting different information regarding all kind of dances.

Master’s in International Marketing. He speaks very good English, fluently Roma and average Russian.

This is his first trip to U.S. Emil is interested to see practices which engage citizens and community leaders in collabo-ration that makes changes in legislation for bringing difference in minority communities and strengthen democracy. He would like also to explore diverse methods for engag-ing citizens (especially youth and minority) as active participants in solving problems in their own communities. Learning about the

Participants from Bulgaria


Peter Lazarov Sofia, Bulgaria E-mail: [email protected]

Peter Lazarov is a Chief Coordina-tor on issues relevant to assisting people with physical disabilities. He is also a Health Expert on Public Health and Health Policy to the Movement for Na-tional Unity and Salvation - DNES from November 2010. Peter current activity is to investigate the state of rights of disabled people in the country. Moreover, to analyze and made proposals for legislative initia-tives, to inform people with disabilities about their rights, activities in assistance and support to protect the rights of people with disabilities before the local and central authorities.

Previously (1996 to 1999) Peter has been a Municipal Chairman of the right political youth organization in Targovishte, dealing with issues and initiatives on the support and development of young people. After 1997 Peter had worked as a Regional Chairman of the Trade Union "Promyana" in Targovishte, in support of labor and so-cial - health rights of the working people. Since the end of 2005 to 2008 he had worked in the production company SIA Ad-vertising as an organizer of TV shows for

lieves that these minority communities must be supported and be given opportuni-ties and conditions for full integration into the society.

Peter holds a Bachelor's degree in Public Health and Health Management from the Medical University of Sofia. Peter has studied economic, social and legal sci-ences in the field of public health. He speaks good English and very good Russian.

This will be his first visit to the USA. Peter is interested in acquiring specific knowledge about successful approaches to solving problems of people with disabilities in order to increase their awareness and protection of their rights as well as in meth-ods for building a professional approach and work with these minority communities.

Peter would like to share experi-ences and establish cooperation with other participants in a multicultural environment such as NGOs engaged in activities sup-porting and protecting the rights of disabled people and also with local institutions and organizations in the United States responsi-ble for these areas of activity.

Also Peter is interested in alterna-tive medicine and natural way of life. He is practicing martial arts and loves to dance in his spare time.

several channels, including the Bulgarian National Television.

During the last 4 years Peter has fo-cused on public health issues related to creation and implementation of effective health policies directed to the citizens as consumers of health and social services. He had organized and conducted training and lectures for children and young people related to health care and health education, activities on the promotion and prevention of reproductive health, and socially signifi-cant diseases. He works in collaboration with nationally representative patient or-ganizations as well as with individual struc-tures of people with disabilities. Peter be-

Maryana Borisova Simitli, Bulgaria E-mail: [email protected]

Since September 2011 Maryana Bo-risova is stagiaire (trainee) in the Cabi-net of the President of the European Parliament in Brussels. She is part of the Internal and Legislative Affairs team. In addition since 2007, she is President in her Association Youth Network for De-velopment in her town of Simitli, where she acts as Program Manager, working on Roma issues with focus youths. Previously Maryana has worked as Research Assistant for several organizations. Her work was mainly on conducting personal interviews and organizing focus groups in the Roma communities around Bulgaria mainly in the area of education, employment, housing and health.

In addition to her employment Mary-ana is actively involved in the Euro-pean youth network TernYpe, which cre-ates space for young people to become active citizens through empowerment, mobiliza-tion, self-organization and participation. The members of the network believe in the common efforts by creating trust, and mu-tual respect between Roma and non-Roma

development; how to use existing legislation and documents in improving community development for such marginalized and disadvantaged groups, like the Roma; what type of social inclusion measures are used at local organization in the U.S. She would like to gain skills in approaching the grassroots and the citizens; advocacy skills; skills for working/collaborating with the institutions; monitoring skills on imple-menting adopted programs, legislation and state strategic plans.

Maryana is interested to visit both public and civic organizations who are working with minorities to see their ap-proach, their practices, communication and partnership. She is also looking forward to see organizations that are active in the policies and practical work for the develop-ment and inclusion of minorities. Maryana likes to cook, to travel and discover new environments and places, and to organize family, friends, community gatherings, din-ners, etc. She enjoys meeting friends and new people. Maryana loves her family, especially her nephews and nieces. She likes spending time with them, while cook-ing for them, listen to their child and stu-dent stories and taking them out. One of the best moments for her are when she can organize surprises to her community young-sters, parents and the nieces and nephews.

youth. She is interested in Roma youth em-powerment and development, bringing to-gether both Roma and non-Roma youth and implement different activities, promoting tolerance, equality, diversity.

Maryana holds a Bachelor degree in International Relations and Master’s in Law. She speaks fluently English and Romanes and beginner in Spanish, Italian and Russian.

This is her first trip to U.S. Maryana would like to gain the practical experi-ence that through the fellowship program: how to map the local situation and work out a strategic plan for community develop-ment; who are the right stakeholders and level of effective work for the sustainable


Miglena Yordanova Sapareva Bana, Bulgaria E-mail: [email protected]

Miglena Yordanova is the Pro-gram Manager of "Forward Together" Program in the Arete Youth Foundation – Bulgaria, since October 2010, where she organizes initiatives to mobilize and involve young people, helping to build professional networks and assist young people to acquire higher education.

Previously she has worked as a spe-cialist on “ethnic and demographic is-sues” in the municipality of Sapareva Banya, her hometown. She has been deal-ing with the policy of the municipality related to Roma issues. Miglena was in charge of developing annual programs and action plans for the development of Roma community. For 8 years in the pub-lic sector she specialized in delivering public services to disadvantaged groups and helped them in solving very concrete problems. Since she moved into the civic area, her main interest is the develop-ment of Roma youth and the relations

English, fluently Roma. This is her first trip to the U.S.

Miglena is very interested in acquiring knowledge, skills and to learn best prac-tices from different institutions and NGOs on how they work with minorities and how they integrate minorities into the society.

Miglena is also interested to learn more about best methods and tech-niques for working in a multicultural environment. It will be important for her to get to know organizations that are or-ganizing camps and managing youth workers. She is interested in finding out innovative and attractive programs for youth camps, that can be applied for the Roma youth camps she is organizing twice in the year.

She would like to visit local and district public structures, local authori-ties dealing with minority issues. The topics she would like to explore while she is in U.S. are connected to methods, tech-niques and materials in multicultural environment. For the last 2 years she is attending salsa classes and she likes dancing.

between Roma and non-Roma. In addition to her employment since

2009, Miglena is the Chair of a local NGO “ELIT” – Equality and Loyalty for Intercultural Tolerance – Sapareva banya. The association is supporting the development of young people in the region by organizing various trainings, activities, initiatives and exchanges with both Roma and non-Roma.

