YWCA St. Paul staff members, Deena Zubulake, Director of Programs, and La’Shante Grigsby, Youth Programs Manager, along with Young Women’s Initiative of Minnesota (YWIMN) Cabinet Member Ponny White, participated in two meetings with 18 international visitors from over 10 different countries who virtually visited Minnesota on the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) in October.
The International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) is the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program. Through short-term visits to the United States, current and emerging foreign leaders in a variety of fields experience this country firsthand and cultivate lasting relationships with their American counterparts. Professional meetings reflect the participants’ professional interests and support the foreign policy goals of the United States.
In the meetings Deena provided crucial details about the progressive work being done by YWCA, and La’Shante shared vital information about how the organization facilitates the Young Women’s Cabinet in Minnesota. IVLP visitors were impressed with the level of organization, impact and success of the program, which provides young women of color with stellar career, advocacy, legislative and life coaching and opportunities.
The visitors were eager to hear from Ponny, a current member of the Cabinet, who provided candid and powerful remarks about how the Cabinet and her colleagues positively impacted her life.
The local and national officers working on IVLP were delighted to have these three YW speakers as part of the program and they received overwhelming positive feedback from the international visitors.