The prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship awarded to a Lebanese
The Eisenhower Fellowship, one of the most prestigious leadership awards, announced that the organisation has selected 25 outstanding international leaders from the public, private and nonprofit sectors as 2015 Women’s Leadership Programme (WLP) Eisenhower Fellows, among whom 35-year old Eliane (Elle) Fersan, President of Lebanon Development Union (LDU) has been nominated.
The 25 international Fellows were selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants from 37 countries. All participants are innovative leaders in their communities. Fersan was selected for her pioneering role as a young activist in local development, and her work in advocacy and strategic planning, research and her activism in human rights. Fersan was featured in the top 40 Lebanese Female Role Models in the UNESCO Career Guidance from the Grassroots (2013).
Fersan’s project is to develop a multidisciplinary platform that combines targeted research with multi-stakeholder advocacy strategies aiming to advance policy reforms in the public and private sectors. “It is time to eliminate the gender gap in Lebanon,” said Fersan. “Everyone is responsible, the private and the public sectors; it is time for us to build a more just and equal society.
“It is time for Lebanon and our vibrant civil society to benefit from the international activism for human rights, the Eisenhower Fellowships is a tremendous opportunity I intend to pay forward to my fellow Lebanese,” she added.
The programme is an individualised seven-week of study and professional networking that will provide fellows with the opportunity to meet leaders in their respective fields, attend relevant conferences and participate in site visits across the United States from October 4 to November 22, 2015.
“I have rolled-up-my-sleeves, packed my bags and I am ready to depart on October 3rd on this exclusive journey where I will be representing a coalition of three organisations: Lebanon Development Union, Women in Front and the Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality,” Fersan noted.
George de Lama, president of Eisenhower Fellowships, said the new Fellows represent the best and brightest leaders in their fields. “We are excited to welcome these outstanding ascendant leaders into the global network of influential Eisenhower Fellows,” de Lama said.
Established in 1953 as a birthday tribute to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the organisation has sponsored more than 2,100 Fellows from 108 countries, 200 of which are heads of state.
Eisenhower Fellowships is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organisation seeking to foster international understanding and leadership through the exchange of information, ideas and perspectives among leaders throughout the world. Eisenhower Fellowships exists to inspire leaders around the world to challenge themselves, to think beyond their current scope, to engage others, including outside of their current networks, and to leverage their own talents to better the world around them.