Greenheart International, a placement organization that partners with the FLEX program, hosted its annual conference entitled the Greenheart Global Leaders Conference (GGLC) in Washington, DC. Forty of the organization’s top participants and alumni from around the world are invited to attend this event out of hundreds of applicants. While at the conference, participants study current issues such as Social Justice, International Mission-Driven Business, and Environmental Sustainability.
The GGLC culminates in a visit to the Department of State. FLEX alumnus Luka Pejic ’18 (Becej, Serbia/ Saint Paul, MN) was selected to speak at this event in order to share the positive impact his FLEX exchange had on his life. He addressed the representatives of the Department of State with the following:
“Today, I can point anywhere on the globe and say: ‘Hey, I have a friend there.’ And I am eternally grateful for that feeling of unity. Unity, instead of uniformity, creates acceptance, tolerance, and flexibility. To attain it, it is necessary to appreciate diversity that we are bless with. With your help, cultural exchanges help us do just that.”
You can check out Luka’s full speech below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIGf2Qew6kc&feature=youtu.be
In total, six FLEX alumni were selected to attend the conference in 2019:
Alina Caraman ‘18 (Calarasi, Moldova/ McCormick, SC)
Galiya Kaydarova ’16 (Astana, Kazakhstan/ Lakeview, MI)
Luka Pejic ’18 (Becej, Serbia/ Saint Paul, MN)
Uzoqova Marhabokhon ’18 (Isfara, Tajikistan/ Bowdoinham, ME)
Nino Siradze ’15 (Batumi, Georgia/ Kingwood, TX)
Yuliia Hrabenko ’15 (Poltava, Ukraine/ Bristol, NH)
