Mercy’s Center for Global Engagement Hosts Lawmakers from Eastern Europe
In September, Mercy’s Center for Global Engagement hosted a group of delegates from the Parliament of Georgia, the highest lawmaking body in the Eastern European nation of Georgia.
The visitors were part of the Open World Program, an international exchange program sponsored by the Congressionally-sponsored Open World Leadership Center that hosts young professionals from Eastern Europe for an American professional development experience.
The group of delegates, five active politicians from Georgia, were joined by a facilitator and a translator, according to Dr. Sheila Gersh, director of the Center for Global Engagement. The group spent a total of seven days traveling to Albany, New York City and Westchester County to meet with political leaders and advocacy groups.
The delegates met with Congressman Eliot L. Engel at his Manhattan office. “As Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Engel is a leading voice on international relations, and plans to visit Georgia after the election,” said Gersh.
On a trip to Albany the group met with the executive director of the Center for Women in Government and Civil Society, an advocacy organization, and with a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union. Two New York state politicians, Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy and State Senator Neil D. Breslin, also met with the group.
In the Yonkers office of New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a staff member briefed the delegates on the Senator’s education and immigration efforts. While in New York City, the group visited the United Nations and met with the Georgian Consul General as part of a packed schedule of cultural and professional experiences.
The Center for Global Engagement encourages the exchange of knowledge across international boundaries through study abroad and foreign exchange programs. The Center also invites scholars from around the world to speak to students, and coordinates Mercy’s International Education Week and programs with the United Nations.
