ACYPL is excited to announce that we have been selected by the US Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to conduct an Active Citizen Summit for 54 participants from the Middle East and North Africa, as well as three Global Change Fellows. The participating fellows will gather first in San Francisco for the summit itself, which will cover expectations and outcomes for the program as well as coaching the fellows in leadership training sessions and encouraging discussion of shared challenges and goals for the program. Included in the summit will be several prominent speakers, including executive officials at the state level, media professionals, and representatives of prominent non-profits.

At the conclusion of the summit, participants will be split into three groups, each of which will take part in professional fellowships in San Francisco, Utah, or North Carolina. During their fellowships, each fellow will join an organization, government agency, or company in order to gain an understanding of the American political system and its many moving parts. They will shadow staff members, conduct essential tasks, and attend meetings to this end.

At the conclusion of their fellowships, each of the fellows will gather in Washington, DC to report their experience and share the lessons they have learned over the course of the program. They will have the opportunity to explore DC, attend briefings to provide context on the impact of their program, and deliver their own remarks discussing the effect they believe the program has had, as well as laying the groundwork for how they will plan to implement relevant changes in their home countries. The summit will conclude with an as-yet undetermined capstone speaker, who will discuss positive political change with the fellows as a final take-away message for the program.

While we’ve conducted programs similar to the Active Citizen Summit in the past, we’re excited to have the opportunity to organize this unique and special program. In a period of rapidly changing developments in the relationships between the United States and the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, ACYPL is excited to play a part in helping to shape those relationships and emphasize the importance of mutual understanding and friendship. We firmly believe that citizen diplomacy is a key aspect of maintaining peace and security in the 21st century, and we look forward to receiving the fellows and beginning to forge those relationships this October.