In This Issue..

The Middle East Partnership Initiative Business Internship Program would like to announce and welcome aboard Laura Alami as the new Program Manager.

Dear BIP Alumnae:

I am Laura Alami, a Program Officer at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State. I am pleased to announce that I will be succeeding Lucy Jilka in the management of the MEPI BIP program.

Lucy will be leaving the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to take the position of Director of Recruitment at the Woodrow Wilson Center, part of the Smithsonian Institution that brings in broad-ranging scholars and leading thinkers whose work can illuminate the key public policy issues or identify overlooked or emerging issues. On behalf of the staff and participants of the MEPI BIP program, I would like to thank Lucy for all her hard work and wish her luck in her new position.

I am thrilled to take on this role and I am fortunate to join this team of staff at AMIDEAST and IREX, and my colleagues in the MEPI office at State. I have been assisting Lucy for the past few months and anticipate a smooth transition.

I look forward to hearing about all of the work you are doing and hope to meet you at an alumnae event in the near future.

Laura Alami
Program Officer
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
AlamiLT@state.gov
ABOUT BIP NEWS

BIP NEWS is a forum for the BIP alumnae community to express views, share experiences and stay connected. Published quarterly, BIP NEWS is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State and produced by AMIDEAST.

How to participate in BIP NEWS:
Submit your alumnae updates, professional achievements, community activities, points of view and recent photos to Doug Duncan at dduncan@AMIDEAST.ORG.

Submission guidelines: Submissions may be edited for style and language. Not all essays/comments submitted will be printed. All submissions must include your name and contact information including email address.

Upcoming Volume 1, No. 3:
Look for photos from the first BIP Alumnae Conference

About MEPI
The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) is a U.S. Presidential initiative founded to support economic, political, and educational reform efforts in the Middle East and champion opportunity for all people of the region, especially women and youth. The initiative strives to link Arab, U.S., and global private sector businesses, non-governmental organizations, civil society elements, and governments together to develop innovative policies and programs that support reform in the region.

About the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) fosters mutual understanding between the United States and other countries through international educational and training programs. The bureau does so by promoting personal, professional, and institutional ties between private citizens and organizations in the United States and abroad, as well as by presenting U.S. history, society, art and culture in all of its diversity to overseas audiences.

 

Letter from AMIDEAST Program Coordinator Doug Duncan

Dear Business Internship Alumnae, greetings to you all.

On the occasion of the Spring 2005 edition of BIP NEWS I was able to announce that MEPI/ECA had decided to continue the Business Internship program for yet another year. Since that time, we have learned that AMIDEAST has been selected by ECA to conduct the recruitment and the Alumnae portion of the new program. We are very pleased indeed to be able to continue this association in basically the same role we enjoyed during the first program iteration. In July, AMIDEAST activated the program web site on our home page located at http://www.amideast.org . By clicking the green MEPI banner in the center of the page, the visitor can access detailed program and eligibility information and also complete an on line application for consideration. As of today (August 16, 2005), the participant recruitment is off to a good start with 406 variously completed applications resident in our on line recruiting pool and just a little less than a month before we reach the application deadline of September 10, 2005.

BIP’s First Anniversary

The 31st of July 2004 was the start of a new voyage for forty one ambitious and determined young Arab women, and the beginning of the BIP network. We all came with similar aspirations and dreams combined with our different backgrounds and ideas.

I remember the first day; most of us were suspicious as we didn’t know each other. Groups were formed from those who traveled together from the same country or same area. Personally, I was very tired but very excited at the same time. The first three days in Washington, DC I couldn’t sleep, not only because of the jet lag but because I was already missing my husband! Also, I was in the USA for the first time surrounded by 40 women with who I would share a unique experience. I couldn’t imagine how it would be and what kinds of challenges were coming. Moreover, I was impressed by all the women after reading their biographies. I thought it was so pleasant to be in such a group of elite, “la crème de la crème.” I was also somehow intimidated.

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Letters from MEPI BIP institutional partners IREX, Emory and Duke University

Greetings 2004 MEPI Alumnae! We hope that you are well and in good spirits. We would like to share with you some good news from IREX.

We are excited to announce the birth of Ingrid Al-Sattam’s baby, Jasim, born on July 12, 2005. Congratulations to the Al-Sattam family on this joyous occasion. We wish them all the best in the years to come. Ingrid looks forward to returning to IREX after maternity leave to welcome the incoming 2005 MEPI BIP participants.

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“Question of the Quarter”

This volume of BIP News presents the opening “Question of the Quarter.” This section poses a question asking all MEPI BIP alumnae to provide their own personal reflections in response. We hope in reading each other’s responses to the “Question of the Quarter” MEPI BIP alumnae will gain new perspectives on the program.

This issue's “Question of the Quarter” is:

What idea or experience inspired you the most during the MEPI-BIP program and why? How have you implemented it into your life since your return home, if you have?

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Alumna Soumaya Al-Jassem featured in article

By sponsoring exchange programs, the US Department of State aims to build bridges of education, experience and cultural knowledge between the US and the world, said the US Embassy's Press Attache Mark Stroh.

Speaking at a press conference on Sunday on the Middle East Partnership Initiative US Business Internship Program for Young Middle Eastern Women, Stroh said that the program works to help local individuals and groups develop their own potential in the fields of education, politics, women and economics.

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See World

MANY LOCAL BUSINESS leaders feel bogged down when struggling with local bureaucracy, rising competition and cautious consumers — but some realize their own day-in, day-out perspective traps them, too.

A few lucky managers and entrepreneurs have sought out Middle East Entrepreneur Training in the US (MEET US), a program sponsored by American cultural exchange and training center (AMIDEAST) and the US State Department that has given them the opportunity to learn how businesses think and act on the other side of the world — the West Coast of the United States.

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First ever Venture Capital Bank launched in Bahrain
Bahrain: Sunday, June 12, 2005

Long in the waiting, the Arab World will finally be on the threshold of increased market development and wealth creation as a result of the launch of the Persian Gulf and MENA regions first ever Venture Capital Bank.

Approved and licensed to operate by the Bahrain Monetary Agency on May 5, 2005 and carrying the name of Venture Capital Bank (VCBank) it will be the first venture capital bank that is compliant with Shariah principles.

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Grant List

Council of International Programs USA provides a long list of grant funded programs across multiple arenas of development and training/education. For more information about the grants that Council of International Programs USA offers, refer to: http://www.cipusa.org/grant_funded.asp

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