Quarterly Newsletter: Fall Edition
The World Affairs Council is the bridge that connects the world to one of America’s most vibrant regions. Through global education, international exchange, and cultural awareness initiatives, the council strengthens Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky’s international identity and engages individuals with foreign affairs.
At the Council, we strive to create cultural awareness and respectful citizenry engagement with the world. Our quarterly newsletter, launching this April will provide our community with the latest news in the Council’s education programs, IVLP delegations, and speaking engagements.
Interested in getting involved? Learn more at globalcincinnati.org.
GLOBAL EDUCATION PROGRAMMING
4th Annual World Maker and Inventor Expo
We had the opportunity to participate in the 4th Annual World Maker and Inventor Expo at Boone County High School.
Thank you to our Global Guides, Prerna and Prateek for volunteering their time and teaching the art of Rangoli to the families of Boone County!
As international students living in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, Prateek and Prerna bring a dynamic intercultural learning experience to students in the classroom, after school, and at special events throughout the year. As they visit schools to empower young people of all ages to navigate the world and explore new perspectives.
Interested in becoming a Global Guide? This is a great opportunity to develop your public speaking and presentation skills, connect with young people, share your culture, and more.
Contact Hannah Gerth, Global Education Manager | hgerth@cincyworldaffairs.org for more information.
Art Meets World Showcase
The Global Classrooms program expanded to incorporate art education projects, transforming classroom presentations into experiential learning activities. To further develop intercultural understanding and awareness of being a good global citizen, students met with people from our community from Japan, China, Mexico, and India then together, they created an art project respective to each country. With an intentional focus to collaborate with Northern Kentucky schools, over 800 elementary students celebrated cultural diversity and inclusion in our community.
The academic year kicked off with hosting our first Art Meets World Showcase. Thank you to the Hellmann Creative Center and The Center for Great Neighborhoods of Covington for partnering with us as we celebrated a very successful year!
Thank you to our Global Guides from India, Japan, China, and Mexico for sharing their culture with our local students.
Academic WorldQuest
Congrats to our local Indian Hill High School Academic WorldQuest team for placing in 9th out of 45 teams from all over the United States!
Thanks to The World Affairs Councils of America for hosting yet another successful event as our local students competed NATIONALLY in Washington D.C. for the Academic WorldQuest competition this year.
Academic WorldQuest™ is a flagship youth education program of the national network of The World Affairs Councils of America. It is a team game testing high school students’ knowledge of international affairs. Four-person teams compete by answering multiple-choice questions divided into ten unique and engaging thematic categories.
Approximately 4000 students across the country participate in competitions hosted by 50 local World Affairs Councils across the United States, including us! Winning teams are invited to represent their high school, city, and local council at the national competition held in the spring each year in Washington, DC.
Josh Amstutz, Fullbright Teacher for Global Classrooms
Congratulations to Josh Amstutz, mathematics teacher and facilitator for The Academy of Global Studies at Winton Woods High School as he was awarded the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Programs for Global Classrooms Program (Fulbright TGC) for the 2019 to 2020 school year.
As a Global Partner for the World Affairs Council Mr. Amstutz improves our impact as he continues to become a leader in preparing Cincinnati to thrive in the 21st-century global environment by promoting international understanding, education, engagement, and cooperation.
GLOBAL EXCHANGE PROGRAMMING
#ExchangeDay
What is Exchange Day? Each year thousands of international students come to the U.S. to learn more about our culture, to travel around our beautiful landscapes, and to create new friendships.
Exchange Day is the day to celebrate and raise awareness about the importance of cultural exchanges. Join participants and host communities – share why you believe #ExchangesImpact
As we reflect as a Council, we understand the importance of exchange as an organization as well as an individual.
Read our stories as we share #facesofexchange!
Meet Ellie Kremer!
Please join us as we welcome Eleanor Kremer to the team!!!
Ellie recently joined the Council as the Operations Manager. Her work will consist of intern management, event planning, social media marketing and management, administrative tasks, and community outreach.
Ellie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies, with a minor in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, from Northern Kentucky University in December of 2016. While attending NKU, Ellie served as a research fellow for the National Science Foundation (NSF), and conducted research in Fiji in the summer of 2014 and 2015, where she developed a love for foreign cultures and traveling. After graduation, Ellie spent 6 months backpacking around South East Asia, where she has returned every year since!
Prior to joining the World Affairs Council Staff, Ellie worked on both local and national political campaigns, and more recently, for a digital and social media marketing agency.
Outside of the office, Ellie is an avid artist and painter, music lover, traveler, and nature fanatic. In her free time, you can often find her hiking or kayaking, seeing live music, or trying a new restaurant around the city.
Meet Our New Interns!
Our Interns have begun their journey at the World Affairs Council and we couldn’t wait to feature them! Our interns are hard-working, detail-oriented, eager to make an impact, bursting with ideas, curious, and best of all – they are determined to make a positive change in the world.
Read more about our new interns here!
Global Chatter
Summer Speaker Series Global Chatter
This past summer we launched our Global Chatter Program, based on the Foreign Policy Association’s Great Decisions Curriculum.
Thank you to the support and overall interest to our moderators and guests – because of you we can continue to provide these programs again next summer. Thank you to our members and supporters for their belief that everyone should have equitable access to these world affairs discussions.
