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American Society for
Public Administration

THE EXCHANGE PROGRAM EXPERIENCE

Future Leaders Exchange Program Celebrates Twenty Years!
By Mary Shea

On June 13, 2012, nearly 200 Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) students gathered at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C. for a special reception to kick off celebrations of the twentieth anniversary of the FLEX program. This group of high school students from six Eurasian countries had just completed a 10-month cultural exchange in the U.S. In front of an audience of program administrators and coordinators, representatives from the US Department of State, ambassadors, host families, and friends, participants shared experiences they had while living in the U.S., reminisced about the program’s history, and prepared to travel back to their home countries with new perspectives shaped by their year abroad.

Alumni Growth

Funded through the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and administered by American Councils for International Education, FLEX is a merit-based scholarship program that provides Eurasian students, ages 15—17, an opportunity to spend one academic year living in host families and studying in U.S. high schools. The FLEX program aims to build bridges of friendship and mutual understanding among the U.S. and the countries of the former Soviet Union (Eurasia). This year’s 800 FLEX participants were selected from over 47,000 applicants and come from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine. In the 20 years the FLEX program has been in operation, over 21,000 students have participated—making lasting impressions on their U.S. host families, communities, and schools as well as in their home countries upon their return. FLEX alumni are highly regarded in their home countries as industrious and talented youth who have gone on to pursue prestigious careers, including the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (Georgia), Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine), and Chief Editor of an English-language news channel (Russia).

At the event, the students listened to remarks made by individuals with a long history of contributions to international education. Dr. Dan E. Davidson, President of American Councils for International Education, congratulated the participants on successfully completing their exchange and highlighted the twenty-year history of the program. “We hope that your year in the United States has awakened in you a sense of responsibility for your community and those around you. You will take home the lessons of community service and the value of civic involvement as well as the leadership skills to solve the problems in your neighborhoods, cities, and regions,” said Dr. Davidson. Steven Culbertson, President and CEO of Youth Service America (YSA), highlighted the power of the individual to affect a community by relating how one Russian student was the impetus for expanding the YSA’s National Youth Service Day into Global Youth Service Day. Ambassador Adam Ereli, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs, encouraged students to stay involved as alumni and to make a difference in their communities, countries, and world.

Ia Dadunashvil – Tbilisi, Georgia

And these FLEX alumni are indeed making a difference. They have a reputation for being creative problem solvers. Many of them have gone on to receive advanced higher education degrees at leading institutions in all academic spheres. They also seek opportunities for practical professional experiences. Recently, Ia Dadunashvil from Tbilisi, Georgia, who spent her FLEX year 1996-1997 in Laurel, Maryland, was selected to participate in the Legislative Fellows Program (LFP), also funded by the US State Department and administered by American Councils for International Education.  Ia, a Child and Youth Sector Specialist at World Vision International in Georgia, has worked as a program manager for different international organizations since her return from the U.S. in 1997, Open Society Georgia - Foundation (OSGF); American Councils for International Education (ACTR/ACCELS), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); International Labor Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). She holds a PhD in legal studies (JD) from the Georgian Technical University, Master of Laws in Comparative Constitutional Law (LLM) from Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, and two bachelor degrees from Georgian Technical University in Public Administration and in Business Law. Her fellowship placement in Washington, D.C. allowed her to shadow the Director of the Board on Children, Youth and Families (BCYF) at the Institute of Medicine, National Academies of Sciences.

Clearly, Ia made the most of her five week fellowship, attending among other events the committee meeting of the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) Congressionally-mandated  evaluation of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), as well as the “Celebrating the Past - Imagining the Future, 18th National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect” (in commemoration of the Children's Bureau's 100 year anniversary). She also did volunteer work with the CCNV Job Squad - volunteering at a D.C. Homeless Shelter as a part of a National Academies’ program called JobSquad, to help clients write resumes, cover letters and apply for jobs so they can get back on their feet. She also gave her time to the Bring A Child to Work Day 2012, doing experiments together with the children on pollutants – keep your body clean by going green.

Opportunity to Host

The transformational experiences of young people like Ia Dadunashvil began during her year abroad when she was involved in volunteering and learning how communities work together. With additional US State Department funding for alumni activity, these FLEX alumni have access to additional opportunities to develop their leadership skills through a variety of trainings, community service initiatives and grant programs.

Every year American Councils is looking for people to be involved to make a huge difference in the lives of these participants. Consider hosting a student or being involved in other ways. To learn more about hosting a FLEX exchange student, go to: American Councils for International Education.

Mary Shea is the FLEX Eurasia Alumni Manager at American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS in Moscow, Russia. She can be reached at mshea@americancouncils.ru and through http://www.americancouncils.org and www.flexalumni.net. Ia Dadunashvili can be reached at ia.dadunashvili@gmail.com.

* This online content includes both original material submitted for publication directly to ASPA's Section on Certified Public Management and/or Good Governance Worldwide web site as well as items published/posted earlier by other good governance affiliates and sources (e.g., The Public Manager, Public Administration Review, university presses, etc.). For non-original works, attribution is provided as part of the annotated link - including author's name and source (e.g., Improving Educational Accountability in Colorado, Richard Wenning and Damian Betebenner, The Public Manager- Winter 2010, v. 39:4).