Humphrey Fellows representing 18 countries joined Humphrey alumna Shanta Nagendram, Director of SkillFocus Consultancy, in Washington DC, where she facilitated a skill-enhancement workshop for career professionals directly or indirectly involved in organizational, national, or international negotiations. The workshop gave Fellows diverse tools to enhance their negotiating capacity in any situation. Fellows engaged in a reflective and critical learning process with interactive lectures, energizers, guest speakers, group presentations, case studies, and simulations. Fellows were joined at the conclusion of the workshop by Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board Member Amy Swonger who shared encouraging remarks on the importance of negotiation skills and thoughtful advice for the Fellows as they approach the end of their Humphrey experience in the United States.

Ms. Swonger shared, “I’m sure you’re ready to use the skills you gained from this workshop to ‘get to yes’ more often in your professional sphere of influence. One of the most important lessons you will take home with you after your year as Humphrey Fellows is how to negotiate under any circumstances. It’s all too easy to be or do good when things are easy. Real character is cut and carved in tumultuous and terrible times. I encourage you all to shine your brightest when the lights are at their lowest.”

Humphrey Fellows at Arizona State University participated in the first-ever #CronkiteGlobal Week, a week of globally-minded events and programming that amplifies Cronkite Global Initiatives and solutions-based journalism. Representing 13 countries, all 14 Fellows presented on issues across society and showcased their expertise as international communications professionals. To kick off the series of panel events, Angela Aurora (El Salvador), Tasneem Amro (West Bank), Elira Çanga (Algeria), and Anum Hanif (Pakistan) shared the challenges of creating robust education systems that incorporate digital technology in their regions. Johnson Mayamba (Uganda), Gahyeok Lee (South Korea), Bálint Fabók (Hungary), and Andrea Polanco (Belize) provided a global lens on how migration patterns have shaped their countries over the last century. Elita Dilshad Karim (Bangladesh), Hyuntaek Lee (South Korea), Milana Mazaeva (Russia), and Siqi Yao (China) discussed the critical issue of birth control across the globe. They highlighted the implications of birth control for world populations as well as how the media portrays birth rates. Lastly, Mohamed Bah (Sierra Leone) and Atok Dan (South Sudan) talked about the re-emergence of military coups in Africa. They started with a discussion of Egypt in North Africa after the Arab Spring, Sudan in East Africa after the fall of Omar al-Bashir, and ended with the recent coup in West Africa, where the military toppled the civilian government that President Roch Marc Kabore led in Burkina Faso.

To view any of the Cronkite Global Conversations, click here.  

When the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, Humphrey alumna Svitlana Taran from Kyiv received offers of refuge and support from the Humphrey alumni community. Specifically, Janis Volberts (Latvia), Olga Melniciuc (Moldova), Milos Zarkovic (Montenegro,) Vlado Develski (Macedonia), Tsatsa Dambiinyam (Mongolia), and many other alumni who remained close over the years reached out to her. As the bombing intensified, Mr. Volberts arranged to meet Ms.Taran at the Ukraine-Poland border, drove 13 hours and then waited 20 hours for her to cross the border for the 13-hour return trip to Riga, Latvia, bringing along a man and child they met at the border.

Once in Riga, Mr. Volbert and his wife, Paula, procured and funded an apartment for Ms.Taran. In addition to helping her adjust and settle in, the Volbert family also joined her at a pro-Ukraine, anti-war protest in Riga. Their two children love spending time with her and created pro-Ukrainian artwork to cheer her up. Ms.Taran is able to continue working remotely at her job, where she provides analytical support for the Ukrainian government as it prepares to apply for EU membership. This is her contribution to the fight for freedom. Ms.Taran was a Humphrey Fellow at Boston University from 2018-2019, where she met Janet Ferone, President of Ferone Educational Consulting. When Ms. Ferone heard about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she messaged Ms. Taran, learned of this heartwarming story, and shared it with the Humphrey community. She has supported Fellows with professional affiliations, served as a friendship family since 2017, and was the 2019-2020 Friendship Family speaker at the Humphrey Program Commencement. Over the years she has made some very meaningful friendships with Humphrey Fellows and has visited several fellows in Montenegro, Moldova, and Slovakia.

Congratulations to Humphrey alumnus Octavius Phukubye on his selection as a 2022 Fellow for IncludedVC, a global Fellowship with a mission to diversify venture capital (VC). IncludedVC connects people from diverse, overlooked, and underrepresented communities from around the world with VC partners. As a Managing Director for IDF Value Added Services, a subsidiary of IDF Capital, Mr. Phukubye was among the top 75 fellows of this year's cohort, which received over 2,400 applications. He intends to learn VC investing skills, establish networks and use them to potentially set up a VC fund in his home country South Africa. “The country has a nascent venture capital industry and an untransformed ecosystem. However, due to the lack of diversity in the market, many Black founders are underserved due to biases of the most active early-stage investing funds,” he shared. He credits the Humphrey Fellowship as the spark that ignited his interest in VC as a contributing enabler for accelerated economic development and innovation in frontier markets. Passionate about early-stage startup technology investing and its growth potential across emerging markets, he is excited about the journey ahead and hopes to increase diversity among VC funding, partners, and investors. Octavius Phukubye was a Humphrey Fellow at Michigan State University from 2018-2019.