Corvallis Gazette-Times (Corvallis, OR)
Posted on August 31, 2006
Three Ukrainian leaders participating in the Open World Program will spend a week Sept. 1-8 in Corvallis examining the structure, mission and collaborative alignments of non-profit organizations.
The Corvallis-Uzhgorod Sister City Association will host the delegation.
Managed by the independent Open World Leadership Center at the Library of Congress, Open World enables political and civic leaders to work with their U.S. counterparts and experience American-style democracy and free enterprise.
While in Oregon, the delegates will visit with several individuals involved in local non-profit organizations.
The program is designed to give participants an idea of the role non-profit organizations play in U.S society, as well as their structure, strategies for achieving missions, management and marketing. An additional focus will be on collaborations between non-profits and state and local government.
The visiting delegates are Andriy Hevyuk from the department of international relations, Fedkovych Chernivitsi National University; Volodymyr Navrotskyy, board chair of the Karpaty Agency for Human Rights; and Eduard Schehlakov, director of Lisichansk Multiprofile School. Yevhan Fedorov, from Kiev, will accompany them as a facilitator.
The Open World delegation is scheduled to begin their program at the Oregon State Fair on Labor Day, where they will have the opportunity to talk with representatives of non-profits from across the state.
Topics during the remainder of the week include fund-raising, organizing special events, strategic planning, partnerships, management and staffing, marketing and lobbying.
Representatives of Benton County, United Way of Benton County, Zonta, The Boys & Girls Club of Corvallis, the Downtown Corvallis Association, Heartland Humane Society and the Corvallis-Benton Chamber Coalition will be among the participants.
Meanwhile, homestays will allow the delegates to experience American family life. In addition to the state fair, they also will take part in other cultural and community activities, including a visit to the Oregon coast and the Coast Aquarium and a historical tour of downtown Corvallis.
The Open World Leadership Center has awarded a grant to the Corvallis-Uzhgorod Sister City Association to administer this and similar exchanges in 2006.
Founded in 1999 with a focus on Russia, the Open World Program has in recent years hosted delegations from Lithuania, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Delegates range from mayors to journalists, from nonprofit directors to small-business owners, and from political activists to high-court judges.
More than 10,500 Open World participants have been hosted in all 50 U.S. states. The program’s administering agency, the Open World Leadership Center, is an entity with offices at the Library of Congress.
For more information, contact Paul Brashnyk, president of the Corvallis-Uzhgorod Sister City Association, at 754-9598 or George Felcyn at 202-466-6210.
[Reprinted with Permission]
