Alumni Updates

US Secretary of State John Kerry Meets Alums in Georgia

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During an official visit to the country of Georgia this week, US Secretary of State John Kerry made time to meet with alumni from the Future Leaders Exchange Program.

During an official visit to the country of Georgia this week, US Secretary of State John Kerry made time to meet with young Georgian entrepreneurs in tech, including alumni from the Future Leaders Exchange (referred to as the FLEX program) and the Georgia High School Exchange Program alumni. Secretary Kerry met with the alums alongside meetings with the Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili as well as the Georgian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.

Strolling through the streets of Old Tbilisi, Secretary Kerry met with several alums including:

  • Nino Nanitashvili (GHSEP '10), recent awardee of the US Department of State Emerging Young Leaders # EYLeaders award and the founder of the Google Developer Group in Tbilisi
  • Magda Magradze (FLEX '95), CFO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation in Georgia, which aims to develop STEM education in Georgia for the promotion of economic growth for the country
  • Nikoloz Gachechiladze (FLEX '15), a student at LCC International University in Lithuania who recently presented at Stanford University's Global Entrepreneurship Summit, during which he pitched his idea for Motion X software aimed to simplify the creation of online education courses to increase accessibility and decrease costs of university-level education

During the visit, Secretary Kerry signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Georgia's Prime Minister for the purpose of deepening the cooperation between the countries during this visit.

ABOUT FLEX
The Future Leaders Exchange or FLEX program is a competitive, merit-based scholarship program funded by the US Department of State. FLEX students who pass multiple rounds of testing earn a scholarship to spend an academic year in the United States living with a volunteer host family and attending a US high school. FLEX students gain leadership skills, learn about American society and values, and teach Americans about FLEX countries and cultures. FLEX is a highly competitive program with over 24,000 alumni who have contributed over one million hours of community service in cities and towns across America. The students return home to active alumni networks that carry out inspiring activities. Learn more about hosting a FLEX student at: http://c2cyouth.org/

ABOUT GHSEP
The Georgia High School Exchange Program (GHSEP) was funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia (MoES) and administered by American Councils in 2010 and 2011. GHSEP awarded scholarships to 100 competitively selected high school students from Georgia. Similar to the FLEX program, GHSEP aimed to strengthen mutual cooperation and understanding between the youth of Georgia and the US

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