LEADERSHIP MESSAGE

Dear Meridian Friends,

2015 was a year of many “firsts” for the Meridian team. We took on new challenges and launched into uncharted territory in every aspect of our work to advance effective global leadership.

More inspiring is that much of our work in 2015 was focused on a younger generation. We believe that these generations provide opportunities for empowering future Presidents, CEOs, and the private and public sector leaders who will work towards a more secure and prosperous world. To advance this cause, our team has developed innovative programs that combine more than 50 years of experience preparing the world’s leaders with new tools needed for succeeding in today’s competitive global environment.

One of those programs is the Women in Science STEAM Camp. This first of its kind program brought together 120 high-school girls from the United States and around Africa to Rwanda to learn new skills in science and the arts. Equally important — these girls worked on teams, developed cross-cultural skills, and innovated solutions to serious problems in their communities.

Meridian’s success in global leadership development also extended to Pakistan. In the summer, we implemented the first U.S.-Pakistan Global Leadership and STEM program for 12 students of the Peshwar Army Public School. Through a blended exchange program that integrated STEM expertise with global leadership skills, these talented young men learned from successful business, military, and government leaders. They also had the opportunity to increase their STEM proficiencies through a five-day Nanodiscovery Institute facilitated by the State University of New York. The program succeeded in cultivating Pakistan’s future technology innovators and global leaders.

Even as we helped develop young leaders, we continued to bring together the world’s established public and private sector leaders — in neutral forums — to collaborate on solutions to some of the world’s most complex problems. These established leaders not only mentored and provided invaluable guidance for the younger ones, but set great examples of effective global leadership.

The Global Leadership Summit provided representatives from the diplomatic, business, government, nonprofit, and mass media communities with an excellent platform to discuss a 360 degree view of the challenges facing the world — through political, cultural, and economic lenses. In addition, the Summit provided a great “training” ground for younger leaders to understand how cross-sector collaboration can lead to better outcomes.

We also celebrated success in uncharted cultural territory with the launch of the U.S.-Cuba Cultural Diplomacy Initiative and the Community Engagement through the Mural Arts program in Honduras, Nicaragua, and Columbia. Both programs are designed to strengthen U.S. engagement with the world, and bring people of various social, economic, and ethnic backgrounds together through the common language of culture.

As proud as we are of all our achievements, none of this would have been possible without the support of our partners and supporters. Thank You for your support and engagement with us. In the pages that follow, you will learn more about our innovative exchange, cultural, training and convening programs, as well as their amazing impact on people around the world. We hope that you will be inspired by these achievements, and join with us in preparing the next generation of effective global leaders. We know we can count on you!

Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez
Ambassador Stuart W. Holliday