Last Month: New GCWAC Team, International Outreach, Blogs & more

Posted: October 5th, 2017 Current Issues

Welcome to the GCWAC Team

Ciarra Wooten, Education and Development Coordinator

Ciarra joined the Greater Cincinnati World Affairs Council (GCWAC) in a part-time position in September of 2017. In her current role as Education and Development Coordinator for GCWAC, she will be managing all education programs and expanding outreach and global education initiatives to local K-12 and university students. Ciarra will be assisting in the planning of the International Education Summit and the Academic WorldQuest as well as key development events. She is very excited to join GCWAC and serve the community in a spirit of sustained investment in global education and fellowship.

Hannah Gerth, Communications and Programs Coordinator

Hannah joined the Greater Cincinnati World Affairs Council (GCWAC) as a Public Ally in September 2017. Her current role as the Communications and Programs Coordinator for GCWAC consists of coordinating and executing overall logistics for events. She will also be managing and editing all social media accounts for GCWAC. She is very excited to start this new journey and interact with a variety of people from all over the world.

Andrew Michels, Global Exchange Intern

Andrew joined the Greater Cincinnati World Affairs Council (GCWAC) as an intern in September 2017. In his current role, he will be assisting with the U.S. Department of State’s premier exchange program, the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP). Andrew is excited to be a part of GCWAC and help connect citizens of the world.

Halle Morel, Programs Intern

Halle joined the Greater Cincinnati World Affairs Council (GCWAC) as an intern in September 2017. Her current role at GCWAC focuses on Global Education. Halle is currently in her third year at the University of Cincinnati, double majoring in International Relations and Spanish with a focus in Economics. She is very excited to work with GCWAC this semester!

The Team at the Cincinnati Art Museum

The GCWAC team at the Cincinnati Art Museum for Art after Dark for the first staff outing! Here we are standing in front of the Mihrab (prayer niche) that was formed in the late 15^th or early 16^th century in Iran or Central Asia. Devout Muslims pray five times a day while kneeling toward Mecca, Islams Holy City and the site of Allah’s revelation to the prophet Muhammad. Every mosque and prayer niche (like this one) faces in a specific direction. The niche itself commemorates the spot where the prophet stood while leading in congregational prayer.

What Happened this Month?

The Importance of Elections

A big thank you to our speaker, Consul General Herbert Quelle and panelists Dr. Erika Edwards, Mr. Bob Bradley and Mr. Yannick Schilly.

Thank you to the European American Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Cincinnati World Affairs Council and Honorary Consul Martin Wilhelmy who welcomed German Consul General Herbert Quelle to the Midwest and to the Greater Cincinnati region.

Thank you to everyone that took time out of their evening to join us and for the The Queen City Club for hosting!

Lunch with AMICANA

We were happy to be reunited with our friends from Argentina as part of our teacher exchange with AMICANA (Amicana English School) in Mendoza, Argentina.

On September 28th, we had the pleasure of welcoming Eliana as one of our first Amicana teachers to visit Cincinnati. Previously this year, Alison M. Roberson, a English teacher at St. Xavier High School, visited the school in Argentina as the first visitor to launch the exchange.

Our relationship with Amicana was the outcome of a meeting between Dr. Mary Ann Buchino, Advisory Member of the Greater Cincinnati World Affairs Council and Denise de Bartolomeo, the Director of Amicana School. Denise visited the region as an IVLP Gold Star as a participant on the US Department of State premier exchange program, International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) in 2015.

This is one example of where local meets global at GCWAC!

Mark Powell: U.S. Diplomat puts hometown face on foreign policy for local students

The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs/Office of Public Engagement with the Hometown Diplomats Program partnered with the Greater Cincinnati World Affairs Council to bring, Mr. Mark Powell (hometown of Centerville, OH) to the region to speak to high school and college students.

The mission of this program is to put a hometown face on foreign policy and to explain to America what we do and why it matters. The Program is accomplished through employees volunteering their time during scheduled trips to their hometown to speak with local organizations, schools, government officials, and to participate in media interviews. This program has been widely received across the country.

Health Talk at Oak Hills

GCWAC sends a big thank you to our speakers from Village Life and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital who participated in Oak Hills’ Challenge Day on Friday, September 29th. The students at Oak Hills were engaged on the topic of Global Health and how it connects to our Greater Cincinnati community.

Best wishes to Sue Casey-Leininger, Executive Director of Village Life who is spending two weeks in Shirati, Tanzania. This trip is one of several service learning and volunteer trips led by Village Life to Tanzania.

We were fortunate to have International Patient Coordinators, Ilan Goldman and Liliana Ballesteros from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. They educated students on the crucial support that Cincinnati Children’s provides to international families receiving medical care. Students could share their personal stories with our speakers and understand the many challenges these families face that go beyond language barriers.

Walk for World Peace

On Saturday, September 30th, the GCWAC team participated in the Walk for World Peace at Pine Hill and Corwin-Nixon Park in Mason, Ohio. Peace Day provides a globally shared date for all humanity to commit to Peace above all differences and to contribute to building a Culture of Peace.

We were able to connect with others from the community through a 5K walk around the serene location followed by a group mediation.

Thank you to Mason High School Senior, Ahalya Ramesh, who coordinated and hosted the event.

Jin Kong

A big thank you to our guest blogger, Jin Kong. Jin Kong has been a guest research fellow with The Greater Cincinnati World Affairs Council for the past six months. His fellowship was sponsored by The Mission Continues.

Through this fellowship, Kong was researching to gain a better understanding of the populist sentiment towards immigrants in the Cincinnati region. All of his blog postings can be viewed on our website under our Blog section.

World Leaders Visit Greater Cincinnati

In the month of September, Cincinnati hosted 3 delegations of world leaders through the U.S. Department of State’s premier exchange program, International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).

The visitors travelled from 2 countries including Indonesia & Kuwait. The GCWAC relies on the commitment and skills of our community to develop local professional relationships and showcase Midwest hospitality. This month, our community truly helped to engage the world leaders on topics that included Cyber Security, Strategy, Policy, and Leaders and Education Advising. Continue reading for pictures and more info about what they did while in Greater Cincinnati…

Thank you to all of our local professionals and volunteers who made these visits a big success this month. Thank you –Vantiv, Nexigen and Northern Kentucky University College of Informatics – for meeting with the international delegation from Indonesia to discuss cyber security strategy, policy, and leadership.

Thank you – Winton Woods High School, Cincinnati State, Xavier University, Northern Kentucky University and The University of Cincinnati – for meeting with the international delegation from Kuwait to discuss educational advising.

Thank you to families who hosted our visitors for dinner in their homes!!