GMF selects 54 American Marshall Memorial Fellows for 2010WASHINGTON (November 12, 2009) — The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) announced today that 54 emerging American leaders representing 18 states and the District of Columbia have been awarded the prestigious Marshall Memorial Fellowship (MMF) for 2010. During the 24-day traveling program, fellows will develop extensive knowledge of political, economic, and social institutions and issues facing the United States and Europe.
“Having just celebrated the tenth anniversary of the expansion of the Marshall Memorial Fellowship program to include American fellows, we are pleased to begin another ten years with such a strong class of new Fellows,” said Craig Kennedy, GMF’s president. “We are excited to see that our reach has extended into new states, which will benefit from their residents’ participation in this program.”
The MMF program educates the emerging American and European leaders on the importance of the transatlantic relationship and encourages them to collaborate on a range of international and domestic policy challenges. Fellows are selected through competitive nationwide and regional processes and come from politics, government, media, business, and the non-profit sector. American fellows spend 24 days traveling to five cities across Europe, learning about the institutions and people that drive Europe’s cities, regions, countries, and multilateral systems through meetings with local counterparts.
The program began in 1982, when the inaugural group of German Fellows visited the United States. Now entering its 28th year, the program currently includes fellows from 22 European countries and the United States. GMF and its partner institutions have been instrumental in developing and maintaining a vital network on both sides of the Atlantic committed to transatlantic relations.
GMF works with partner organizations across the United States to identify and select the American Marshall Memorial Fellows. Partner organizations assisting in the 2010 selection process include the Cleveland Foundation, the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington, the Citizens League of Minnesota, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth, the International Affairs Council of North Carolina, the Institute for Public Policy Studies at the University of Denver, the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, and the Southern California Leadership Network. National partners include the American Council of Young Political Leaders, the Council of State Governments, and the National League of Cities.
Also in 2010, MMF alumni in Raleigh, North Carolina, will lead the coordination of the annual Marshall Forum on Transatlantic Affairs. This conference, to be held in September, is an annual gathering of MMF alumni from the United States and Europe to discuss current events affecting the transatlantic relationship. Alumni of the MMF program are a vital component of the program’s success. In 2009 American alumni coordinated visits of their counterpart group of European fellows to 14 American cities, organized selection processes throughout the United States, and managed the 2009 Marshall Forums in Washington, DC, and Berlin, Germany.
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The Marshall Memorial Fellowship (MMF) was created by the German Marshall Fund in 1982 to introduce a new generation of European leaders to America’s institutions, politics, and people. In 1999, GMF launched a companion program to expose future U.S. leaders to a changing and expanding Europe. The program attracts the best and brightest from all sectors, including politics, media, business, and nongovernmental organizations. Fellows come from across the United States and from 22 European countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, France, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, and Turkey). GMF works closely with partners in more than 50 cities on both sides of the Atlantic to make the MMF program possible.
The German Marshall Fund of the United States (
www.gmfus.org) is a nonpartisan American public policy and grantmaking institution dedicated to promoting greater cooperation and understanding between the United States and Europe. Founded in 1972 through a gift from Germany as a permanent memorial to the Marshall Plan assistance, GMF maintains a strong presence on both sides of the Atlantic. In addition to its headquarters in Washington, DC, GMF has seven offices in Europe: Berlin, Bratislava, Paris, Brussels, Belgrade, Ankara, and Bucharest.
North CarolinaSteven Pearson, Manager, Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs, IBM Corporation
John Quinterno, Principal, South by North Strategies, Ltd.
Anna Schleunes, Assistant City Attorney, City of Charlotte
Randolph Voller, Mayor, City of PittsboroOther 2010 American Marshall Memorial Fellows
Arizona
Jonathan Paton, Senator, State of Arizona
California
Olivia Calderon, California Legislative Director, Asset Building Program, New America Foundation Marcus Castain, Founder and CEO, Infrastructure Academy Colleen Haggerty, Senior Vice President, Media Relations, Bank of America Alma Marquez, Vice President, External and Government Affairs, Green Dot Public Schools
Henry Perea, City Council Member, City of Fresno Angela Reddock, Founder and Managing Partner, The Reddock Law Group
Colorado
Elizabeth Aguilera, Reporter, Denver Post Jason Gelender, Senior Staff Attorney, Office of Legislative Legal Services Michael Johnston, Senator, State of Colorado Monisha Merchant, Director, Product Management, Level 3 Communications
District of Columbia
Timothy Male, Director of Wildlife and Habitat Conservation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Roger Martella, Partner, Environmental Practice Group, Sidley Austin LLP Victor Reinoso, Deputy Mayor, District of Columbia Jason Tama, Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Coordinator, United States Coast Guard
George Walker, Vice President, Leadership Initiatives, Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute
Florida
Luther Brewster, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Society, Florida International University
Georgia
Ayanna Buckner, Director, Regional Coordinating Center for Hurricane Response, Morehouse School of Medicine Tony Chan, Senior Director, International Programs, Habitat for Humanity International Amol Naik, Associate, McKenna Long & Aldridge
Nathaniel Smith, Director, Partnerships and Research for Equitable Development, Emory University
Illinois
Clarisol Duque, Chicago Chief of Staff, Office of Senator Richard J. Durbin Amy Gardner, Partner, Ungaretti & Harris LLP Tamara Prather, Brand Manager, Bagel-fuls, Kraft Foods Lawrence Seals, District Program Coordinator, Office of Congressman Bobby L. Rush
Kentucky
Adam Edelen, Chief of Staff, Office of the Governor, Commonwealth of Kentucky
Louisiana
Shannan Hicks, Vice President of Resource Development, United Way of Northwest Louisiana
Minnesota
Jessica Beyer, Public Information Specialist, Blue Earth County Katya Pilling, Associate Director, Seward Redisgn Natalie Vestin, Grant Program Associate and Technology Liaison, University of Minnesota
Mississippi
Brandon Jones, Member, Mississippi House of Representatives
North Dakota
Stacey Ackerman, Wealth Management Specialist, Wells Fargo Bank
New York
Sewell Chan, Reporter, Metropolitan News, New York Times Kristen Denner, Director of Membership and Annual Fund, Whitney Museum of American Art
Ohio
Robert Aber, Director of Sales and Marketing, Collaborent Group, Ltd. Carrie Carpenter, Vice President, Director of Public Affairs, Charter One Bank Blaine Griffin, Executive Director of the Community Relations Board, City of Cleveland Gayle Horwitz, Associate, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP Jennifer Ruggles, Regional Economic Development Director, State of Ohio Jay Williams, Mayor, City of Youngstown
Oregon
Liesl Wendt, Interim CEO, 211info
Tennessee
Stephen Culp, Founder and Chairman, Smart Furniture A. Chantelle Roberson, Attorney, Miller and Martin
Texas
Maria Coello, Associate, Hunt Consolidated Vernon Hale, Lieutenant of Police, Dallas Police Department Michael Rendon, Manager, Global Strategic Planning, Alcon Laboratories Florencia Velasco Fortner, President and CEO, Dallas Concilio of Hispanic Service Organizations
Washington
Lisa Chick, Regional Director, Western Region, City Year Hyeok Kim, Executive Director, Interim Community Development Association Gabriel Scheer, Founding Partner, Re-Vision Labs
