JOIN THE FULBRIGHT CHICAGO Alumni Association for a vibrant membership mixer!
WHEN Tuesday, June 10th, 2014, 5:30 – 8:00pm
WHERE Troquet, River North, 111 W. Huron @ Clark, Chicago, IL 60654
Join us for drinks and appetizers after work in the good company of the worldly Fulbright community in Chicagoland.
Please RSVP by 6/7/14 to jenni.schneiderman@gmail.com
House red and white wines $6. Pay for your own drinks and appetizers.
Left to right: Ronald Harvey, Ander Indart, Isaac Mejía, Flor Fernández, Jenni Schneiderman, Meredith McNeil, Preema John, Patricia Powell, R. Schwarting
By Meredith McNeil—THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB OF CHICAGO played host for the 13th Annual Chicago Women’s Day, Friday, March 7th. The Fulbright Association-Chicago Chapter not only was a partner organization for the event (organized by WorldChicago,) but five former Fulbrighters from the Chapter and five current visiting Fulbright students attended the International Fair and luncheon keynote speakers. The five visiting Fulbrighters attended free of charge through the generous contributions* from members of the Board, and co-sponsored through IIE.
Board member Meredith McNeil gets an engineering lesson from visiting Fulbright engineering students Ander Indart and Isaac Mejía.
Attendees from the Chicago Chapter Board included Ronald Harvey (President), Patricia Powell, Meredith McNeil, Marilyn Susman, and Chicago Chapter member Jenni Schneiderman. Visiting Fulbrighters were R. Schwarting (Germany, University of Chicago, Sociology), Ander Indart (Spain, UIC, Civil Engineering), Flor Fernández (Nicaragua, UIC, Masters in Business Administration), Isaac Mejía (Guatemala, UIC, Mechanical Engineering), and Preema John (India, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Arts Administration and Cultural Policy).
Rasha Mohammed
All three of the influential and spirited speakers highlighted the main themes of partnership and the need for males, as well as females, to be active in women’s causes that work towards change. The two cultural speakers, Dr. Rasha Mahmoud Hussein Mohammed of Cairo, and architect Carmen Vidal-Hallett of Chicago and Brazil, detailed how females are “revolutionary” in their countries.
C. Vidal-Hallett
In Brazil, Vidal-Hallett made encouraging remarks about women’s involvement in environmental improvement, mainly through water quality.
Dr. Mohammed’s focus was on women’s engagement in the Egyptian Revolution and how this activity has led to more men becoming active in anti-sexual harassment causes.
M. Ledgerwood
The keynote speaker, Michèle Ledgerwood of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), highlighted the seven Revolutions affecting our world today (i.e., information, technology, security, governance) and how women are both affected by each, and how women can affect each in a transformative way. Although the topics and speakers were varied, the message remained that women, globally, need to work together, across economic, cultural, and religious lines, in order to continue to better situations for themselves and their families, and that male participation and inclusion is necessary for future improvements.
Jenni Schniederman and long-time Board member Marilyn Susman.
One of our visiting Fulbrighters, Isaac Mejía, had this to say about Ms. Ledgerwood: “The key speaker showed what I expect in a female leader. She had a great background experience. The way she started her speech with current references grabbed the public’s attention immediately.” Regarding Dr. Mohammed, Mejía said the “presentation was a great show of diversity and leadership in the African countries. I enjoyed the pictures showing the empowerment of women through the last decades. It is extremely nice to hear of current examples that somehow will influence the women in countries like mine that are male dominated.”
“Attending the luncheon was a great opportunity to hear from successful and multifaceted women who are catalysts for change and leaders in their fields,” added Flor Fernández. “It was truly an inspiring experience.”
The Fulbright table listens attentively to Dr. Rasha Mahmoud Hussein Mohammed’s description of women’s involvement in social change in Cairo.
The afternoon closed with remarks from the vice president of the Union League, highlighting the well-known Chinese proverb: when sleeping women wake, mountains move. It was an excellent call to action at the end of an event encouraging positive female engagement in today’s world and positive change for all! The Fulbright Chapter attendees left with a great sense of optimism for the future.
* Thanks to Christina Macholan, Don Garner, Elio Leturia, Regina Mamou and Marilyn Susman
Photos by Ron Harvey
Posted in Chicago events, Fulbright
Tagged Chicago, Chicago Chapter of the Fulbright Association, Events, Fulbright, fulbright association, Fulbright scholars, Fulbright students, Institute of International Education, International Women's day, Jenni Schneiderman, Marilyn Susman, Meredith McNeil, Ron Harvey, Union League club of Chicago, World Chicago
Fred Siegman, Ron Harvey and Jane Florine getting ready to pack books.
By Mary Mares-Awe—THE CHICAGO CHAPTER OF THE FULBRIGHT ASSOCIATION is in the final push of completing this year’s book drive as part of its Book Partnership initiative. More than one thousand books have been collected from various schools, organizations, libraries and private individuals over the past several months. Most of the books have been sorted, boxed, and are now ready to be shipped.
The books will be donated to Ethiopian children and to students and children in Macedonia. We are in negotiations with Turkish Airlines for their contribution to this worthwhile project—shipping the books to Macedonia. Some of the Spanish-language books in our collection have been earmarked for children in Guatemala.
José Rodríguez, Jim Nowaczok, Ana Gil-García and Mary Mares-Awe
At this point many thanks to everyone including José, Ron, Mary, Jeff, Ana, Jenni, Fred, Jim, Jane and others who gave up a part of their Saturday March 1st, and this past Saturday, March 7th, in sorting, and boxing up the books. Also, thanks to and many others who’ve been involved with gathering and delivering the books to our storage facility at the Ethiopian Community Association in Rogers Park. This is a huge effort and anyone’s contribution, no matter how small or large, is paramount to the success of this wonderful project.
The books should be on their way to their destinations in the next few weeks.
Background: The Book Partnership began in 2007 and has involved strategic relationship building between our Chicago Chapter and Fulbright Alumni Associations in different countries. Over the last 7 years, thousands of books for school-aged children have been donated. They’ve then been shipped to Fulbright Alumni in Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, Moldova, Ghana and Botswana. The Fulbright Alumni Associations have then distributed the books to local NGOs and schools, and ultimately into the hands of teachers and children.
Photos by Jenni Schneiderman
Posted in Chicago events, Fulbright
Tagged Ana Gil-García, Book Partnership, Chicago, Chicago Chapter of the Fulbright Association, Events, Fred Siegman, Fulbright, Fulbright alumni, fulbright association, Jane Florine, Jenni Schneiderman, Jim Nowaczok, José Rodríguez, Macedonia, Mary Mares-Awe, Ron Harvey, Turkish Airlines
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