Miglena holds Bachelor Degree in Business Administration and cur-rently is finishing her Master’s in Inter-national Marketing. She speaks good

Judit Szollar Budapest, Hungary E-mail: [email protected]

Judit Szollár works as a Social worker in a Temporary Home for Families from November 2011. It is a child support institute, the main goal is to keep families together and prevent children’ removal from the families.

Judit is an activist in a profes-sional group called New Approach. It is a decentralized, independent organiza-tion its members are social workers. They would like to give a forum to the discus-sion of social questions and the develop-ment of strategies of taking action. As an action group their goal is to call the at-tention of the professional decision mak-ers, the politicians and the members of the society to the situation of the ex-cluded – and also to build up a profes-sional community that is able to and dare to stand up for the excluded. Therefore they put a new item into the Ethical Co-dex of Social Workers, which is about the social workers responsibility for the in-terest advocacy and validation. Their project depends on the actuality. They organized a public space occupation for

Judit has a Master’s degree in Social Work from the Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Social Sciences. She studied psychology at the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church, Faculty of Humanities and got a Bachelor’s degree as a Behavior Ana-lyst in 2011. She takes a complex inter-mediate language exam in English and German.

She has never been in the USA be-fore. In this US fellowship program, Ju-dit would like to get to know strategies and methods how to mobilize and engage people, learn new approaches in educat-ing people to be more sensitive to such issues, how to train the minorities to take the initiative to acceptance and enforce their interests. Judit would like to visit an organization that works with African-American and/or homeless people and experience what they do to actually improve their situation in the society.

Judit is interested in gastronomy, contemporary and street art. In her free time she likes reading, going to the thea-tre.

“real democracy now” last spring, express their solidarity with the Spanish youth. Their latest action aimed at calling atten-tion to the criminalization of homeless people.

Previously Judit worked at Dzsum-buj Help Community Development Cen-ter and at the Szigony Foundation for Community Psychiatry as a Social worker. In the Dzsumbuj she helped mostly Roma families’ everyday life. At Szigony Foundation she worked with people, who have psychiatric problems and gave them help within their commu-nity and not in the big institutes.

Participants from Hungary


Eszter Nagy Budapest, Hungary E-mail: [email protected]

Eszter Nagy is employed as Project Manager of Marketing and Education at OKV KFT (Education and Research Support, Enterprise Development Public Benefit Non-profit Ltd.) and working on skills building and vocational training pro-grams for minority (especially Roma) com-munity. In addition as a volunteer, she is a Campaign Manager at the Roma Civic Association (RPT), where she is in charge of the RPT’s campaign strategy. Her role is also includes building broad, effective grass-roots campaigns and coalition building. She oversees all aspects of the research, and manages RPT’s staff.

Since 2008, Eszter also is assisting as a Program Manager of the Roma Self-Government of Budapest, that gives her opportunity to understand the local government’s role in solving problems in minority communities as well as assist elected leaders to learn about issues in mi-nority communities that need attention. Eszter is a member of the Rotaract Club Budapest-Tabán, a Rotary-sponsored inter-national community service organization for young people. She was elected President in 2010 and worked on special projects that helped the Roma community in her area.

Eszter holds a Master degree in Marketing obtained from Corvinus Univer-sity of Budapest in 2007. She attended

various short-term academic programs including at University of Southern Califor-nia (2005); at Pirkanmaa Polytechnic, Vir-rat, Finland (2006); and at TFAS Interna-tional – AIPES, Prague (2011). Eszter is fluent speaker in English and Italian.

Eszter visited the U.S. before: for a semester in 2008 she studied at the Univer-sity of Southern California, for one month in 2010 on the Rotary General Study Ex-change Program, Southern California. In 2009 she was invited by the Hungarian American Coalition, in Washington D.C. to learn about political campaign and experi-ence “Obama for America” activities. After her return from the U.S. she implemented many new ideas in different organizations with much success working as volunteer. She believes that learning community orga-nizing and improving connection between government and the minority communities

based on U.S. best practices would be the next step to involve especially the Roma community to help themselves.

As part of the GLC Teach Democracy

project, Eszter hopes to learn about how the U.S. has managed to integrate African Americans in less than 50 years, what the reason of their success is, and what steps led from the Civil Rights Movement to elect-ing the first African American president. Also Eszter would like to know how the U.S. handles current issues with minorities, how they address, reach and engage them to participate in solving problems in their own community. She would like to exam-ine different solutions and approaches to-wards integration, practical methods being used by organizations in order to reach out and engage their minority communities. She would like to build connections with organizations that already have many ex-periences in this field, community leaders and program coordinators, who are open for further cooperation, willing to share their programs and help her adapt their methods. Also Eszter is looking forward to collect-ing training materials as well as program, marketing and PR ideas.

Upon her return from the U.S., Eszter hopes to conduct online trainings and workshops for minority leaders and for oth-ers who are interested in getting involved in their communities.

Her hobbies include spinning, outdoor sports and music.

Boglarka Janoskuti Budapest, Hungary E-mail: [email protected]

Boglárka Jánoskúti is working as a Legal Expert in asylum and migration issues at the Ministry of Interior since 2009. She covers legal harmonization, codi-fication and policy making tasks in the field of asylum and migration; she is involved in tasks related to European Union Funds allocated to migration and asylum such as the European Refugee Fund and the Euro-pean Integration Fund; she is in charge of representing the Hungarian position in the field of asylum at EU level (at the Asylum Working Party of the Council of the EU).

In addition to her employment, Boglárka is a volunteer at Föld Theatre Studio, an independent artistic and educa-tional research non-governmental organiza-tion since 2010. She has been involved in targeting disadvantaged Roma minorities living in Northern-Eastern villages of Hun-gary by performing an interactive theatrical play entitled “The Wise of the World” (based

on a Roma tale). The purpose of this project is to reach Roma minorities through innova-tive methods enabling them to influence the storyline and let the local minority prob-lems be brought up. This method contrib-utes to identifying local minorities’ main problems and reflecting on them, and rais-ing their awareness that they can make a difference concerning key issues they are confronted with in their everyday lives.

Boglárka received a Master’s in Law at Eotvos Lóránd University, in Buda-pest, Hungary; and a Bachelor degree in

Law (specialized in International Law and Human Rights) at the University of Nantes, France. She is fluent in English and French. She also has a good under-standing in written and spoken German.

This is her first trip to the U.S. Boglárka is interested in learning more about issues related to refugees, immi-grants and ethnic minorities in the U.S. as well as best practices in involving them in community organizing. She would like to learn what efficient methods and frame-works are implemented in the U.S. in order to get ethnic minorities, refugees and immi-grant population more engaged in current social issues affecting them and what tech-niques are taken on board to raise their awareness of taking initiative. She would like to get an insight on how governmen-tal and non-governmental organizations cooperate with each other in the U.S. Boglárka would like to visit organiza-tions (both governmental and non-governmental) that deal with issues related to refugees, asylum seekers, ethnic minori-ties and immigrants.

