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Letter from AMIDEAST
Program Coordinator Doug Duncan
Dear Business Internship Program Alumnae, greetings
to all of you on the occasion of publishing the second issue of
YOUR quarterly newsletter, BIP News.
First, let me thank those of you who have contributed
to the newsletter. We received a number of personal alumnae updates
which we were very pleased to include in this issue. Additionally,
we received a very well written and topical article from alumna
Nouf Al Soweidi in Bahrain that we have showcased in this newsletter
edition. Many thanks to all of the contributors for making the
time to support the newsletter. We hope to see much more input
from all of you in the future. Get your name in print !!! Write
an article. Review a relevant book. Tell us what is going on in
your professional life and let us spotlight your achievements
in YOUR newsletter.
The BIP program has been busy since your return
home from the U.S. academic and internship programs.
The Middle Eastern Partnership Initiative announced that their
would be a follow on internship program for a new group of participants
in the next year, and to that end solicited recruiting proposals
from interested organizations. An announcement advising which
organization was selected to conduct the participant recruitment
is expected within the next month and details about the new program
would then be widely publicized shortly after that. In that light,
we ask that you assist the program in spreading the word and in
encouraging suitable candidates to apply. You can monitor the
situation and watch for announcements by periodically visiting
the MEPI web site at http://mepi.state.gov.
In additional news, the BIP program received a
new program manager, Ms Lucy Jilka. We have included a letter
from her in this edition of the newsletter.
AMIDEAST has been very busy over the past several
weeks coordinating support arrangements for the two MEPI sponsored
conferences in Tunis to which you have all been invited. Our AMIDEAST
field office in Tunis has been particularly involved with the
preparations for your arrival there and we wish to thank them
for all their efforts on your behalf.
The first of the two conferences is, of course,
your own Alumnae Conference and is scheduled
for 22 & 23 May. The program was developed by AMIDEAST in
coordination with the State Department, and will be very dynamic
as you can see from the agenda that is provided elsewhere in this
edition of the newsletter. The program features interactive workshops,
panel discussions with successful, local business women, and presentations
and interactive workshops by key members from the Beyster Institute,
an organization devoted to developing entrepreneur skills. As
of this writing, 34 of our BIP participants will attend the Alumnae
Conference providing you an opportunity to continue networking
with them as well as developing new contacts with which to develop
future networking opportunities.
Following the Alumnae Conference on 24-26 May will
be another conference also sponsored by MEPI entitled
Leading Growth Companies: Business Women’s Summit.
The program agenda which is also included in this newsletter,
was developed by the Beyster Institute and features prominent
speakers, interactive workshops on leadership and entrepreneurship
and also will include discussion panels with successful, regional
business women. Over 200 participants will attend this conference.
Both conferences will include a variety of receptions
and social activities which will provide you an opportunity to
meet and interact with interesting and successful business women
from the region and also from the U.S.
We are confident that you will find the conferences
both enjoyable and professionally rewarding.
Warm regards to you all.
Sincerely
Doug Duncan
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