57 emerging leaders selected as 2007 American Marshall Memorial FellowsContact: Neil Sumilas, Tel. +1-202-745-6671, nsumilas@gmfus.org
Washington, DC (December 13, 2006) - Fifty-seven emerging American leaders representing 20 states and the District of Columbia have been awarded the prestigious
Marshall Memorial Fellowship (MMF) for 2007.
They will each spend 23 days in Europe visiting institutions, societies, and cultures and learning about economic, political, and social issues facing the United States and Europe.
Now entering its 25th year, the MMF program currently includes Fellows from 21 European countries and the United States.
"The MMF program brings together the best and the brightest from across the United States, and gives them a unique opportunity to explore Europe and the challenges of the transatlantic relationship." said Craig Kennedy, President of the German Marshall Fund. "As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of this program, we are pleased to welcome this latest group into the MMF network."
The goal of the Marshall Memorial Fellowship is to educate the next generation of American and European leaders on the importance of the transatlantic relationship and encourage them to work with each other on a range of international and domestic policy challenges. Fellows are selected through a competitive nationwide process and come from politics, government, media, business, and the non-profit sector. The MMF program began in 1982, when the inaugural group of German MMFs visited the United States. Since then, 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.
Each year, GMF works with partners across the United States to identify and select the American Marshall Memorial Fellows. Partners include the Cleveland Foundation, the Forum at the University of Washington's Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs, the Citizens' League of Minnesota, the Pacific Council on International Policy, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth, the International Visitors Council of North Carolina, the University of Denver School of Public Policy Studies, and the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta. National partners include the American Council of Young Political Leaders, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Council of State Governments, and the National League of Cities.
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. Fellows come from across the United States and from 21 European countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, France, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia - including Kosovo - 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 six offices in Europe: Berlin, Bratislava, Paris, Brussels, Belgrade, and Ankara.
To view the complete list of 2007 AMMFs, click here.
