Global community leaders participating in the Community Solutions Program bring years of experience to bear on community development in the U.S., while learning techniques to improve their development efforts in their home countries. Each leader is matched with a U.S. non-profit organization or government office based on their experience and professional goals. Through these tailored fellowships, leaders gain hands-on experience in community development, participate in intensive leadership skills training, and create action plans for community-based initiatives back home.
Community Solutions Leaders focus on one of the following four areas: Tolerance and Conflict Resolution, Environmental Issues, Transparency and Accountability, and Women's Issues.
Tolerance and Conflict Resolution
Lamii Kpargoi
Liberia
Voice of San Diego [13]
Lamii Kpargoi is the Program Director at the Liberia Media Center, where he implements the Good Governance through Strengthened Media project to train media institutions in human rights reporting. He also promotes conflict-sensitive reporting and trains community radio media practitioners across the country in conflict mapping and response. He hopes to start a conflict-sensitive reporting and rumor management program, as well as election monitoring training.
Read about more Leaders working in Tolerance and Conflict Resolution [14].
Environmental Issues
Mostafa Hussein
Egypt
Institute for Market Transformation [15]
At the Academy for International Development in Egypt, Mostafa Hussein works to increase the community’s economic wellbeing while increasing energy efficiency. Hussein helped manage an initiative that brought a solar-run hot water system into the Al-Darb Al-Ahmar section of Cairo. He has also spearheaded a campaign to promote the use of bicycles in the city. Hussein hopes to adapt affordable alternative energy solutions and promote economic development through “green” employment initiatives.
Read about more Leaders working in Environmental Issues [16].
Transparency and Accountability
Mirgul Ermatova
Kyrgyzstan
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law [17]
Mirgul Ermatova is a Project Manager at the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society, where she trains civil society organizations on monitoring public funding. In 2010, she participated in the largest election monitoring project in Kyrgyzstan to date, which included a voter information campaign, an election fraud hotline, and close election monitoring at the polls. She hopes to continue her work in increasing civic involvement in local government.
Read about more Leaders working in Transparency and Accountability [18].
Women's Issues
Rehema Namarome
Uganda
Access to Independence [19]
Rehema Namarome advocates for the rights of persons with disabilities in Uganda, focusing on the rights of deaf women like herself. She is Executive Director and a founding member of the United Young Deaf Women Group (UYDWG), which educates young deaf women on their rights and gives them the skills to become economically independent. Namarome hopes to continue her activism in the deaf community by advocating for more government resources for deaf women and girls.
Read about more Leaders working in Women's Issues [20].