Articles
Spreading Democracy
Posted: 05.14.08 by to HP/HP
When I joined Worldways Social Marketing, I was prepared to write a new and exciting chapter in my life. I wasn’t prepared, however, for a recent, and transformational, internationalist experience.
Please allow me to set the scene for you. Here at Worldways, we not only “take sides,” we have a great time doing it. The team is comprised of fantastically talented and supportive professionals — each one a samurai — handpicked by a management team that really “gets it.” They “get” that some experiences define our humanity and must be embraced.
My story begins with an invitation to meet with an African delegation exploring the role of youth in American politics. Management’s response was an enthusiastic, “let’s host them here!”
The delegation was participating in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. For more than 50 years, the program has provided opportunities for emerging international leaders to meet their American colleagues and counterparts and experience American society firsthand. Visitors are selected by American Foreign Service Officers overseas and are current or potential leaders in government, politics, the media, education, labor relations, the arts, business and various other fields. The Rocky Mountain Institute of International Education invited me to meet with them because of my experience as a former state and local election administrator and my ongoing volunteer work with local organizations focusing on voting and civic engagement.
So there I was, face-to-face with current and future leaders: true visionaries from the African continent. One woman and four men prepared to dedicate and, for some, risk their own lives to champion democracy in their countries and throughout Africa. They came to study our political system and learn more about our elections systems and how we protect the integrity of our voting process. They also came to tell us that Africans are working and fighting for democracy, and eager to work with America —the universal standard bearer for democracy — as a partner in their struggle.
Discussing the inevitability of universal democracy with my new friends from Rwanda, Niger, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal and listening to their reality and visions of Africa’s future has had a profound affect on me, renewing and reinvigorating my personal commitment to democracy. It has brightened my hope for the world, deepened my appreciation for the freedoms we celebrate in this country and renewed my commitment to do my part to ensure we never lose them.