Alumni Components:

In addition to the reciprocal component of the LFP, all LFP alumni will be required to participate in country-specific alumni activities including but not limited to legislative institutes and at least two self-initiated mini projects.

Future Foreign Legislative Leaders Forge Ties with U.S. Lawmakers

Young legislators and activists from around the world came to the United States this fall to learn about the U.S. government, to see the U.S. midterm elections and to engage in monthlong practicums hosted by lawmakers in Washington and around the United States. The 114 participants from 17 countries met in Washington for a final conference November 8-9 to conclude the five-week Legislative Fellows Program, a professional exchange of the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

LEAP '08 Alumni Interprets for Secretary of State Clinton

Farhad Fatkullin FLEX '96 (St. Louis, MO) and LEAP '08 (Nashville, TN), interpreted for Secretary Clinton and President of Tatarstan Shaimiev on October 14. Prior to that he was directly involved in eight days of negotiations between Secretary Clinton's advance team and the Tatarstan government hosts to make arrangements for the visit. U.S. Embassy English Language Officer David Fay was part of the U.S. team preparing for the visit and reported that Farhad Fatkullin was an extremely effective communicator and negotiator. David stressed that Farhad is truly bilingual, bicultural and has amazing communication skills. He also reported that Secretary Clinton, as she was leaving one meeting, commented to him personally on just what an excellent job he did. Farhad has been working for the Office of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan in the department of State Protocol as a chief translation specialist since 2006.

The following projects were implemented in April and May:

April 10-17: Ukrainian project in Lutsk, Ostroh and Kyiv
April 23-May 4: Russian project in Perm
May 10-17: Georgian project in Tbilisi
May 17-21: Russian project in Saratov

Ukrainian Fellows Joint Outbound Program:

A LEAP outbound project that was selected for funding was proposed by several of the program's Ukrainian participants: Olga Batishcheva, Tetyana Bohdanova, Chrystyna Holynska and Olga Vorona. The project entitled Forming Friendships: Expanding Horizons of Civic Activism in Ukraine, was carried out April 11-17, 2010. The main goal of the Ukrainian LEAP outbound project was to contribute to mutual understanding between the U.S. and Ukraine by connecting Ukrainian leaders dedicated to bringing positive change to their country with their U.S. colleagues in order to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and skills as well as to foster future cooperation.