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In early April, the YES Consortium held its second global Virtual Alumni Leaders Training (VALT) for more than 50 alumni of the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program! VALT provided an opportunity for this select group of former exchange students, now back in their home countries, to further develop their leadership and communication skills, as well as network with their fellow alumni.

The program, part of the Citi Foundation’s Global Pathways to Progress Initiative and a larger grant that also features Amideast-implemented programs in Egypt and the UAE, has focused on preparing a new generation of Saudi youth to enter and succeed in today’s job market by helping them develop skills critical for workplace success.

Designed and implemented by Amideast, the Skills for Success program served unemployed Lebanese technical and university education graduates aged 20-24 living in four regions of Lebanon: Tripoli and neighboring towns in North Lebanon, Rachaya and Hasbaya in South Lebanon, the Aley region in Mount Lebanon, and the greater Beirut region. The program provided intensive training on personal development, professional skills, workplace experience, and career guidance to enable the young participants to select and successfully follow a path of employability or entrepreneurship.

The purchase of the former home of the U.S. Consulate in Alexandria completes a process underway since September 2016, when Amideast began to rent the facility.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, Jonathan Cohen, visited the center, which is well known locally as an architectural gem that holds historical and cultural significance for many Alexandrians — a legacy that Amideast is committed to honoring by preserving its structural integrity and respecting its importance to the community.

The Tunisian and Libyan alumni came from the far corners of their home countries. Also attending were staff members from Amideast’s headquarters and Amideast/Tunisia, who organized the event, and David Blome, the U.S. ambassador to Tunisia and former chargé d’affaires to Libya.

Amideast field offices hosted a number of events during IEW 2019, including:

The Youth Entrepreneurship Program II renews Citi Foundation’s commitment to supporting Amideast’s Skills for Success initiative to target underserved youth in Egypt. It is part of Citi Foundation’s Pathways to Progress global approach designed to prepare urban youth with the career-readiness tools and opportunities required to thrive in today’s economy.

MCC CEO Sean Cairncross and Ivanka Trump, senior advisor to the president of the United States, announced $6.2 million of grant funding through Morocco’s Millennium Challenge Account during their visit to Morocco in early November. These funds will provide employability training to around 8,300 individuals, 70 percent of them women, and benefit around 6,300 others through a combination of training, recruitment, and coaching services that will facilitate their access to the job market.

The Hay Riad Annex, which formally opened on September 15-16, will expand Amideast’s offerings of English language training and will provide free advising sessions through EducationUSA for those interested in study in the United States. Local residents will also be able to take various international benchmark tests, such as TOEIC® and TOEFL® Junior and TOEFL® Primary.

Many individuals and institutions played a hand in this outcome. Our special thanks go to President Bacow and other Harvard officials for their efforts to ensure that this young man was able to enter the Class of 2023 with his peers.

We also wish to acknowledge and thank the U.S. Embassy in Beirut for reviewing his bona fides and reissuing him a visa, enabling him to arrive in time for the start of classes.