Refugees and Global Migration
This year we kicked off the program in partnership with Refugee Connect & Starfire Council as we discussed the topic Refugees and Global Migration. Every state in today’s global system has its own laws and policies about who is permitted to cross its borders, and how they will do so…
Thank you to our moderators of the discussion, Jin Kong with Kong Esq., LLC, Michelle McGehee with Immigrant and Refugee Law Center, Anne Scheid with Catholic Charities SW Ohio, Clara Matonhodze with Multicultural Solutions LLC.
The Middle East Regional Disorder
The Middle East: Regional Disorder, was another successful discussion as we addressed policy reversals, war among Iran, and the troubled states of Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Iraq.
Thank you to our moderators, Jeannine Abukhater Lambert with NKU Chase College of Law and Jackie Congedo with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Cincinnati, as well as our host Graydon on Main – OTR.
The Rise of Populism in Europe
Mass migration and the problems associated with it have directly abetted the rise of populist parties in Europe – we had the opportunity to discuss this in great length at our event: Rise of Populism in Europe.
Thank you to our moderators, Todd Schwartz, Executive Director of EACC, Tim White, Professor at Xavier University, Marsha Robinson, Professor at Miami University, and Tom Scheffer, Journalist.
Cyber Conflicts: Made in China
For our final event, we discussed the developing threat with cyber conflict, which can include foreign interference in elections, industrial sabotage, and attacks on infrastructure.
Thank you to our moderators, Doug Goldberg, Goldberg Partners Intl LLC, Karl Kadon, and Dr. Greg Winger, Professor at the University of Cincinnati.
Council Events & Programming
Global Ties U.S. Conference | San Diego
This year our Executive Director, Michelle Harpenau and Director of International Programs, James McManus represented our local Council at the Global Ties U.S. National Meeting in Washington D.C.
The Diplomacy Begins Here Regional Summits bring together leaders in business, government, and nonprofit organizations to forge new connections with local communities around exchange programming and issues. They also serve as an opportunity for local communities to deepen their understanding of U.S. foreign policy, public diplomacy, and how exchange programs such as the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) play a role in each.
International Dinners
Thank you to Chris and Gita Huntington for hosting Global Eats dinner for supporters of the World Affairs Council’s global education programs. It was a delicious evening with homemade Indonesian foods prepared by the Huntington’s. This multi-cultural family shared an Indonesian tasting menu with locals with foods such as Sop Buntut, Oxtail Soup; Gado-Gado, Indonesian salad with peanut sauce dressing; and Ayam Goreng Kalasan, Japanese fried chicken.
Michelle Harpenau, ED of WAC – her favorite dish was Rendang Sapi, beef stew with coconut milk and spices. Gita and Chris made the experience one to remember by dressing in traditional Indonesian clothing and sharing cultural fun facts and information all night long.
Thank you to all our supporters of global education. If you are interested in this experience, make sure you keep an eye out for our annual One World Gala coming in March 2020. You too will be able to have this Global Eats experience next year.
The Future of Korea
We had the honor of hosting three panelists from Washington D.C. to speak on the Future of Korea. Thank you to Yong Kwon, Communications Director of the Korean Economics Institute of America, Tristan Allen, North Korean Desk Officer of the U.S. Department of State, and Seungnam Lee, 2nd Secretary for the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the USA – for their expertise and a wonderful panel discussion at The Phoenix.
Missed the event? Check out their feature with Michael A. Monks on 91.7 WVXU Cincinnati Edition.
The panelists reviewed the current and potential future relationships between the United States, current sanctions and security, and the financial issues pertaining to the Korea Peninsula.
Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Young Professionals Panel
Michelle Harpenau is a Board Member of Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) – Cincinnati Chapter. She leads the YP initiatives for the chapter.
Michelle recently spoke as a panelist for the chapter’s monthly “Knowledge and Networking.” This month’s topic was focused on the building, facilitation and ongoing momentum of local YP groups.
She had a great time being part of the panel with fellow YP leaders: Analisa Condon, Red Shoe Crew of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati, Erik Smith, CFP® with Habitat for Humanity Greater Cincinnati, Julie Spendal with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and Matthew Gellin with Freestore Foodbank!
We are so lucky to have such amazing opportunities to engage in this city.
2nd Annual Cincinnati Festival of Faiths
We recently celebrated the “beloved community” at the 2nd Annual Cincinnati Festival of Faiths!
We were so thrilled to be a part of this community event as it brought together neighbors, families, and spiritual leaders to celebrate our religious diversity.
Thank you to the Bridges of Faith Trialogue for organizing such a successful event!
Thank you to our global guide Prerna Ghandi for hanging out with us at our booth and creating beautiful henna for the attendees!
Semi-Finalists for the NKY Funders’ Grants
EXCITING NEWS!! We are a semi-finalist for the NKY Funders’ Grants!
During this competition, we have the chance to pitch new ideas and action plans intended to help Northern Kentucky residents and community members.
Watch this video of our Executive Director, Michelle Harpenau as she talks about her fast pitch – 30 for 30!!!
Unfortunately, we were not selected to move onto the final round; however, we now have a great pitch to share and we are seeking support to put 30 Build the World Map Games in the 30 NKY elementary schools in Kenton, Campbell, and Boone Counties. This step in discovery helps students know there is a world bigger than their backyard and that they can aspire to see it. With your help, we can broaden the horizons of our elementary students in Northern Kentucky and ignite their curiosity to visit places they never knew existed. Please donate now!
You can also attend the NKY Funders’ Fast Pitch event on October 29th to hear all the wonderful causes that will be supported. Click here to sign up.
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