Copy

Featured Stories

Fellows Highlights
Left to right: Federico Benítez González, Journalist, Caracol Televisión (Colombia); Humphrey Fellow Angie Aurora; Vanessa Ruiz, Anchor and Host, Arizona PBS; and Claudia Ramirez, Editor in Chief, La Prensa Gráfica (El Salvador) meet after "Standing for Truth: Journalist Stories from the Field" panel session. 
In partnership with the U.S. Department of State, the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University and Equis Institute hosted the first Media Summit of the Americas. The Media Summit is part of the larger Ninth Summit of the Americas and served as a global journalism conference that included top U.S. government officials, Latin American journalists who work under threat from their governments, and Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. Fellows Andrea Polanco (Belize), Angie Aurora (El Salvador), Anum Hanif (Pakistan), Elita Karim (Bangladesh), Milana Mazaeva (Chechen journalist from Russia), and Siqi Yao (China) attended this first-of-its-kind multilingual event that tackled media sustainability, information integrity issues, and solutions for countering a growing crisis of trust. They networked with many speakers and engaged with notable accredited journalists, civil society, policymakers, and government representatives, all working to counter disinformation and address the information crisis. Ms. Karim and Ms. Hanif attended an interactive session on countering disinformation and media literacy education led by Dr. Kristy Roschke. Ms. Karim shared, “this platform helped me gain new perspectives on disinformation and connect with Dr. Roschke herself. Through this network, I will be able to work on projects related to media literacy in Bangladesh, where misinformation has turned out to be the bedrock for politics and corruption.” When Organization of American States Secretary General Luis Almagro and U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke, journalists openly asked difficult questions about the absence of certain countries' participation in the Summit and the lack of justice for journalists who have been killed. Fellows were impressed to witness the freedom of expression of these journalists. Ms. Mazaeva said, “they were not touched; they were allowed to finish their questions and accusations. I saw a real manifestation of freedom of speech. That made the biggest impression on me.” 
Humphrey Fellow Anna Novosad meets with the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group.  
Humphrey Fellow Anna Novosad from Ukraine completed her PA as a consultant with the World Bank Group’s Education Global Practice, focusing on the Europe & Central Asia (ECA) region. She monitored ongoing projects, designed new projects, conducted research, and prepared policy recommendations based on the elimination of learning loss. This is a crucial topic for Ms. Novosad and her country as the World Bank has partnered with Teach for Ukraine to provide quality education to Ukrainian students despite the ongoing war. She has helped develop a project to ensure a team of professional teachers is equipped to conduct free online classes to continue students’ education. While in the D.C. area, she addressed a group of 500 students at Woodgrove High School in Virginia, where she talked about life in Ukraine before the war, amongst other things. They voiced the importance of hearing personal stories, learning firsthand about the tragedy in Ukraine, and asked thoughtful questions. Additionally, she traveled to Ottawa and Ontario, Canada, to meet with the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program, of which she is an alumna. She is working with the program to seek resources and partnerships to restore educational infrastructure in Ukraine and communicate with officials to provide efficient aid to Ukraine through a network of volunteer organizations.
Alumni Highlights
(Top right to left: Humphrey Fellows Sera Latu Kaukilakeba, Litia Gaunavou, and Lite Seruvakula with Stephanie Fitzmaurice, Regional Public Diplomacy Officer, U.S. Embassy Suva.
The U.S. Embassy in Suva invited Humphrey alumnae Ms. Sera Latu Kaukilakeba (2016-2017 Boston University), Ms. Litia Gaunavou (2017-2018 UC Davis), and current Fellow Ms.Lite Seruvakula (2021-2022 Michigan State University) for a virtual program to share their Humphrey experience. This was the first time the U.S. Embassy in Fiji organized a session to promote the Humphrey program. They discussed the program's components, including leadership training, professional affiliations, and community work. They explained the application process, stating the importance of articulating the area of study that applicants wish to pursue and ensuring their future work will contribute to the nation-building of their countries. Ms. Kaukilakeba is a Senior Analyst at the Reserve Bank of Fiji and has assisted in ongoing government reforms, including establishing regulatory review frameworks and developing inclusive green finance resources since returning home. Ms. Gaunavou is a Geospatial Technical Officer at the Pacific Community, who secured funding from the U.S. Consulate in Fiji to organize a local conference to train women in geographic information system (GIS) mapping. As Ms. Seruvakula wraps up her Humphrey year, she described what motivated her to apply to the Fellowship and her experience. With a background in the hospitality industry managing operations and human resources, she plans to implement environment-responsive solutions and establish a workforce development framework that focuses on sustainable HR practices. 
Humphrey alumna Barbara Barrios (far right with white coat) with the Panamanian delegation at NAFSA 2022.
Humphrey alumna Barbara Barrios was appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama to be part of the Panamanian delegation at this year’s NAFSA Conference. As the Director of International Affairs and Agreements at Santa María La Antigua University, where she facilitates exchanges with different international universities and streamlines finding common ground for collaboration, she was excited to attend the international education event of the year. Exploring all aspects of the NAFSA 2022 theme, “Building Our Sustainable Future,” Ms. Barrios participated in discussions on design strategies for sustainable future success at this critical time of re-emergence. Ms. Barrios also engaged with numerous international organizations, including the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience, with whom she is now collaborating to create an internship program for students at Santa María La Antigua University. 

Ms. Barrios was a Humphrey Fellow from 2019-2020, focused on technology policy and management at Syracuse University. During her fellowship, she quickly saw the importance of virtual learning as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded. She led training sessions on creating online courses and worked with other Humphrey Fellows to organize an event on remote learning in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education. 
Share Share
Tweet Tweet
Forward Forward
Copyright © 2022 Institute of International Education, All rights reserved.
Please contact the Humphrey Fellowship Program at HHH@iie.org for questions about this email.

Our mailing address is:
Institute of International Education
1400 K Street, NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20005

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list
Facebook
Twitter
Website
Instagram
LinkedIn






This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
Institute of International Education · 1400 K Street, NW, Suite 700 · Washington, DC 20005 · USA