In her free time Boglárka likes going to theatre, reading and spending time with friends.


Tamas Avar Budapest, Hungary E-mail: [email protected]

Tamás Avar is an R+D Associate, Trainer & Consultant at the HepC KFT. Since the beginning of 2011 where he is planning, designing and coordinat-ing R+D projects and is responsible for designing and delivering trainings. Previ-ously he has worked for Corporate Values KFT as trainer, consultant and collabo-rated as an operative organizer.

In addition to his employment Tamás is a volunteer at Fény-Árnyék Művészeti Egyesület (FÁME, Light-Shadow Artistic Association) to support its activity and its main project, called the Rambling Cinema (RC). Throughout the last 9-10 years he has been contribut-ing as a volunteer social worker, grant writer and/or project coordinator. The main goal of the RC is to visit segregated Roma settlements in order to make one little step toward the reintegration of the kids and adolescents in major proportion of these villages, practically fully discon-nected and therefore socially excluded from the major society of Hungary. With the RC they try to promote and facilitate the establishment of friendly connections between the Roma and non Roma society in Hungary which nowadays are very rare, the relationship between the parties in general is tense and quite conflicted. With his participation he contributed to the friendly visit of 40-50 Roma settle-ments by which around 5000 Roma peo-ple were reached and involved in the RC’s programs.

He is an economist (MA). Tamas studied at the Budapest Corvinus Uni-versity from 1998 to 2005, majoring in International Relations and Foreign Af-

can support non-profits by having shared goals with other organizations.

Also Tamas is interested in how to create an attractive project plan for a humanistic project that does not intend to pay off well or bring profit.

Tamas hopes to be able to im-prove any of the following skills and competencies: community development and organizing, preferably in a positive relational approach – techniques and best practices to increase motivation for change and intercultural understanding; how to increase tolerance and acceptance – techniques, best practices; how to plant hope in people in real poverty; violence free intercultural communication; com-munication without words, with the tools of art and movement; communication and presentation toward government agen-cies or decision-makers of the private sector.

In the U.S. Tamas would be pleased to visit organizations that are dedicated to the support and reintegra-tion of African-American, Latin, Indian or other relevant minorities and therefore have precious professional experiences and insights to bring back to Hungary; any other organization that helps or sup-ports the work of the abovementioned organizations to improve their operation or the services they offer.

Tamas is interested in people and diversity. He loves to meet new people with different cultural background. He loves to learn languages as that is the tool which can very quickly and effi-ciently bridge part of any gaps. He loves all kinds of movements, martial arts, dances as they help one to express him or herself. He also likes team-sports. He likes to organize venues and events that bring people together in a sensitive, sen-sible and emphatic way.

fairs, while his minor studies were about European Political Analysis. After his graduation from the university he moved to Spain. After having been working for a year and a half in Hospitality Industry, he got a scholarship for the Escuela Dip-lomática de Madrid where Tamas at-tended 1-year Master’s course on In-ternational Relations & Diplomacy. He is advanced level in English and Spanish. Lately he has begun to refresh his Russian.

This is his first trip to the USA. Dur-ing the fellowship program Tamas hopes to learn and gain experience of how American organizations support Af-rican-American, Latin, Indian or other minorities to fight against prejudice; pos-sible ways to fight racism, hatred, how American organizations create sensitivity in the members of major society; what the best practices are in the process of reintegration; how to use innovative com-munication tools, social media to support projects or to disseminate achievements in order to increase sensitivity; how to lobby effectively for getting finance from local or central government, how to raise funds from members of the private sector, how to do an efficient networking that


OUR SPECIAL THANKS

TO OUR US PARTNERS AND INTERNSHIP HOSTING ORGANIZATIONS:

Lakeview Action Coalition (Chicago)

Chicago Homeless Coalition,

Logan Square Neighborhood Association (Chicago),

National People Action (Chicago)

Harriet Tubman Center (Detroit), MI

Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (Youngstown, OH)

Community Voices Heard (New York)

Paraquad, Inc. (St. Louis, MO)

Virginia Organizing (Charlottesville, VA)

Marton Gosztonyi Budapest, Hungary E-mail: [email protected]

Marton Gosztonyi is a Project Manager & Organizer at The Autono-mia Foundation, where he is coordinat-ing the Individual Saving Program (“IDA”) in 27 different communities across Hungary. This is a program for low-income people – among them Roma and young grown-ups of state care insti-tutions. The goal of the savings is to im-prove the housing situation of the clients. The savings of the clients is matched with a grant, and clients are also eligible to take a loan to achieve their asset goals. Counseling and family care, practical financial training, as well as technical advice and support for the renovations with special attention to energy saving solutions are provided for the partici-pants in the project. Local governments are to be partner and share the risk of the loan capital given away in the settle-ments.

In addition, Marton currently is the Project Manager of the SIMS (Social Innovation and mutual learning

members. Marton has experience in working with Roma and homeless people. He participated and wrote several case studies about low-income Roma people in Hungary, and he organized National Conference of People living in poverty in Hungary in 2010.

Marton has a Master’s Degree in Anthropology obtained at the Univer-sity of Miskolc, and also has a Master’s Degree in Sociology obtained at the University of ELTE in Budapest, Hun-gary. He is fluent in English.

This is his second trip to U.S., he visited there in 1998 as a tourist. During his fellowship program in the U.S., Mar-ton would like to gain skills in moti-vating people, in negotiating with deci-sion making actors. Also he would like to learn and then be able to apply new methods of intervention in the public decisions and new methods of public par-ticipation. Marton would like to visit organization that work with marginal-ized and low income people to reintegrate them into the Labour market in disad-vantaged areas, community work and community development play an active role. Marton’s hobbies are reading and films.

on Micro-Savings in Europe) project, which is also a micro-finance program for the Roma, and in this project he work s with 12 communities. These communities are small settlements (less than 1000 inhabitant) mainly located in disadvan-tages areas of Hungary (BAZ, Szabolcs, Nógrád, Baranya, and Tolna Counties).

Previously he worked at the Hungar-ian Anti Poverty Network as a Project Administrator, where he coordinated the TAMOP (Social Renewal Operational Program) project. This network has around 80 national, regional and local organizations and some individuals (mostly people experiencing poverty) as

Lavinia Chiburte Bucharest, Romania E-mail: [email protected]

Lavinia Chiburte is a Project Co-ordinator at The Resource Centre for Public Participation - CeRe, where she is coordinating PAS (Permanent Advocacy Service) which offers assistance to or-ganizations and/or groups of citizens in developing advocacy campaigns meant to solve an issue of public interest and coor-d inat i ng an onl i ne p lat fo rm (cineceapromis.ro) that collects and pub-lishes electoral promises at national level.

