IREX congratulates Lia Putkaradze, a 2009 Global UGRAD [8] student, on being honored as the June 2012 State Alumni Member of the Month [9]. Putkaradze, one of more than a million State Department alumni, is currently serving as one of Georgia’s first young Corporate Social Responsibility professionals at the Alliance Group Holding company.
Putkaradze was selected for her “success in applying the concepts she learned during her exchange program, as well as her dedication to working with her fellow State Alumni for the betterment of her country.” Putkaradze studied at Utica College [10] as a Global UGRAD fellow.
“This award is an inspiration in that encourages me to continue being an active citizen of my community and promote responsible citizenship among different societies in Georgia,” she said. “At the same time, this recognition brings new opportunities and responsibilities through which I aim to implement various projects that will benefit the wider community.
In addition, Global UGRAD and Muskie [11]alumna Maya Mateshvili was awarded one of two honorable mentions for the June 2012 State Alumni Member of the Month. Mateshvili, who attended Mississippi State University [12] as a Global UGRAD fellow and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill [13] as a Muskie fellow, started Georgia’s first foster care organization with fellow Muskie alumnus Andro Dadiani, which you can read about here [14].
As she continues to serve disadvantaged children and youth throughout Georgia, she said of the award, “In addition to putting individual alumni in the limelight, this provides an opportunity to draw attention to their cause.”
The Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Eurasia and Central Asia [8] and the Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program [11] are programs of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs [15] of the U.S. Department of State, and implemented by IREX.