LBFP Offers an American Experience for Women Leaders

The fourth class of the MEPI Legal and Business Fellowship Program (LBFP) arrived in the United States in April to begin a five-month academic and skills-building fellowship.  This year’s class includes 28 women, ages of 22-32, who were selected for their impact as legal and business leaders from countries across the Middle East and North Africa.

The fellows began their program with a four-day orientation in Washington, DC, where they were welcomed to the U.S. Department of State by Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Secretary Rice’s senior advisor on women’s issues. 

Amb. Tahir-Kheli shared her personal challenges as a female Pakistani immigrant and encouraged the group to make the most of their opportunity to participate in this MEPI program.  “The LBFP women will shape the future relationship between their countries and the United States,” she said.

In Washington, the group visited the Senate Committee chambers, whey they examined American democratic practices relating to the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government.  At the White House they were addressed by a women policymakers, including the Counsel to the Vice-President, the Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs, and the Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel.

The White House policymakers described their professional journeys as women, as well as the many challenges and obstacles they face.   Identifying with the women policymakers, the LBFP group expressed interest in the policymakers’ legal and business backgrounds and how they parlayed these backgrounds into careers in the public sector.

The group next met with professional staffers from a several Congressional committees, including the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; the Senate Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs; the House Foreign Affairs Committee; and the House Judiciary Committee.  The participants listened to a panel discussion, in which the staffers explained their personal experiences and the roles and responsibilities of their committees, followed by a question and answer session.

From Washington, the group traveled to Philadelphia to attend in a five-week executive seminar on law and business at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton and Annenberg schools.  Classes here include marketing, finance, globalization, and constitutional law, with visits to American democratic landmarks, such as Philadelphia’s Independence Hall.  

Following the academic program, the women will relocate to one of five major U.S. cities – Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, San Jose, or Washington, DC – to complete a four-month fellowship at a top-tier law firm or a Fortune 500 company, such as Boeing, Kraft, or Wachovia Bank.

“This has been an exceptional opportunity of a lifetime,” one participant from Lebanon said after her first week in the United States.  “I cannot wait to start my fellowship.”