Previously she worked at the nongov-ernmental organization “Save the Chil-dren Romania” as a Social Adviser in the Refugees and Asylum Seekers Program. In addition to her current employment, she remained a volunteer at Save the Children Romania.

Lavinia has experience in work-ing with minorities as: refugees, Roma and disabled. She researched and col-

lected successful case studies of public participation, she organized the third edition of the Public Participation Awards Gala in 2011, she coordinated the “Partnership for community” project which offered assistance to 8 local NGOs in planning and developing advocacy campaigns in order to obtain local financ-ing for social services. She teaches Photo-Voice method and developed PhotoVoice processes.

Lavinia has a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Master’s Degree in Anthropology & Community Develop-ment, both degrees obtained at the Bu-charest University, Sociological Faculty in Bucharest, Romania. She is fluent in both written and spoken English and has good understanding of both written and spoken French.

This is her first trip to U.S.. Lavinia is interested in learning more and working on issues concerning refugees and ethnic minorities, would like to gain skills in motivating people, in negotiating with decision making actors. Also she would like to learn and then be able to apply new methods of intervention in the public decisions and new methods of pub-lic participation. She would like to visit organization that work in public partici-pation domain; with refugees and asylum seekers; homeless people and generally, low income people; and immigrants.

Lavinia’s hobbies are reading, as-tronomy and driving.


Participants from Romania

Mihaela Carstea Brasov, Romania E-mail: [email protected]

Mihaela Carstea is Administrator and Project Coordinator of the Associa-tion for Community Partnership Brasov where she is coordinating the Citizens Advi-sory Bureau since 2009, a permanent ser-vice which offers consultancy to citizens in 12 domains. Moreover, the Association car-ries out projects in small Roma communi-ties located in the northern part of Brasov and deals with the numerous problems they are facing. Previously she worked as a pro-ject manager at Pro Democracy Association, Brasov Branch, a nongovernmental organi-zation, which works in small communities, in community development fields.

In addition to her current employment, since 2006, Mihaela is involved as volun-

During the past two years Mihaela gained experience in working with mi-norities as: Roma and migrants. She is in-terested in learning more, especially in pub-lic participation and integration of minority communities.

Mihaela is in the senior year at the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geogra-phy. She has good understanding in written and spoken English and French.

This is her first trip to U.S. Mihaela would like to learn innovative methods that conducted to integration of minorities in majority communities, about how these minority communities learn about their rights and how they defend their rights. She would like to know how the citizens of minority communities were integrated in the same time keeping their own identity.

Mihaela's hobbies are climbing, reading and listening to rock music.

teer in various programs at Pro-Democracy Association, Brasov Branch. She is certi-fied as a Trainer and Project Manager. She has worked for 10 years in local media; she specialized in public administration issues.

OUR SPECIAL THANK YOU TO U.S. HOST FAMILIES:

Ana-Maria Suciu Bucharest, Romania E-mail: [email protected]

Ana-Maria Suciu is the Network Development Officer of the National Association of Citizen Advice Bureaux (NACAB), where she coordinates advocacy projects at local and national level since 2009. Her projects are mostly focused on policy research in youth employment, public administration, regional policy, transpar-ency and the state of democracy etc.

Previously, Ana-Maria has worked as a Program Officer for the Public Policy Cen-tre, a think tank in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Given the fact that NACAB is a federation of NGOs, Ana-Maria is working with vari-ous vulnerable groups depending on the needs of the local branches of NACAB. She coordinated “Strengthening the civil society capacity of promoting social inclusion initia-tives” project (European Social Fund, 2009-

pean University in Budapest, Hungary. Ana-Maria earned her Bachelor degree in Political Science from Babes Bolyai Uni-versity in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, where she also studied Journalism. Currently, Ana-Maria is enrolled in a Master’s Pro-gram in International Development & Cooperation at National School of Political Science & Administration in Bucharest.

Ana-Maria visited the United States in 2006 and 2007 as a part of the “Work and Travel” Students Program.

Ana-Maria would like to learn from the U.S. advocacy and think tank groups who work on more than just one policy sec-tor, as that would help her managing the diverse issues her organization deals with. Also she would like to learn from organi-zations that gather problems and informa-tion from grassroots and then turn them into policy recommendations.

Ana-Maria likes hiking, creative writing and meeting people of all kinds.

2011); “Exercising democracy: evidence-based and participatory local policy making (Balkan Trust for Democracy grant, 2011); “Fetch the Councilor, Here's the Citizen! “(European Economic Area grant, 2010); and “Grass is all we need” (European Eco-nomic Area grant, 2010).

Ana-Maria has a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Central Euro-


Kathy & Tom Moore, Julie & Will Hobert, Maria Trejo, Roshani Saraiya & Mark Fick, James Mumm & Stone Soup Cooperative, James & Carol Field, Anne Bowhay & Jeff Hanneman, Bill O’Brien & Vicky Kovari Adam Keck & Sarah Braun,

Heather Mc. Mahon, Mike McKee & Ellen Hiatt Sondra Youdelman & Henry Serrano, Jill Gerson Parker, Karen & Bob Youdelman, Sumitra Rajkumar & Jeremy Saunders, Paul & Mary Gaston, Bethany & Brooks Hurley, Jill Hillstrom

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT TO DAVID GUSTAFSON,

PROGRAM OFFICER AT THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE AND

TO THE UNITED STATES EMBASSIES

in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia!

Zuzana Bargerova Bratislava, Slovak Republic E-mail: [email protected]

Zuzana Bargerova is a Legal Consultant on foreign migration and integration of migrants and a participant in several research and advocacy projects related to the integration of migrants, mainly in the Human Rights League (HRL) and the Centre for Research of Ethnicity and Culture (CVEK). Since 2009 she has been providing legal coun-seling to clients of HRL (since 2011 on a pro bono basis) and in 2011 she has par-ticipated as a volunteer in the legislative process of preparation of the Act on Resi-dence of Foreigners (on pro bono basis) on behalf of CVEK and HRL.

Zuzana has worked as a Senior Officer for the Government Office of the Slovak Republic and Office of the Com-missioner for Personal Data Protection, as a Lawyer at Legal & Compliance De-partment, ING Slovakia, as a Legal Ex-pert for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in which capacity she also established the IOM Migration Information Centre. In 2009 and then again from September 2011 to present, she has been providing consultancy services as an External Legal Expert of the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic and participated in preparation of Concept of immigrant integration in Slovakia (2009).

