Future Leaders Exchange Program: Administration

Program News

• South Caucasus FLEX-Ability Workshop 2010 04/02/10
  More than 55 alumni of the U.S. Government sponsored Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia gathered from March 25 - 29 for the first South Caucasus FLEX-Ability Workshop in Tbilisi, Georgia. The university-age alumni participants met to share ideas for working with youth in the South Caucasus, and collaborate in teams led by FLEX alumni trainers and Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) to develop skills for active citizenship. The workshop agenda included designing projects to inspire youth across the region to be implemented in all three countries in summer 2010. The FLEX-Ability Workshop, administered by American Councils' offices in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, was sponsored by the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, as well as those in Azerbaijan and Georgia, along with funds from the 15th Anniversary FLEX Alumni grant.
• And The Oscar Goes To… Ukrainian Children with Cerebral Palsy 04/30/09
  The interior of the Barsky nightclub in downtown Kyiv, with its lush wonderland of overstuffed pillows, coral-like golden chandeliers, and fringed red drapery, is a far cry from the clean lines and ascetically white rooms of the International Clinic of Rehabilitation in Truskavets, Ukraine, where young cerebral palsy patients can be found receiving miniature massages or peddling gently on tiny exercise bikes. In fact, the two are situated more than 200 kilometers from one another, and, were it not for the work of FLEX alumni, would remain unlinked. Yet, both the Barsky club and the Truskavets Center do indeed have something in common: their recent work helped to provide needed medical treatment to twins Andriy and Oleksiy Lazorenko, age 3, and Yuriy Onufer, age 13, as they cope with their illnesses.
• FLEX Alumni City Representatives in Northwest Russia Plug into U.S. Education 04/08/09
  Early on March 23, ten City Representatives and volunteer student advising mentors gathered on the fourth floor of St. Petersburg’s Mayakovsky Library for what would turn out to be a two-day informational tour-de-force. Geared towards the dual purpose of training City Representatives (CRs) to further improve events in northwestern Russia – and preparing fresh student advising mentors with the appropriate background for “promoting educational opportunities in the U.S., advising students on U.S. universities, and reporting on activities on a regular basis” – the conference included input from five alumni speakers, five members of American Councils’ staff, and ten guest lecturers. In traditional FLEX spirit, the participants themselves, who represented six different northwestern regions spanning Arkangelsk to Vologda, were hosted overnight in St. Petersburg by several alumni host families. While the first day of the conference was devoted to City Representatives and the second to student advisors, the overlap between these two groups made it practical to hold a joint training.
• FLEX Alumni Coordinator of the Month for February 2009 – Ayna Palvanova 04/08/09
  FLEX Alumni Coordinator (AC) Ayna Palvanova ’08, who works alongside with and coordinates the activities of FLEX alumni in Turkmenistan, was named AC of the month for February 2009! This award is bestowed to that Alumni Coordinator who has exhibited outstanding professionalism in one or more of the following categories: conducting alumni activities, compiling FLEX alumni successes, working with media, and finding cost-sharing opportunities.
• FLEX Alumni Coordinator of the Month for January 2009 – Valeria Svart 04/08/09
  FLEX Alumni Coordinator (AC) Valeria Svart ’07, who works alongside with and coordinates the activities of FLEX alumni in Moldova, was named AC of the Month for January 2009! This award is given monthly to the Alumni Coordinator who has exhibited outstanding professionalism by accomplishing one or more of the following: conducting exceptional alumni activities, compiling FLEX alumni successes, obtaining media coverage of events, and finding opportunities to cut costs through cost-sharing.
• Civic Awareness Workshop in Georgia Makes Strides with High School Students 04/01/09
  Between October and December 2008, no less than 550 Georgian high school students based in regions ranging from coastal Batumi in the Southwest, to Telavi in the East, applied for the 40 slots available for the Democracy Awareness Workshop, organized by Mikheil Benidze ’06. FLEX alumni commitment to the values of civic engagement was an engine of the event’s success, and the high number of applications. The project overall was aimed at “raising civic awareness and promoting the values of democracy and civil society by strengthening the civic education level in Georgian youth.”
• Tajik Celebrity English Teachers Take the Limelight 03/04/09
  The appearance of Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, George W. Bush, and Hillary Rodham Clinton in mountainous Isfara, Tajikistan in late January went largely un-remarked upon by the media. No crowds of paparazzi swarmed outside the yellow pillars of the Khizmat-Servis Hotel, where the four celebs spent four nights from the 26th to the 30th ― and not a single person remarked on the fact that Hillary wore a red headscarf with her floor length embroidered skirt, or that Brad had traded his blonde hair for black. Neither the local community nor the broader press found anything out of place. Yet, for the twenty Tajik English teachers, head instructor Mavluda Mahmudova, and FLEX alumni Bahrom Ismoilov ’05, Rukhshona Mirzoartikova ’07, and Farhod Umarov ’06, the appearance of the “celebrities” (actually Tajik teachers in role-play during a five-day English-language training) was remarkable less for the likelihood of appearing in the society pages, than for what the training accomplished: dramatically improving the teacher’s comfort with the English language, and their ability to pass it on to others.
• FLEX Alumni Make Disabled Children their Valentines in Veliky Novgorod 03/03/09
  On the morning of February 17, Valeriya Nechayeva ’07, Roza Vasilyeva ’04, and FLEX coordinator for St. Petersburg, Mariya Mozgovaya ’98 traveled the 250 kilometers stretching between Petersburg and Veliky Novgorod, to celebrate Valentine’s Day with children from the “Tsvetik-semitsvetik” School for the Disabled. The event was organized by Veliky Novgorod City Representative Kseniya Skobochkina ’08 with the goals of improving the students’ English, encouraging their future participation in the FLEX program, and beginning a long-term partnership between Veliky Novgorod alumni and the school. Of course, celebrating a popular American holiday was also on the docket, and the day’s activities were dedicated to a fusion of language education and culture.