JUNE
You could have met guests of honor from Algeria, Cameroon, China, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates & West Bank
Middle East Partnership Initiative
Eight interesting women from the Middle East and North Africa have just started their fellowships with Philadelphia companies and law firms, and they'll be among our guests at June's First Thursday. If you didn't meet them at our 55th Annual Meeting, then join us on Thursday and learn their impressions of Philadelphia and the U.S.! They are from Algeria, Israel, Lebanon, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates & West Bank.
Sister Cities Program
TIANJIN, CHINA Four people arrived in Philadelphia with Temple's Law School with its LL.M. program for China. One of them is an official with Tianjin's Foreign Affairs Office - IVC's liaison for the Sister Cities Program. You'll be seeing them at our events, so welcome them now!
DOUALA, CAMEROON - Joining us again was one of two sisters in graduate school in Philadelphia. Daniele is getting her Master's in Biology at Temple. She's fluent in English but enjoys speaking French at the First Thursdays, so join us and practice your French!
Japan - Rotary Scholar
Each month we welcome people from around the world who are in Philadelphia for a variety of reasons. Among this month's First Thursday guests is a young woman from Japan who's studying at Penn as a Rotary Ambassador Scholar. She's looking forward to meeting you and making some new friends in Philadelphia!
France & Germany - two countries with two new businesses in Philadelphia!
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Center for Direct Investment has been hard at work attracting foreign companies to the region. Two have recently opened offices in Philadelphia, and representatives from each will be at First Thursday.
FRANCE: Meet the COO of Language Routes, a company that makes it easy to learn French and Spanish with their unique products. Based in Lyon, its U.S. subsidiary is in Center City Philadelphia. The CEO attended the March First Thursday and now her COO is joining us to connect with Philadelphia's international community.
GERMANY: Meet a representative from Germany's GADORE, German American Dialog on Renewable Energy, which opens it offices in Philadelphia this week at the University City Science Center. GADORE will help Germany renewable energy companies begin doing business in the U.S. and Canada.
MAY
Joing us was the Honorary Consul General of Germany.
Also a guest from Lyon, France who specializes in assisting companies from the Rhone-Alpes Region in developing their overseas activity. Her company opened Philadelphia office (second in the U.S.) in January 2009 to offer a direct presence in Pennsylvania and the North East to companies from Rhone-Alpes. The PA office is also in charge of promoting the economical and institutional agreement between the Region Rhone-Alpes and the State of Pennsylvania (who has a representative based in Lyon since 2006). They also assist American companies in setting up operations in Rhone-Alpes.
From the Sister Cities Program our good friend from Douala, Cameroon was there!
APRIL
From the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program joined us nine Iraqi educators coming to the U.S.. They studied “Interfaith Dialogue” while in Philadelphia. During their stay they gained knowledge on secular vs. religious education; democratic values and civic engagement; religious freedom as a civil liberty; religious observations and traditions.
Also, two people from the Basque region, Spain who are relocating their Spanish company to Pennsylvania.The company does business as a consulting company that specializes in different media channels and structures, providing public bodies, large corporations, and the media with new, more effective forms of communication. Their projects include: new corporate channels (corporate TV, cross media channels), cultural new media (museums and interpretation centers, tourism and cultural heritage).
Representing Sister Cities Program were five people from our French Sister City, Aix-en-Provence. They came to Philadelphia to see the Cezanne and Beyond exhibition in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. They spent few days in Philadelphia and the region going on tours and visiting the museums. One of the guests was our dear friend Marie-Odile Chotard who visited IVC last year with a group of folk dancers, chefs and singers!
Discover Philadelphia - From Erivan K. Haub School of Business, St. Joseph's University
IVC's Discover Philadelphia program helps create positive American experiences for the region's graduate students. This Thursday, welcome six international graduate and MBA students from St. Joseph’s University Haub School of Business representing China, India, Jamaica, Russia, Singapore and Venezuela.
MARCH
This month's First Thursday international reception featured 32 guests of honor from (in alphabetical order) Afganistan, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Spain, Swaziland & Taiwan, plus lots of interesting, internationally-minded Americans.
Among our guests of honor were ten visitors coming to Philadelphia under the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program from Pakistan and Swaziland. From Afganistan joining was Suraya Pakzad, the Executive Director of the Voice of Women Organization, one of the leading and most effective NGO’s in Afghanistan. She spoke at the World Affairs Council the following week. Read more about Suraya. Also, the new Italian Consul General and the Consulate's Director of Education, plus ten Italians involved with Philadelphia Flower Show, which has Italy as one of its themes! We also welcomed nine students from Penn's International Business Communication Program representing Brazil, Germany, Japan, Korea, Spain & Taiwan.
FEBRUARY
This month's First Thursday international reception featured guests of honor from Armenia, Cameroon, China, India, Iraq & Serbia, plus lots of interesting, internationally-minded Americans. Plus we drew the winning name for the Chesapeake cruise! Just read below.
International Programs at First Thursday:
Community Connections Program
Meet ten Armenian filmmakers who will be in Philadelphia for three weeks as guests of the U.S. Department of State. Thanks to help from the Philadelphia Film Office, their professional program will provide an immersion into U.S. film making and American culture. The ten participants - directors, film school professors, script writers and film festival reps - will meet with counterparts in their fields and be exposed to a rich diversity of American experiences.Their U.S. program will include Philadelphia, New York City and Harrisburg.
Please welcome this group on their second day in the U.S. before they head off to their homestay families and great professional American experiences.
Temple University - International MBA Program
Fourteen students and scholars representing China, India and Serbia will be among our guests at February's First Thursday.
The International MBA at the Fox School is a one-year, intensive, tri-continent MBA program. During the year, students study in Mumbai, Paris, Philadelphia, Shanghai and Tokyo. While being immersed in local culture, students take courses in global business and strategic management. The students you'll meet at First Thursday recently arrived in Philadelphia after spending their fall semester in either Mumbai or Paris. They are looking forward to spending their spring semester in Philadelphia at The Fox School of Business. In June they travel to Asia to complete their studies and receive their MBA degrees in International Business.
Sister Cities
The Sister Cities Office, working with our local universities and colleges, has created Sister City Scholarships for the brightest students from our Sister Cities in nine countries.
La Salle University and its MBA Program is one of the participating schools and programs, and has accepted a talented student from Douala, Cameroon. Among the important reasons for her choosing La Salle is its strong international MBA program, plus her sister! First Thursday "regulars" have met her sister, who is a graduate student in Biology at Temple. Join us this Thursday to welcome this new member of the Sister Cities family.
COMING UP ON THE SISTER CITIES PROGRAM
Visiting soon with the Sister Cities Program are teachers from Torun, Poland who are coming to prepare for October's visit of 20+ students from Torun.