In addition to her employment, Zuzana is currently a member of the Management Board of the Centre for Research of Ethnicity and Culture (CVEK). As such, she is a participant in the research project “Improving the op-portunities for integration of third coun-try nationals at local level” and in several round tables with local municipalities. She is also a Country Expert of the Migration Policy Group where she con-tributed to the EU comparative research - MIPEX III and IMMEX. Furthermore, since 2009, she has also been a member of LINET, an Independent Network of Labor Migration and Integration Experts.

In this capacity, she prepared two studies on Economic impact of migration on Slo-vak labor market for European Commis-sion DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (2010 and 2011).

In 2011, Zuzana became a member of MIGNET – the Network of independ-ent legal practitioners in the field of im-migration law, Migration Policy Group Brussels, where she has prepared analy-sis of legal framework for admission of third country nationals in Slovakia and reported on legislative changes. She is also an expert member of MEKOMIC, Committee on Integration of Foreigners. Since January 2011, Zuzana has been involved in the legislative process of modification, negotiation and adoption of the new Act on Residence of Foreigners (effective from 1.1.2012) and in Novem-ber 2011, she became a member of the Management board of the Slovak Govern-ance Institute (SGI).

At the end of 2011, Zuzana pre-pared three chapters of country study "FRANET – Annual Report 2011" of the European Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). Zuzana has authored three published research materials.

Zuzana holds a Master’s degree in Law obtained from the Law Faculty of Comenius University Bratislava, Slovak Republic from September 1996 through June 2001.

This will be Zuzana’s third trip to the U.S.. She was a part of the “Work & Travel” Program previously and visited the United States on a private vacation.

On her fellowship program to the U.S., Zuzana would like to be ac-quainted with non-profit organizations providing advocacy services to migrants and/or research institutions, in order to learn about the latest trends in the area of protection of rights and integration of migrants, learn from them how to cope with latest trends and challenges, and how to effectively communicate with the media and the public. Moreover, Zuzana would welcome visiting public institu-tions with competencies in the area of foreign migration (e.g. immigration au-thority, or employment services agency) in order to discuss the transparency is-sues in official procedures and the level of their discretion. Zuzana is also hoping to obtain experience in: involvement of nonprofit organizations with regional stakeholders and communication with policy makers on a national level; meth-ods to fight corruption in admission and residence procedures; and how to pro-mote change in public policies (e.g. to-wards vulnerable groups of migrants).

In Slovakia, migrants do not have a political representation in the Parlia-ment, not even one candidate for general elections with a migrant background or issue of immigration in any of the exist-ing electoral programs. Therefore Zuzana is interested to learn how to convince “an established political party” to include in the list of candidates person/s with migrant background and how to communicate this topic to politicians.

Upon her return, Zuzana hopes to have acquired extensive knowledge of: methods to fight corruption in admis-sion and residence procedures; how to promote change in public policies and legislation (transparency, mainstream-ing); and methods of active civic and po-litical participation of migrants in Slova-kia (how to politically represent the inter-ests of migrants and citizens with migra-tion background).

Zuzana hobbies are photography and literature, illustrations, cooking, all kinds of music and movies, travelling. In sports she likes skiing, in-line skating, and hik-ing.


Participants from Slovakia

OUR SPECIAL THANKS

TO OUR PROJECT ADVISORS AND SUPPORTERS


Veronika Strelcova Banska Bystrica, Slovakia E-mail: [email protected]

Veronika Strelcova is working at the Centre for Community Organiz-ing (CKO) where she is responsible for organizing the citizens of the Sasova neighbourhood of Banska Bystrica to take part in public affairs. In so doing, Veronika is leading a group of citi-zens willing to influence decisions which affect them through active citizen partici-pation. Her main duties are to advise on and coordinate citizens’ activities. Previ-ously Veronika has been employed as a personnel consultant at ASPAN Person-nel Agency (2007) in Bratislava, a recep-tionist at Kamzík, TRI R broadcasting tower, Bratislava. She has also held two intern positions - at NGO ‘People in Peril’ in Bratislava (2008), and at International

cient speaker of English and she also has a working knowledge of German and Pol-ish.

This is her first trip to the U.S. Ve-ronika hopes to learn about key con-cepts of community organizing, how to connect with the community, how to move people to action, and how to negoti-ate with decision makers. She is also in-terested to further develop her leadership skills. She hopes to be able to observe community organizing practices in the United States in order to develop knowl-edge of neighbourhood group building, strategy and campaign planning. Veronika is interested in the arts, pho-tography, environmental issues and she also enjoys reading.

Veronika’s hobbies include winter sports: skiing or snowboarding, hiking, traveling, swimming.

Visegrad Fund, Bratislava (2010). Also Veronika volunteered with Blueland NGO in Zanskar Valley, Ladakh, India.

Veronika holds a Master’s degree in European Studies obtained from the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences at Comenius University Bratislava, Slo-vak Republic (2005-2010). She is a profi-

Martin Micek Banska Bystrica, Slovakia E-mail: [email protected]

Martin Micek is appointed at the City of Banska Bystrica Council and works at the Kotva facility (supported by the Department of Social Affairs) as a Social worker for families with children in crisis. In this capacity, he is responsi-ble for providing social services for fami-lies with children who lack adequate ac-commodation. Martin main duties are to provide counselling services and support children’s rights. Previously, Martin has been employed at the Job Centre in Trnava, Slovakia as a social worker for family benefits. In addition he has held various positions in the hospitality indus-try in the United Kingdom and Slovakia. In addition to his employment, Martin is a Patrol Leader of Scouting Slovakia (continuously since 1990).

Martin holds a Master’s degree in Social Work (Social Welfare) obtained from Comenius University Bratislava. Martin is an advanced speaker of Eng-lish.

This will be Martin’s first trip to the US. On his visit to the U.S., Martin hopes to participate in community or-ganizing activities within minority com-munities and observe the collaboration between various organizations in the

U.S., particularly in local areas (town councils). He would like to learn nego-tiation skills with members of minority groups within the community, new trends in community organizing, and methods to create new social services that address minority issues. Martin’s main interest is poverty in minority communities and he will seek to learn about practices on how to improve the lives of people in those communities.

Upon his return from the United States and through his experience, Mar-tin hopes to provide training for his colleagues and employees of the City of Banska Bystrica Council on how to de-liver better services for their citizens. Also Martin would like to learn meth-ods and practices that would help encour-age people from minority groups in the city to take part in the decision-making processes which affect them.

Martin’s hobbies and interests in-clude hiking, cross-country skiing, horse riding, camping, traveling, books and movies.

