Vincentian to participate in US Government leadership program

Kenrick Quashie will go to the United States this month as the latest Eastern Caribbean participant in the US Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).

Quashie is the founder and managing director of Youth Business St Vincent {{more}}and the Grenadines, a non-profit organization which addresses the level of poverty, unemployment, and underemployment among youth. He will take part in a two-week project on “Standing with Civil Society” with 22 other participants from around the world. United by their professional pursuits, the participants are a diverse group, hailing from as far as the Solomon Islands, Algeria, Burma, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe. The program offers the opportunity for this varied group to network with professional counterparts (both US and international) in order to increase information sharing.

Quashie’s program will examine the role of civil society in the United States and techniques used to foster civic engagement, highlight the influence of advocacy groups in shaping policy, and explain how civic groups mobilize people and resources to help make governments more accountable. It will also explore linkages between entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, and activism; examine best practices for fund-raising and building a culture of philanthropy; foster linkages between US civil society and global civil society; and expose participants to the variety of new media and social networking tools that facilitate civic action, outreach, and youth empowerment. Ultimately, participants will leave the program will a clear understanding of what steps the United States is taking in other countries to support and defend the work of civil society, as part of President Obama’s Stand with Civil Society agenda, which will help them better develop campaigns and projects when they return to their communities.

The program, which begins on September 15, will open in Washington, D.C. and end in New York on September 26. The national itinerary will also include travel in smaller groups on city splits to Minneapolis, Minnesota; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The IVLP is the Department of State’s premier, professional exchange program. The program brings together emerging leaders in their respective professions to learn how US experts in that profession operate and to share best practices with the other program candidates who hail from the same region and across the globe.