This April-early May, AFPC's CACI hosted the Spring 2018 Rumsfeld Fellows visiting from Central Asia, the Caucasus, Mongolia, and Afghanistan (CAMCA). In its tenth year, the program strives to provide rising leaders from the region with the opportunity to connect with one another as well as foster a better understanding and stronger relations with the U.S.' public and private sectors.
at the U.S. Small Business Administration in Washington, DC
The group, visiting for a total of six weeks, consists of a diverse group of impressive young leaders from Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, where they hold positions in the public and private sectors.
The Fellows' intensive schedule consists of high-level meetings in Washington, DC with U.S. Administration officials including representatives from the Departments of State and Defense, the National Security Council, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, U.S. Small Business Administration, as well as representatives of the U.S. Congress, business community, media, think- tanks, academia, non-profits, and NGOs.
The group also traveled to Asheville, North Carolina to learn about accountable governance, economic development and participatory democracy at the local level. They then flew to Chicago for meetings at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Business, Boston Consulting Group, JP Morgan-Chase, Chicago's Technology and Entrepreneurship Center 1871 (non-profit digital startup incubator), and Bunker Labs (non-profit supporting U.S. veteran entrepreneurs).
The program ends on May 10 with a group presentation on “Impact of Digital Connectivity on Governance and Economies of CAMCA countries" delivered at a CACI-sponsored forum.
AFPC looks forward to welcoming the program's winter class later this year.
