As one of Australia's most popular and respected political commentators, Annabel Crabb provides analysis and commentary in her online column at ABC News Online and as an analyst on ABC Television. Her move to Chief Political Writer in 2009 enabled her to bring her passion for stimulating interest in politics into the new media arena after more than a decade in the print world. On her fellowship, Ms. Crabb met key players in U.S. broadcast news, examined innovations in political news coverage, and explored how media convergence can generate interest in the political process.

Ms. Crabb plans to restructure the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) website with the help of Professor Emily Bell of Columbia University to make it more interactive and create the sense of a reader presence. She is also working with USA Fellow John Della Volpe on implementing his social media polling model in Australia. She intends to continue writing and blogging about her fellowship and will give presentations about it on several occasions, including at the 2011 EF Day event in October.

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Known for his entrepreneurial skills and commitment to professional sector collaboration, Flavio Nogueira is President and CEO of Colortextil Participacoes Ltda., a leading textile producer in Brazil; President of the Union of Knitting Textile Industries of Minas Gerais; and an active member of many professional associations. On his fellowship, he gained information and insights to improve the environment for entrepreneurs in Brazil, and visited companies and organizations active in the U.S. textile industry.

Flavio Nogueira returns to Brazil scheduled to give numerous presentations on his fellowship findings to professional organizations. He is exploring the possibility of establishing an entrepreneurship mentoring program in Brazil based on models he saw in the U.S., and hopes to develop a foundation to support entrepreneurship inspired by the Kauffman Foundation. Mr. Nogueira will work closely with Philadelphia University to implement new technologies at Brazilian textile companies, and will increase interactions between Brazilian textile organizations and the National Council of Textile Organizations.

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Dr. Gong Weibin is a widely-traveled public administration specialist responsible for training mid- and senior-level public officials throughout China and for conducting research in social and cultural policy and management. He previously served as Vice Mayor in the Haimen municipal government and as Deputy Director General in the Chinese Academy of Governance's Department of Political Science. While on fellowship, he examined social policy development and administration in the U.S., civil service training programs, and higher education administration.

Dr. Gong Weibin will pursue cooperative research with U.S. institutions and will invite specialists and researchers with whom he met to participate in academic exchanges. He also plans to advocate for, design, and implement comparative research programs on housing policy, community development, and health policy between China and the United States, and to incorporate fellowship observations of American social policy into his lectures and research.

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A specialist in public policy and economics, Dr. Chou Yuntsai directs the 21st Century Foundation's research in the areas of digital convergence, innovative governance, and the knowledge economy. She is also an Associate Professor of Social Informatics at Yuan Ze University and an advisor to the National Communication Commission of Taiwan. Her fellowship focused on broadband and new media development, telecommunications/IT policymaking, industry innovation and regulatory oversight.

Dr. Chou plans to implement an Open Congress project in China (Taiwan) that will disseminate information to the public about legislators' voting records and official statements. She will pursue ongoing collaboration with a number of universities and think tanks in the U.S. Among others, the Internet Governance Project at Syracuse University has invited her to participate in the annual conference of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

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Dr. Liisa Suvikumpu is a prominent expert in European cultural history and was the founding COO of the Finnish Council of Foundations, an association of over 120 philanthropic associations in Finland. She currently directs two eminent cultural foundations and plays a leading role in various cultural institutions. On her fellowship, she focused on innovations in the U.S. philanthropic sector, intercultural dialogue, and increasing youth engagement and interest in cultural heritage.

Dr. Liisa Suvikumpu will launch a "Write Yourself to Stars" program to support Finnish literature by nurturing talent among young people and creating a positive image of authorship and literature. She intends to expand her literary foundation's authors' residence, organize public readings and workshops, and to enhance both of her foundations' web sites by adding content in English and using the sites to promote literary and cultural activities. She will also give presentations about her fellowship on several occasions, including the autumn seminar of Council on Foundations in Finland and the 2011 EF Day event in October.

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A public procurement consultant to the Office of the Prime Minister and other government agencies, Dr. Tünde Tátrai teaches supply chain management, public procurement, purchasing, and IT law at Corvinus University; directs research projects in public and electronic procurement; and has co-authored and edited several books on purchasing and public procurement. While on fellowship, she examined best practices and benchmarking processes in public procurement with the goal of enhancing the effectiveness and regulatory oversight of the public procurement process in Hungary.

Immediately after returning to Hungary, Dr. Tátrai hosted several procurement law professors from George Washington University, arranged their agendas, and continued discussions with them on conducting joint research projects.In addition, as a result of her fellowship she is now a Board Member of the International Public Procurement Conference to be held in Seattle in 2012 and the Editorial Board of Journal of Public Procurement.

