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Webinar Recap: New Vistas in Digital Healthcare

At Cultural Vistas our greatest strength is our global network. As part of our New Vistas Dialogues Series, we recently hosted a virtual discussion exploring new solutions to global challenges in digital health and artificial intelligence. Cultural Vistas Board Member Rekha Grennan moderated the conversation between Dr. Tommaso Mansi, Ph. D., Senior Director of R &D of Image-Guided Therapy + Robotics for Siemens Healthineers and Dominick Kennerson, a former Robert Bosch Foundation Fellow and current Global Head G4A of Digital Health Partnerships for Bayer Pharmaceuticals.

As experts in the field, Dr. Mansi and Kennerson both spoke of the acceleration of new technologies, startups, and health ecosystems that create a better awareness of public health as giving them hope and driving their work on a daily basis. They also spoke of the power of exchanges and hosting of international interns that bring a diversity of perspectives to drive innovations and develop better, more equitable solutions in digital health and artificial intelligence.

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Posted on:

November 19 2020

Author:

Cultural Vistas Communications Team

Ideas + Issues

Global Resiliency: Celebrating International Education Week 2020

Every November, the exchange community celebrates International Education Week (IEW). The joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education is an effort to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment while also attracting future leaders from abroad.

This year’s International Education Week takes place November 16–20, 2020. As we look back on #IEW2019, it’s safe to say that a year ago none of us could have predicted how 2020 would unfold before the initial outbreak of the coronavirus.

Throughout our storied history, Cultural Vistas programs have helped young professionals obtain global skills and prepare for careers in a rapidly-evolving international landscape and economy. In 2020, one of those skills – resiliency – has stood out above the rest. For students and young professionals on our international exchange programs, the events of this year forced them to face a world plunged into uncertainty and to figure out how to respond to a global health emergency that threatens to permanently transform the future of work.

To celebrate International Education Week and the resiliency of Cultural Vistas program participants, staff and alumni, we invited participants from the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Exchange (IAESTE) to tell us their stories of living through the pandemic. IAESTE is a global organization promoting intercultural exchange between students in STEM fields across the globe. At the time of the coronavirus outbreak, IAESTE interns from around the world found themselves in the United States completing internships.

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Posted on:

November 18 2020

Author:

Cultural Vistas Communications Team

Ideas + Issues, Participant Experiences

Young Leaders Drive Solutions to Social Challenges in Southeast Asia

We asked three inspiring team leaders from the 2020 YSEALI Seeds for the Future grant competition’s winning projects to share their success stories and words of wisdom for future program participants.

Do you know anyone who is improving social inclusion and creating career opportunities by teaching sign language to future deaf teachers in Vietnam? How about someone working towards breaking stigma by using the power of storytelling to create constructive dialogue about LGBT+ issues in Cambodia? Or someone reducing hunger and food waste in Davao City, Philippines?

Read on, and if you also want to become a change-maker in Southeast Asia, consider applying for the 2021 YSEALI Seeds for the Future Program here. Applications are open until November 8, 2020.

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Posted on:

November 3 2020

Author:

Cultural Vistas Communications Team

Alumni Spotlight

To Live and to be a Fellow in Russia: Reflections on Post-Moscow Life One Year Later

Everyone has that one daydream life goal. Mine was to live and work in Russia, and the Alfa Fellowship Program offered that opportunity, as well as the opportunity to experience the Russian arts and cultural scene first-hand.

My first application to the Alfa Fellowship Program coincided with my first trip to Russia in 2015. I figured that if I liked the country, this would be a great opportunity to further my interest and experience the work culture in my field in Russia. In the end, I fell in love with Russia (just as expected) and turned my time there into a study trip, exploring the local creative scene and support for the arts and culture in Novosibirsk and Moscow.

Though I was invited for an interview, I didn’t get offered a spot with my first application; however, I was still firmly interested in finding a way to gain work experience in Russia. Over the next two years, I continued to work on international cultural projects, study the Russian language, and expand my knowledge of Russian cultural and creative industries development. After two years, it felt like the right time to apply again. With my second application, my persistence paid off; with additional work and language experience under my belt and a firm notion of what I could get out of the program, I was offered a spot on the program.

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Posted on:

October 29 2020

Author:

Nicole McNeilly

Uncategorized

Highlights from the 2020 Cultural Vistas Virtual Awards Benefit

For the first time ever Cultural Vistas hosted its annual Awards Benefit virtually!

While we would have preferred to connect in person, the online format allowed more than 200 attendees from more than 10 countries around the world to join us to celebrate the diversity of our global community as we look to create new vistas in international exchange.

Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors and giving community we raised over $93,000 through this live experience, funds that will go directly to sustain our operations in this challenging time.

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Posted on:

October 28 2020

Author:

Cultural Vistas Communications Team