2017 Delegations
Rule of Law Delegation
Between July 29th and August 12th, 2017, one participant from Democratic Republic of Congo, and one participant from Greece, have toured Columbus during our Rule of Law Program! Michel Ilunga, an appellate court judge from DRC, and Parasjevu (Vivi) Sdrenia, an intern at the Ohio Bar Association from Greece, began with our cultural immersion program that lasted the duration of their first weekend here. Along with a few of our interns and volunteers, our participants visited the Ohio State Fair, Katalina's, and the Columbus Museum of Art. That following Monday, Vivi and Michel toured the Ohio State House, the Supreme Court, the Senate Chamber, and the Franklin County Auditor's office. ON Thursday, a Judge from the Supreme Court of Georgia, Tamara Laliushvili, joined our delegation on their trip to Cleveland. Here, they met Judge Gallagher, toured the city, and crashed a wedding at a court house! To conclude their experience, on one of their last days of the program, our participants met with the famous Taekwondo Master, Joon P. Choi! Photos from their weekly adventures are posted below.
Shenzhen Social Work Delegation
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CIP's latest delegation is comprised of 10 individuals from Shenzhen, China. Their professional fields range from social work, to finance and business. While here in Columbus, they will meet with organizations who will broaden their knowledge of each of these areas.
This delegation began their experience on May 17th in Chicago, where they spent some time with our affiliate, CIP Chicago. There, they visited Forefront, a membership association for non-profits in all of Illinois. Forefront focuses on initiatives to provide education, advocacy, thought leadership, and facilitate collective action around issues that are important to their members and to the sector. The delegation also got some time to enjoy the city and sight see, before heading to Columbus on the 19th. Once here, delegates were all welcomed by gracious host families, with whom they will spend their entire week here. We are so thankful for our generous host families and would like to thank Zhixiong Chen, Marian Harris, Debra Higgs, Mark & Claire Fohl, Emilie & Dick Miller, Barb & Jim Kimmel, Teri Alexander and Gene Oliver for serving as host families for this delegation. The experiences international guests have with their host families is truly what makes their time here authentic and memorable. Over the weekend, the delegation had a great time participating in the festivities surrounding Columbus' Annual Asian Festival's Dragon Boat Race, at which they got to meet other members and participants in CIP's programming. All were able to work together and form bonds with new friends, even through a bit of a language barrier. The team was fairly successful for the second year in a row, and great fun was had by all! On Monday the 22nd, participants spend their first business day in Columbus visiting The College of Social Work at The Ohio State University. Over the next three days, they visited six different organizations. These included the Central Ohio Agency on Aging, the Nationwide Foundation, the Alzheimer's Association of Central Ohio Chapter, the Institute for Human Services, LifeCare Alliance and The Forum at Knightsbridge. After their farewell dinner, at which each participant was awarded with their certificate of completion, the group spent their last night with host families who had become incredibly dear to them over their time here. The next morning, they set off for Niagara falls and New York City, to finish off their experience in the United States with a bang. By May 28th, they were headed back to Shenzhen! The time flew, but this delegation was a great success. Participants were a joy to work with, and they got the most that they could out of their business meetings with Columbus organizations. We would again like to thank all who made this delegation possible, and wish our delegates all the best in their future endeavors! |
Photos from their week here!Farewell Dinner |
U.S. Russian Peer-to-Peer Delegation
This delegation is part of a program that began in the fall of 2016 and has continued through the spring of 2017. To read more about this program, visit the International Business Innovation Collaborative page.
