Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses Humphrey Fellows

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton recently addressed 217 Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows at their annual Global Leadership Forum. Maxwell’s thirteen Humphrey Fellows were in attendance at the reception, which was held in the Diplomatic Rooms of the Department of State. Secretary Clinton stressed the importance of connections and links between people and nations: “We’ve got to build more mutual understanding and mutual respect. We need more links between people in government today and people who will be in government tomorrow. So we do expect great things from you when you return home after this period here as a Humphrey Fellow.”

One goal of the Global Leadership Forum is to bring all the Fellows together to meet and explore areas of mutual interest. Workshop sessions and activities were often organized by policy area and geographic location in order for the Fellows to gain greater contextual knowledge from each other. Fellows hail from 94 countries and are spending the year at eighteen host universities, including Syracuse.

During their week in Washington, the Maxwell Fellows also participated in professional development opportunities by meeting with members of the FCC, IMF and OIG, among many other government agencies and NGOs. And all Humphrey Fellows travelled to Washington-area schools, meeting students and talking about their cultures, current issues facing their countries as well as their individual professional goals.

A transcript and video of Secretary Clinton’s remarks can be found at: http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/10/149938.htm