Exchange Programs
Building Bridges by Bringing People Together
For over 40 years, AMIDEAST has arranged and administered student and employee exchange programs between the U.S. and the Middle East and North Africa.
In the short-term, these programs contribute to individual success
and provide a forum for positive cross-cultural interaction. In the long-term,
they hold the potential to improve economic development, cross-cultural
understanding, and even foreign policy.
The success of exchange programs requires solid logistics and support: to help sponsors set student selection criteria and make the most of their resources; to advise students on their best educational choices; to handle applications, financial, and travel arrangements; to monitor students progress; and to help students actively engage in novel academic and social environments. AMIDEAST has long been the leader in meeting these needs. __________________________________________________________________
AMIDEAST Wins Contract to Implement Business and Legal
Fellowship Program
for Middle Eastern Women
Washington, DC, October 10,
2006: The U.S. Department of State has selected
AMIDEAST to implement a
program that will provide women from the Middle East
and North Africa unique
opportunities to learn management, business, and
legal skills through a
combination of advanced study and internships at top
U.S. businesses and law
firms.
AMIDEAST will work with the University of Pennsylvaniašs Law
School and
Wharton School of Business and the National Council for
International
Visitors to implement the Legal and Business Fellowship Program
(LBFP),
which will be offered annually for the coming three
years.
Forty-one young professional women from the region will be
chosen to
participate in the first year. They will be enrolled in a
four-week
executive-MBA or -LLM academic program at the University of
Pennsylvaniašs
Wharton School of Business or Law School. Afterwards, they
will be placed in
five-month internships with large companies and top tier
law firms across
the United States.
The program is open to women
from 17 countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt,
Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait,
Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab
Emirates, West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen.
Participants will be recruited in
the fall and will travel to the United
States in the spring to commence their
programs.
LBFP is sponsored by the Department of Statešs Middle
East Partnership
Initiative (MEPI), which has made it a priority to create
opportunities for
women through exchange programs and other activities.
Through LBFP, it seeks
to help participating women develop their management,
business, and legal
skills while gaining experience in the cutting-edge U.S.
business
environment. MEPI has committed $9.4 million to the program over
its
three-year lifespan.
˛AMIDEAST is pleased to be able to help
promising young women from the
region obtain skills that will help them in
their professional work and to
become more effective as business and
community leaders. LBFP is tailored
for women who have leadership potential
and a desire to advocate for
business and legal reform in their countries,˛
said AMIDEAST Vice President
Kate Archambault.
AMIDEAST will be involved in the recruitment and selection of the women,
as
well as their placement in academic programs and internships in the
United
States. Following the conclusion of their U.S.-based programs, LBFP
will
provide support to alumnae through a quarterly newsletter and
networking
events in the region.
LBFP is an extension of the
U.S. Business Internship Program for Young
Middle Eastern Women, which
brought approximately 80 professional women from
the region to the United
States for a similar combination of intensive
academic work and business and
legal internships in 2005 and 2006. AMIDEAST
recruited participants and
provided predeparture orientation and assistance
with international travel
for both cohorts as well as support for
alumnae
activities.
America-Mideast Educational and Training
Services, Inc. (AMIDEAST) is a
private, nonprofit organization that
strengthens mutual understanding and
cooperation between Americans and the
peoples of the Middle East and North
Africa. Every year, AMIDEAST provides
appropriate English language skills
training, educational advising, and
testing services to hundreds of
thousands of students and professionals in
the Middle East and North Africa;
supports numerous institutional development
projects in the region; and
administers academic exchange programs. Founded
in 1951, AMIDEAST is
headquartered in Washington, DC, with a network of field
offices in Egypt,
Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia,
United Arab
Emirates, West Bank/Gaza, and Yemen.
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