Ana Paula Ferreira is the Public Engagement Specialist, U.S. Embassy Luanda. Public Diplomacy Officer Benjamin Stevenson, in nominating Ana, remarked on her unwavering dedication and exceptional contributions to fostering cultural exchange and understanding between the United States and Angola. Over her 25-year career in Angola, Ana used her encyclopedic knowledge of Angolan cultural history to forge […]
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Over the past 43 years Marzia Benini, Public Engagement Specialist, U.S. Embassy Rome, has advanced U.S. foreign policy in Italy, helping strengthen the relationship and reinforce shared democratic values. Her creativity and dedication engaged new audiences and strengthened established contacts in think tanks, labor unions, professional associations, civil society organizations, and academia. With each new policy challenge, she has
Rasa Baukuviene joined the Public Diplomacy Section of the U.S. Embassy Vilnius in 1994, just four years after Lithuania regained independence from the Soviet Union. As U.S.-Lithuania exchange programs rapidly expanded in the late 1990s and 2000s, Rasa worked tirelessly to build an institutional framework to make these programs sustainable, impactful, and appealing to Lithuanian applicants. In
The 2024 award went to Rahaf AlZuraiqi, Public Engagement Specialist, U.S. Mission to Yemen. We could not express better Rahaf AlZuraiqi’s accomplishments and service to both the United States and Yemen than what Public Affairs Officer Jennifer Sutton writes: Rahaf AlZuraiqi has spent years overcoming war, displacement, terrorist threats, financial and administrative challenges to build a legacy
Shahla Ujayli is a Syrian-born writer and professor of Modern Arabic Literature at the University of Aleppo and the American University in Jordan. She has written 2 short-story collections and 4 novels, with Summer with the Enemy and A Sky So Close to Us receiving a shortlist for the IPAF. Shahla and her translator, Michelle Hartman, toured college and universities in
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As the Resource Coordinator, U.S. Embassy Oslo, Claire was instrumental in the October 2023 opening of the American Presence Post in Tromso, Norway, based on her years of experience understanding the most effective ways to engage the disparate communities of the Arctic. Over Claire’s long career she has continuously demonstrated her commitment to the development
As a 20-year veteran of Embassy Kyiv’s Public Diplomacy Section, Valentyna Pashkova exemplifies the highest standards of creativity, passion, and commitment to cultural and educational diplomacy. As the American Spaces Program Specialist, she has been instrumental in developing and sustaining the network of 26 American centers, shelves, and spaces across Ukraine that are a model
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Diler’s breadth of work at the U.S. Consulate General Erbil includes supervising the entire cultural, educational, outreach, and grants unit, advancing issues as diverse and critical as women’s rights, climate change, educational reform, economic development, civil society training, and much more. In 2024, As the Public Engagement Specialist, Diler supercharged the English language programs, won
The 2024 Ilchman-Richardson award goes to Alison Moylan, Deputy Director, Office of International Visitors, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), U.S. State Department, Washington, DC. To paraphrase from Alison’s nomination by Amy Storrow: In the twenty-five years that Alison has served the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, she has modeled patience, wisdom and
Jeff received the 2024 Lois Roth Award honorable mention for, as Deputy Chief of Mission Emily Fleckner lauds, his success working in one of the most restrictive operating environments in the world. As the Public Affairs Officer for the U.S. Embassy Bandar Seri Begawan, he is recognized for his implementation of an exceptionally creative ECA
The 2024 Lois Roth Award for excellence in cultural diplomacy goes to Sarah Ziebell, Regional Public Engagement Specialist for the Balkans. Sarah is recognized for her ability to see interesting and unexpected program opportunities and her practical skills to get things done. Colleagues see Sarah as a smart manager, a thoughtful innovator, and a strategic
Chelsea Wong is the recipient of the 2024 Robin and Avril Winks Award. A second generation Chinese-New Zealander, she has noticed a limited representation and understanding of Asian New Zealander experiences in the arts and is eager to connect hearts and minds through arts to make a collective change. After nearly ten years working as
Emily Zhao, a graduate of Duke University, is the recipient of the 2024 Project Support Award Australia for her research in flexible smart home electrification. Emily will spend a year analyzing and collecting data, in collaboration with the University of New South Wales to determine network and household incentives and barriers to implementing flexible demand
Samuel Nevins, in collaboration with Universidad de la República, is investigating the social determinants of mental illness in Uruguayan adolescents through participant data collection. With the help of the 2024 Project Support Award Uruguay, Sam will be able to provide fiscal incentives for participation in his project, increasing the likelihood of a representative sample of
Dr. Fareed Zakaria is the 2024 speaker for the Distinguished Fulbright Lecture. He is the host of Fareed Zakaria GPS on CNN, a columnist for The Washington Post, and a bestselling author. He has been nominated for several Emmys for his television work and has won one, along with the prestigious Peabody Award for his
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Samantha Ruth Brown, a PhD candidate in Geography at the University of Oregon, won the 2024 Project Support Award for Denmark. She will use the award to support her dissertation research project on “Fermented Foods, Fresh Perspectives: Prioritizing Inuit Food Sovereignty in a Changing Arctic”. Samantha’s project will explore how Greenlandic Inuit perceive the potential
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Laura Chang won the 2024 Project Support Award for Ecuador. She will use the Award to support her project on the Integration of Kichwa and Western Medicines. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Biology with a minor in Latin American Studies and Spanish from Cornell University. Her career goal is to become a
Sydney Erlikh is a PhD candidate in disability studies at the University of Illinois, Chicago. She will use the 2024 Finland Roth-Thomas Award to support her project on the culture and artistic process of dancers with intellectual disability in collaboration with the University of the Arts’ Theatre Academy and the Kaaos Dance Company in Helsinki.
Leah Balter won the 2024 Norway Project Support Award. She will use the award to support her case study on Norway’s overlapping Covid-19 pandemic and Ukrainian refugee crisis responses at the University of Bergen. Leah earned her BA in Human Biology from Stanford University with Honors. After completing her Fulbright, she plans to attend medical
Cassandra Alvariño will use this award to support her research on Sweden’s bid to join NATO in association with the Department of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg as part of her dual Master’s degree in European Studies and Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She plans to pursue
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Jen Shaneberger is conducting research for her PhD in International Relations/Comparative Politics with the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. This award will support her research on how political rhetoric impacts migrants’ ability to find and maintain employment in association with Linköping University. She plans to defend her dissertation in November 2024 and submit a chapter for publication