Dear friends and colleagues in the EF global family,
 
The sun is finally shining regularly in the northern hemisphere and the days are longer and more languid as we close the chapter on our spring programs and a memorable first half of the year.
 
At the EF House in Philadelphia, we’re busy keeping tabs on our Zhi Xing Fellows who just returned from traveling in China, planning for our Saudi Arabia and Innovation Programs and other scheduled events this fall and sorting through applications for next year’s programs.
 
Before everyone scatters for the summer, we thought it was a good time to present you with this special Impact Edition of our regular EF newsletter. Painstakingly compiled by Romana Lee-Akiyama, with an assist from Carrie Holt de Lama, these Eisenhower Fellowships Stories of Impact make us marvel at the inspiring work so many of our extraordinary Fellows undertake each and every day.
 
Dig in, and enjoy. Best wishes to you and yours for a safe and happy summer.
 
Warmly,
George

George de Lama|President
Eisenhower Fellowships
250 S. 16 th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Phone: 215-546-1738


The following stories are just a sampling of our Fellows. To read more stories, check out EF's new blog that is dedicated to highlighting the impact that Eisenhower Fellows and their projects are making around the world. Want to be included? Go here to submit your story of impact today.
Chevaan Daniel (Sri Lanka '17) oversees News 1st, Sri Lanka's largest independent news network of TV and radio stations. It is a subsidiary of the Capital Maharaja Organization, which includes renewable energy, national security and infrastructure businesses. While on fellowship, he studied effective ways to address humanitarian crises and natural disasters. Read his full story here .

Jorge Riopedre (USA '15) admits that his life would likely have taken a far different course had it not been for doctors who cared for him when he was a child. “I was born with pretty significant health problems,” he said, and complicating matters was the fact that he was the son of two Cuban immigrants who didn’t speak English.

Now in his forties, Riopedre is the president of Casa de Salud , a healthcare center for the foreign born community of metropolitan St. Louis. Casa de Salud offers clinical care, mental health counseling, psychiatry, and a wide range of patient advocacy services for a flat fee of $25. As well, the organization collaborates with over 60 local and regional partners to create healthcare access for marginalized populations, and offers on-site classes on health related topics. Regardless of wealth, insurance, or legal status, Casa de Salud hopes to provide health care for immigrants and refugees from all nationalities. Read his full story here .
“If we’re going to think about what’s most crucial to creating peace and security, not just in the Middle East but in the world, a part of that is providing access to opportunity.” - Dina Sherif (Egypt '15)

Dina Sherif is the chief executive officer of Ahead of the Curve, a company working across the Middle East to create inclusive and sustainable economies by providing training and support for socially-responsible entrepreneurs. As a result of her fellowship, Sherif realized that she needed to broaden her approach from simply focusing on entrepreneurs to nurturing an entire ecosystem of entrepreneurship, which means providing training and resources, and connecting with schools and universities to develop entrepreneurship among youth. Listen to her speak about her fellowship impact here .

Sanjay Podder (India '17) is the managing director of Accenture Labs in Bangalore, India, where he is focused on solving complex social problems through the use of technology.

Shridhar Venkat (India '14) is a global leader in social enterprise and scalable nonprofit development whose organization, the Akshaya Patra Foundation, feeds 1.6 million children per day in 13,500 schools across 12 states in India. It is the world’s largest school meal program.

What do these two leaders from different sectors have in common? Their love for humanity, and for making the world a better place, qualities and values that were affirmed and nurtured while on their Eisenhower Fellowship journeys.

Read the rest of their story here .
Yuli Ismartono  (Indonesia ’97),   Uni Lubis (Indonesia '11), and  Natalia Soebagjo (Indonesia ‘90) are three Eisenhower Fellows, all women, all from Indonesia, and are using their fellowship experiences across decades to collaborate and enact change in Southeast Asia. Read their story here .
 Shivon Byamukama (Rwanda '16) is deputy chief executive officer of Babylon Health Rwanda (Babyl), a digital healthcare provider headquartered in London, England. Byamukama is a 2016 Fellow from the Africa Regional Program and examined women’s leadership and capacity building in business, and sought to expand her social enterprise LegalBiz, which focused on providing women with free legal tools and guidance to help them launch successful businesses. Since fellowship, Byamukama has become a leader in women’s mentorship in the business sector. Read more about her impact here .
Photo above: Yawa Hansen-Quao (Ghana '16), Miatta Gbanya (Liberia '16) and Shivon Byamukama (Rwanda '16)
Will we see you in London this fall? Register today for EF's Women's Leadership Conference and European Regional Conference on Immigrants, Refugees and their Integration throughout Europe. Spaces are limited. Questions? Contact Romana Lee-Akiyama at [email protected].