David Beckwith Paul Cromwell Cris Doby Chuck Hirt

James Mumm Bill O’Brien Joe Szakos Peter Ujvagi

ITINERARY *

MONDAY, MARCH 26

Detroit, MI Early departure from Europe Arrival in Detroit Check-in to Hotel Sheraton Detroit Metro for 3 nights Greetings and to know each other from 4 countries in the hotel

TUESDAY, MARCH 27

Detroit, MI 8:30 AM: Travel to Southwest Solutions, 1700 Waterman, Detroit MI 48209 9:00 AM: GLC Orientation with Eliza-beth Balint 10:00 AM: Orientation with Bill O’Brien, Director, Harriet Tubman Center Next 3 days: Where and what to look for door-knocking, power, relationships and actions. History of Tubman Center’s Community Organizing Efforts 10:15 AM: Travel to ACCESS, Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services. 2651 Saulino Ct., Dearborn MI 48120

10:30 AM: Ten Key Concepts of Commu-nity Organizing. Meeting with: Dave Beckwith, The Need-mor Fund 11:45 AM: Community Organizing at ACCESS Meeting with: Rashid Elabed, ACCESS 12:30 PM: Lunch with Community Or-ganizers (Facilitator: Bill O’Brien, Har-riet Tubman Center) at ACCESS 2:00 PM: Travel to Cody High School, at 18445 Cathedral Street, Detroit, Michigan 48228

2:30 PM: Visit School Based Community Organizing Meeting with: Mary Kovari, Principal, Cody DIT High School and Jonathan Matthews Principal, Cody APL High School 3:15 PM: YOUTH VOICE (Cody DIT and Cody APL YOUTH VOICE Leadership) Cody High School 4:15 PM: Travel to Krakus Restaurant, 12900 Jos. Campau, Detroit MI 48212

4:45 PM: Panel: Ethnic and African American Leadership. Facilitator: Dr. Radzilowski, Piast Institute 5:45 PM: Reception and Dinner at Kra-kus Restaurant. Hosts: Piast Institute and Harriet Tubman Center 8:00 PM: Travel back to Hotel WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28

Detroit, MI 9:00 AM: Visit Second Baptist Church, 441 E. Monroe, Detroit 48226 9:30 AM: Church and Community Orga-nizing (Rev. Kevin M. Turman, Pastor, 2nd Baptist Church) 10:45 AM: Visit the Renaissance Center & travel with People Mover in Downtown 12:15 PM: Travel to Capuchin Soup Kitchen, 4390 Connor, Detroit 48215 12:30 PM: Detroit Action Common-wealth. Travel to 8220 2nd Detroit, 48202 Facilitator: Greg Markus, DAC Board 2:30 PM: Community Organizing and Detroit History at 2648 W. Grand Boulevard,

Detroit, Michigan 48208 Meeting with: Michelle Kennedy, Detroit Branch of NAACP & Ms. Alice Thomp-son, Director, BFDI Black Family Devel-opment, Inc. 4:00 PM: Visit the Motown Historical Museum at 3439 Livernois, Detroit 48210 5:30 PM: Artists and Community Orga-nizing Garage Cultural Meeting with: Ismael Duran, Director, Garage Cultural 6:00 PM: Dinner with Latino Community Groups THURSDAY, MARCH 29

Detroit, MI Check-out from hotel with luggage 8:30 AM: Debrief Previous Day by Bill O’Brien, HTC at Hotel 9:00 AM: Travel to Ann Arbor to Univer-sity of Michigan Department of Political Science , 5th floor Haven Hall on Main campus 10:00-12:00 (Noon): Attend Prof. Greg Markus community organizing class 12:00 Noon: Lunch with professors and students at the Michigan Union (right across the street in a private room for the delegation) Facilitator: Greg Markus 3:00 PM: Travel to Toledo 4:30 PM: Check-in to Staybridge Suites Hotel in Maumee, OH for 3 nights. Evening: (Optional) Shopping at Fallen Timbers Shopping Mall –around the ho-tel)

FRIDAY, MARCH 30

Toledo, OH 8:15 AM: Travel to One Government Center, Toledo, OH 43604 9:00 AM: US legislative system and visit City/County offices “Imagine You Are A

CITIZEN” Meeting with: Michael Beazley, City Ad-ministrator, Oregon, OH and Schuyler Beckwith, Assistant to President of Lucas County Commissioners 12:00 PM: Lunch & tour of Birgmingham with Peter Ujvagi & Dave Beckwith (Birmingham organizing stories) 2:00 PM Tour of the Imagination Station 4:00 PM: Coffee & visit at The Needmor

Fund with Dave Beckwith Evening: Visit the Toledo Museum of Art and have fun! SATURDAY, MARCH 31

Toledo, OH 8:30 AM: Travel to Lagrange Neighbor-hood One Village Council Center 3101 Lagrange Street, Toledo, OH 43608 9:00-2:00 Noon: Local government / poli-tics and community organizing 9:00 AM: Welcome and Introductions 9:30 AM: Introduction to One Village Council and United North by Beth Lewandowski, V.P. OVC and President of United North, Janet Smolenski, Rep. Village Council, Ramon Perez, Lead Or-ganizer -Character of One Village Neighborhoods -How OVC coexists with United North (Economic Development, Housing Devel-opment, Social Services) 10:30 AM: Community Organizing and Politics from a community organizing perspective 11:00 AM: How to Identify, Build and Execute an Issue Strategy 12:00 Noon: Lunch & planning action strategy 1:00 PM: Neighborhood Action with Elected Officials in the neighborhood (Joe McNamara, President of Toledo City Council; Councilwoman Paula Hicks Hudson, Councilman Steve Steele) Debrief &discussion with elected officials 2:00-3:00 PM: Program assessment with Dave Beckwith & Elizabeth Balint (review accomplishments &further plans) Short stop & rest at the hotel 5:00 PM: Travel to the Hungarian Club (224 Paine Ave, Toledo, OH 43605) Social hour from 5:00PM 6:00 PM: Traditional Pork dinner at the Hungarian Club Welcome and Introduction the guests to the community by NW Ohio leaders


* Itinerary as of March 24, 2012 — subject to change without further notice

ITINERARY *

SUNDAY, APRIL 1

Chicago, IL

7:45 AM: Check-out from Maumee hotel with all luggage 8:00 AM: Leave from Maumee hotel to Chicago with a small bus 12:30 PM: Arrive in Chicago – check in to The Whitehall hotel for 3 nights (105 E. Delaware Place) Afternoon: Sightseeing in downtown Chicago 6:30 PM: Meet with James Mumm at Whitehall Hotel lobby to walk to the John Hancock Center 7:00 PM: Welcome to Chicago at the Sig-nature Lounge at the 96th (John Hancock