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Rajsekhar Budithi belongs to the prestigious Indian Administrative Service, where he has focused his career on developing innovative systems and institutional frameworks to improve the lives of vulnerable populations. He currently oversees the Society for the Elimination of Rural Poverty, which supports self-help groups providing employment to over 10 million rural poor women. While on fellowship, Mr. Budithi explored public health initiatives and food security programs, to help him improve the health of vulnerable populations in the State of Andhra Pradesh.

While on fellowship, Rajsekhar Budithi made arrangements for Dr. Gary Fields, Professor of Economics at Cornell University, to speak at the International Alternative Micro-Finance Summit in June 2011 at Hyderabad, India which is being co-hosted by SERP. He also initiated talks with several prominent schools of public health to facilitate internships with SERP, and is exploring partnership opportunities with various NGOs, working in the areas of health and nutrition and disability, he visited while in the U.S.

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As the first Indonesian woman to become editor-in-chief of an Islamic magazine, Zulfiani Lubis is a staunch advocate of investigative reporting known for her willingness to take risks to eradicate corruption and nepotism. She presently oversees all editorial and strategic decisions and activities at ANTV, which has over 130 million viewers. While on her fellowship, she studied media convergence issues, including U.S. perspectives on regulation of the broadcast industry and the impact of the internet and social media.

As Head of Government Relations and Regulation Committee for the Indonesia Private TV Association, Ms. Lubis will prepare a briefing recommending media convergence laws and regulations for consideration by Indonesia's Parliament. She will provide training and support to other female journalists in Indonesia, and will offer technology trainings for journalists in cooperation with Microsoft. Additionally, Ms. Lubis will help identify candidates from Indonesia for Columbia University's Master's degree program in Digital Media, and will collaboratively develop distance learning opportunities for Indonesian journalists to learn from American experts.

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Lt. Colonel Avi Biran is founding director of the Israel Defense Force's new Technological Research and Development Branch, which works toward rapid development and deployment of new technologies. He has overall responsibility for technological issues, budget and procurement, human resources, and innovation management. On his fellowship, he explored leadership and management, technological innovation, entrepreneurship, and programs to enhance technological proficiency and interest among youth.

Lt. Colonel Biran has a number of plans for his return to Israel, including presenting key findings to high-level commanders in his unit and the Intelligence Corps, focusing on leadership and on how to motivate innovation and entrepreneurship. He will create a program to allow former Israeli engineering students in the U.S. to come to Israel to serve in the Israel Defense Forces as research and development engineers. He also plans to collaborate with Juan José Güemes (Spain) to start a fellowship program to send officers from his unit to study at IE Business School in Spain.

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An expert in media and corporate law and creator of FIEG's legal and international affairs office, Dr. Isabella Splendore is the legal adviser to the management of FIEG as well as Italian publishing companies. In addition, she coordinates publishing policies at the national and international levels, and represents Italian publishers before European institutions and international associations. During her fellowship, she explored challenges faced by the publishing industry and, more generally, by information providers in the face of the quickly evolving digital revolution.

Along with executives from the Associated Press News Licensing Group (NLG), Dr. Splendore intends to present a proposal to European and Italian Newspaper Associations to expand the use of the NLG's new common infrastructure for the management of content and copyright protection. In addition, she is planning a meeting in Brussels between Microsoft representatives and the European Association of Publishers in order to speak about the Italian antitrust case against Google.

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Tominiyi Owolabi is a key legal advisor on financial sector reform to the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Security Exchange Commission. For the past 15 years he has provided legal support to institutions in financial crisis. While on fellowship he gained insight into the American financial sector, including the legal and regulatory framework and processes for intervention in failing banks.

Tominiyi Owolabi intends to use his fellowship experience to influence banking regulatory policy direction in Nigeria, bearing in mind specific issues he addressed over the course of his fellowship, and will facilitate a banking reform workshop in the near future for practitioners in the field. He will also continue discussions to create an exchange program for U.S. university students enrolled in a Master's in Financial Regulation degree program.

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Dr. Erfa Iqbal manages and coordinates the Prime Minister of Pakistan's development program for Southern Punjab with the aim of improving the social and economic conditions in the poorest regions of Punjab province. On her fellowship, she examined best practices in enhancing economic development including entrepreneurship, public-private partnerships, and women's empowerment and role in the workforce.

Dr. Erfa Iqbal intends to establish a forum in the U.S. with a chapter in Pakistan to promote cultural, business and academic collaborative relationships with many of the organizations and people she met during her fellowship. The proposed resource center will establish business linkages in general and connect members of the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent in North America and the Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs in North America with appropriate organizations in Pakistan.

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Nisreen Shahin oversees quality of life projects for Rawabi City, a groundbreaking project intended to spur economic development in Palestine. The largest construction project in modern Palestinian history, it brings together economic development, education, sustainability, cultural opportunities, and mixed use construction to middle class Palestinians. On her fellowship, Ms. Shahin focused on developing and sustaining planned communities; aligning educational efforts with private sector needs; and best practices of U.S. foundations.