Center, 875 N. Michigan, 96th Floor) MONDAY, APRIL 2

Chicago, IL 9:00 AM: Travel to NPA (810 N. Milwau-

kee Avenue) Welcome and Introductions 9:30 AM: The History and Principles of Community Organizing Meeting with: Jim Field, Chicago Coali-tion for the Homeless 11:00 AM: Break 11:15 AM The Power of Our Stories Meeting with: Wayne Richard, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and leaders from LSNA and LAC 12:30 PM: Lunch break 1:30 PM: Organizing Schools for Trans-formational Change Meeting with: Maria Trejo, Logan Square Neighborhood Association-LSNA 3:00 PM: Break 3:30 PM: Turnout and Mobilization for Individuals and Institutions Meeting with: Mary Tarullo and Jen Ritter, Lakeview Action Coalition-LAC 5:00 PM: Travel to Podhalanka, (1549 W. Division) 6:00-8:00 PM: Dinner with the Polish Initiative TUESDAY, APRIL 3

Chicago, IL Travel to NPA (810 N. Milwaukee) 9:00 AM: Welcome and Introductions 9:30 AM: Race, Power and Policy Meeting with: James Mumm, National People’s Action 11:00 AM: Break 11:15 AM: Building Economies that Re-flect Our Values, Meeting with: Mehrdad Azemun, Na-tional People’s Action 12:30 PM: Lunch 1:30-6:00 PM: Building Economies that Reflect Our Values (breaks throughout

the afternoon). Meeting with: Mehrdad Azemun, National People’s Action

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 Travel day & Moving to host families

Check-out from Whitehall Hotel 11:00 AM: Chicago internship hosts will meet at the hotel to pick up 7 guests The rest of the delegation will travel on their own to airport to fly to internship sites: - to Charlottesville 3 guests, - to New York 2 guests, - to Youngstown/Pittsburgh 2 guests APRIL 4 to APRIL 26

Internship Sites 3-week internship at 9 different US host-ing organizations Fellows will document their experience in their Field Diary Regular e-mail update on their progress is also requested THURSDAY, APRIL 26

Richmond, VA

Fly in /travel to Richmond from intern-ship sites with US mentors 3:00 PM: Arrival & check-in to hotel Crown Plaza Richmond West for 4 nights 4:00-5:00 PM: US- European Community Organizing Forum Welcome & Getting to know each other with Dave Beckwith: “Cross the Line" 5:00-7:00 PM: European Fellows’ Poster session 7:30 PM: Welcome dinner at the hotel

FRIDASY, APRIL 27

Richmond, VA 9:00-10:00 AM: US mentor’s report with European fellows (highlights) 10:30-1:00 PM: Meeting with Paul Crom-well and Chuck Hirt Discussion: Similarities and differences, Challenges and opportunities in commu-nity organizing in US and Europe 1:00-3:00 PM: Lunch break 3:00-6:00 PM: Building the organization for community organizing Meeting with: James Mumm and Nicoleta Chirita 7:30 PM: Dinner at the hotel 9:00-10:00 PM: Evening party in the ho-tel with Virginia Organizing Leaders Facilitator: Joe Szakos

SATURDAY, APRIL 28

Richmond, VA 9:00-10:00 AM: PIAST Institute Study Report.

Meeting with: Dr. Thaddeus Radzilowski and Juli Bertalan 10:15 AM-1:00 PM: Discussion on ethnic organizing 1:00-3:00 PM: Lunch break 3:00-7:00 PM: Break-out sessions Session A: “Friends of ECON” with Dave Beckwith and Kajo Zboril - Purpose, mission, and goals and Friends of ECON - Structure and Membership of Friends of ECON (perhaps Sponsoring Committee, Executive Committee, and Friends) - How does supporting organizing in Europe will help organizing in the US? - How does connecting US ethnic organi-zations can help organizing in Europe? - What should we do next? - Activities and timeline for the coming year (incl. fundraising for CO in CEE and promotion of CEE in US-based ethnic communities) Session B: “EU Fellows” with Elizabeth Balint. - Presenting individual action plans, - Discussing EU collaborations, group action plans etc. - Alumni involvement and plans for each country - Preparation for the Professional Fellows Congress 7:00 PM: Dinner outside with Virginia Organizing members

SUNDAY, APRIL 29

Richmond, VA 9:00-12:00 Noon: Funding of community organizing in US and EU / ideas/methods to share (incl. grants, fundraising, fee for service projects, membership etc. Facilitator: Cris Doby and Margie Fine 12:00-1:30 PM: Lunch 2:00-6:00 PM: Planning of the US men-tors trip to Europe in July 2012 (includes orientation) Discussion topics:

- Needs assessment for the EU work-shops when the US mentors will visit in Europe (July 2012) - Planning of workshop contents and written materials. Facilitators: Kajo Zboril and Elizabeth Balint - Planning of the US mentors trip to Europe in July 2012. Facilitators: Coun-try Directors - Orientation and preparation for US mentors. Facilitators: Country directors and Elizabeth Balint 7:00 PM: Dinner outside with Virginia Organizing members. Facilitator: Joe Szakos


ITINERARY *

MONDAY, APRIL 30

Washington, D.C. 8:00 AM: Travel from Richmond hotel to Washington, D.C. Check-in to Comfort Inn Downtown Hotel for 2 nights Sightseeing: Visit the US Capitol (Guided Tour) and other tourist sites Possible visit at Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur’s Washington, D.C. office TUESDAY, MAY 1

Washington D.C. 9:00-9:45 AM: Visit the Library of Con-gress (1536 U Street, Washington, D.C.

20009). Guided Tour and meeting at the Center for Community Change 11:00-11:10 AM: Welcome from CCC 11:10-1:00 PM: Presentation and discus-sion at National Democratic Institute with Aaron Azelton 1:00-2:30 PM: Lunch break 2:30-5:00 PM: Presentations by the Cen-ter for Community Change (CCC) Presentation topics:

- “Overview to the Work of CCC”. Q & A session by Current Staff Person Former CCC Directors Pablo Eisenberg and Andy Mott - “Use of Social Media” Q & A session by Joaquin Guerra 5:00-6:30 PM: Welcome reception and introductions Meeting with:

Paul Cromwell and Deepak Bhargava Introduction topics:

- The European Community Organizing Network ECON - Example of CO Work in Europe - Power Point Presentation About CeRe and CO in Bucharest by Nicoleta Chirita, - Other Examples of CO in Europe by Kajo Zboril Discussion topics:

- The U.S. Department of State Profes-sional Exchange Program: Description of the Exchange Program by Elizabeth Balint - Three Testimonials from fellows

- Questions and Answer session - Conclusion and Opportunity to Donate by Kajo Zboril Addition note:

For those who want to stay longer (i.e. Washington, D.C. ethnic residents) fur-ther conversation.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 2

Washington, D.C. 8:00 AM: Check-out from hotel and store luggage Visit to the White House is pending!! (request was submitted through Con-gresswoman Marcy Kaptur’s office and we will find out about the approval or denial after April 15) Sightseeing until the program starts in the afternoon/evening 3:00 PM: Move to the Marriott Wardman Hotel for 3 nights Meeting with other professional fellows from around the world for the FELLOWS CONGRESS organized by World Learn-ing (for the U.S. Department of State) 4:00-6:00 PM: Conference registration and poster preparation 6:30-8:30 PM: Orientation and Network-ing Party. Light refreshments/food, net-working games and activities in an open and informal setting at the hotel.

THURSDAY, MAY 3

Washington D.C.

Professional Fellows Congress 7:30-9:00 AM: Breakfast with informal networking activity 9:00-10:30 AM: Opening Plenary in the Grand Ballroom 9:00-9:05 AM: Welcome by World Learn-ing 9:05-9:30 AM: State Department Re-marks 9:30-10:30 AM: Keynote Speakers – Am-bassador Wendy R. Sherman, Under Sec-retary for Political Affairs, DOS 10:30-11:00 AM: Coffee Break with light refreshments 11:00-12:30 PM: Interactive Activity I - Fellow Discussions on U.S. Experiences.

- Introduction of Follow-on Activity. Participants from each region will be as-signed to discussion groups to share their U.S. fellowship experiences and ideas for applying their learning and experiences at home. Breakout for groups. Purpose: Reflection and interaction, with emphasis on experiential learning and similarities of experiences of participants from different regions. Moderated by partner organizations. 12:30-1:45 PM: Networking Lunch with regional DOS desk officers (served buffet style) 1:45-3:15 PM: Skill-Building Workshops - Sessions will be experiential and inter-active and feature a guest facilitator and a moderator. - Participants will choose which sessions they would like to attend. Purpose: Leadership development.

Congress sessions: 1. Accountability and Ethics - This session will explore the importance of an organization holding its personnel accountable for actions that could harm the overall perception of the organization. It will also focus on best practices in transparency, checks and balances, and encourage discussions on ethical leader-ship practices. 2. Change Management - This session will look at the challenges a leader may face when he or she must implement significant and/or difficult organizational changes. The discussion will include best practices and sugges-tions for gaining employee confidence. 3. Diversity in the Workplace - This session will explore what diversity means, the value of diversity in an or-ganization, and common fears and barri-ers faced when working in a diverse envi-ronment. The importance of understand-ing, respecting, and accepting individual differences will also be addressed. 4. Economic Empowerment for Women - This workshop will describe a number of approaches used to empower women eco-

Special Thanks to U.S. Mentors and their organizations: James Mumm, Maria Trejo, Mary Tarullo, Wayne Richard,

Adam Keck, Luke Allen, Kirsten Dunham, Monique “Mo” George, Cathy Woodson, Janice “Jay “ Johnson, Julia Bertalan,

David Beckwith and Deb Martin



ITINERARY *

nomically, including microcredit. Partici-pants will discuss best practices. 5. Leadership Development Capacity - As young professional leaders in your fields, developing your leadership skills now will serve you well for the rest of your life. Discuss methods to gain new leadership skills 6. Media and Communication - This session will focus on emerging com-munication technologies, how to use a blend of old and new media. What is the best way to get your message across? Reach target audiences? Manage your online presence? 7. Social Entrepreneurship - This session explores the diverse and exciting opportunities in the field of so-cial entrepreneurship. Learn how to be-come a social entrepreneur yourself, or how to become more involved in a social enterprise, or simply learn what role these individuals and organizations are playing in communities around the world. 8. Grassroots Activism - This session explores how participants can leverage the power of the people to seek change. 3:15-3:45 PM: Coffee Break with light refreshments 3:45-5:15 PM: Skill Building Workshops (The same sessions will be repeated) 5:15-6:00 PM: Break Group photo taken during the evening 6:00-8:00 PM: How to be an Effective Cultural Ambassador: Public Diplomacy and Ambassadors Dinner at the Hotel. - U.S. Ambassadors and Embassy staff

from participating countries will be in-vited to dine and network with partici-pants. - A foreign affairs and public diplomacy expert will provide an address with Q & A session time.

FRIDAY, MAY 4

Washington, D.C.

Professional Fellows Congress 7:30-9:00 AM: Breakfast at hotel with networking activity 9:00-9:15 AM: Introduction and Welcome by invited Department of State officials 9:15-10:30 AM: Interactive Activity II - “Open Space”- type activity. (See Con-gress website for further information on this proposed activity.) 10:30-12:00 Noon: Poster Session 12:00-1:30 PM: Lunch with Participant Slide Show 1:30-3:00 MP: Department of State The-matic Issue Forums. 8 interactive ses-sions with a DOS representative and a moderator. Time for networking and information sharing. DOS officials will be invited to address the groups. Proposed DOS Bureaus/Offices:

Global Women’s Issues; Democracy, Human Rights and Labor; Economic, Energy and Business Affairs; Special Representative to Muslim Com-munities. Women’s Empowerment – includes participants from Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia and Pacific, South and Central Asia, and the Western Hemi-sphere


Young Entrepreneurs – includes participants from East Asia and Pacific, Near East/North Africa, South and Central Asia, and the Western Hemi-sphere Legislative Fellows – includes participants from Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia and Pacific, Europe, Near East/North Africa, South and Cen-tral Asia, and the Western Hemisphere 3:15-3:45 PM: Break 3:45-5:15 pm Interactive Activity III Discussion output 5:15-5:45 PM: Break 6:00 PM: Depart for Dinner Cruise 7:00-10:00 PM: Dinner Cruise on the Potomac River

SATURDAY, MAY 5

Washington D.C. Professional Fellows Congress ends

7:30-9:00 AM: Breakfast at hotel 9:00-11:00 AM: Action Planning and Looking Ahead - Small Groups Based on Theme Facilitated by host organization, DOS representatives in attendance as desired. Action planning for follow-on activities, hand out certificates Congress evaluation completed. 11:00-12:00 PM: Check-out from hotel and travel to the airport to return to Europe SUNDAY, MAY 6

Arrival in Europe

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR COLLABORATING OVERSEAS PARTNERS AND IN-COUNTRY DIRECTORS:

Liuba Batembergska Emil Metodiev

Creating Effective Grassroots

Alternatives Foundation CEGA

Bulgaria http://cega.bg

Mate Varga

Civil College Foundation Hungary

http://www.pepol.info/partners/ccf.htm

Oana Preda Nicoleta Chirita

CeRe Romania http://www.ce-re.ro/

Milan ‘Kajo’ Zboril Chuck Hirt

Center for Community Organizing

Slovakia http://www.ceecn.net/

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