Ms. Shahin has begun work on a program to give underprivileged students the chance to train to become Microsoft certified engineers. She also plans to pursue an entrepreneurial development program in Palestine, and explore the creation of a center similar to the Manchester Bidwell Corporation – a place to combine arts and vocational skills in an empowering atmosphere of art, light, and music with a staff that strives to realize the genius in everyone.

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Dr. Blumen is recognized as one of the preeminent scholars in the field of gifted education, both in Peru and throughout South America. Among her numerous accomplishments, Dr. Blumen has developed testing and educational materials to foster creativity in schools, universities, and organizations and promote academic excellence and competitiveness. While on her fellowship, she examined curriculum and learning strategies; education models that bring together schools, entrepreneurs, and policy makers; and collaborative relationships with U.S. institutions.

Dr. Blumen will pursue cooperative research on loneliness and biogenetic behavior with the University of Chicago, and will launch a joint training program in neuropsychology applied to education with Drexel University and Catholic University of Peru. Furthermore, she plans to advocate for, design, and implement "Gifted Latino," an entrepreneurship mentoring program in math and the sciences targeting promising, underprivileged youth, with the support of Eisenhower Fellows from Brazil, Israel and Spain. And finally, Dr. Blumen will restructure the Revista de Psicología website to increase its international visibility.

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A former Congressman representing the "Tri-People of Mindanao" (Christians, Muslims and Indigenous People), Ariel Hernandez brings his lifelong passion for combating rural poverty and promoting peace to his current position at the International Center for Peace. The center offers a range of activities to bring the people of Mindanao and the Armed Forces of the Philippines together to work towards joint solutions for regional peace and development. On his fellowship, he examined security sector reform programs and the role of government agencies, NGOs, and business groups in the security sector in the United States.

Mr. Hernandez will explore a partnership with Eastern Mennonite University's Center for Justice & Peacebuilding to set up a global working group for peace-building between civil society and armed forces. In addition, he will work to establish a partnership and the Asia Program of the International Center for Transitional Justice to start a program of community-based transitional justice. Mr. Hernandez also plans to conduct a study about militias in Mindanao and explore options for policy recommendations on how to demobilize them and reintegrate them back in the communities.

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Omar is a founding member of the recently established Economic Cities Authority, where he oversaw the development of two Economic Cities with private sector developers and various government entities and was responsible for the strategic cluster development and investment strategy for these cities. While on fellowship, Mr. Al-Madhi investigated the dynamics and systems that lead to a nation's competitiveness and a flourishing entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Building on his fellowship experience, Mr. Al-Madhi will explore possibilities to create a national entrepreneurial development center in Saudi Arabia that incorporates physical space, funding mechanisms, scholarships, academic components, and mentoring. In addition, he looks forward to investigating opportunities for improving the Saudi Arabian system for data collection and analysis vis-à-vis employment statistics and key economic and competitiveness indicators.

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Anati Canca is responsible for the commercialization of Agricultural Research Council (ARC) scientific output and for formulating and executing strategies for intellectual property management, knowledge management, and agricultural economic services. Although trained as a scientist, she soon moved into leadership and managerial aspects of the scientific arena. On her fellowship, she explored opportunities to use agriculture as a tool for economic development, with a particular focus on the theory and practice of technology transfer and the use of agricultural extension programs and offices.

Ms. Canca returns with plans to revive a Memorandum of Understanding between the South African ARC and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to conduct collaborative research on climate change and human capital development. With Iowa State University, Ms. Canca will pursue collaboration to modernize and enhance extension agent skills in South Africa. She also hopes to replicate Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in South Africa through an ARC training program.

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Juan José Güemes has spent 17 years in positions such as Minister of Health and Minister of Employment and Diversity for the Region of Madrid. He now focuses on fostering entrepreneurship and innovation as key sources of economic and social growth, as well as promoting entrepreneurship among women. Mr. Güemes utilized his fellowship to examine public and private institutions dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship, venture capital, and efficient uses of healthcare technologies.

Mr. Güemes will work with Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship to develop chapters in Latin America and possibly the Middle East. He plans to develop and strengthen partnerships and collaborations between IE Business School and several institutions in the U.S. In addition, Mr. Güemes will also pursue attracting venture capital investments to Spain.

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As the key opposition United National Party spokesman for economic affairs in Parliament, Dr. Harsha de Silva is a vocal critic of government economic policy and a strong advocate for increased economic liberalization. An internationally recognized development economist, he hosted a popular weekly TV talk show on economics and politics from 2006 until 2010, an endeavor he plans to resume in the near future. On his fellowship he examined perspectives on economic freedom in the U.S. economy; the political and economic decision-making process; and television programming focused on political and economic issues.

Dr. Harsha de Silva will work to bring together young politicians from both the ruling and opposition parties to initiate a dialog on the need for greater discussion and debate in formulating laws in Sri Lanka. He will also continue conversations with the think tanks he visited during his fellowship.

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