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From top left: The Fellows gathered midway through their fellowships to tour the Grand Canyon;Jiyi Chung (Korea) receives her EF certificate from Chairman Powell; During a visit to Seattle, Fellows met with executives at Boeing; Xiong Yanliang (China) poses with a steer at the farm of USA Fellow Ben Bartlett, ’99, in Michigan; and Dong Zhihua (China) and Kenichi Yagi (Japan) visited USA Fellow Duane Grant, ’03, and his wife Laura at their home in Idaho.
Northeast Asia Program Concludes
Twenty-one Fellows from Northeast Asia recently completed their fellowship journey and joined the ranks of alumni Fellows. Featuring standouts in the fields of banking, insurance, trade, journalism, information technology, energy, and academia, these Fellows spent two months in the United States enhancing their professional capabilities and broadening their personal perspectives.
After a week in Philadelphia for the Opening Seminar, the Fellows then scattered across the country for a packed itinerary of individual and group events. As Xiong Yanliang of China summarized, “During the two months’ fellowship, I traveled to 15 cities all over the United States, had 66 meetings or appointments and 20 Fellow gatherings or receptions, listened to 14 lectures, and participated in two external conferences in Dallas and Chicago. In addition, I visited seven museums and one farm, and had three sightseeing tours.”
The Fellows regrouped several times throughout their travels for the mid-program retreat at the Grand Canyon, a series of meetings and workshops organized by the Research Triangle Fellows in North Carolina, and a seminar in St. Louis. Several groups also met for corporate meetings in the Pacific Northwest. In Seattle, eight Fellows toured Starbucks headquarters and met several vice presidents and directors of operations to discuss international initiatives, human relations, and corporate social responsibility. Also in Seattle, 16 Fellows spoke with Boeing managers about technology and competition, then toured a mock 787 at the company’s Customer Experience Center. The nine Fellows who visited DreamWorks in Redwood City, CA, got insights on fostering innovation and then took in sneak peaks of two upcoming DreamWorks films. Similar group meetings were held at Microsoft and Google.
Another highlight for many Fellows was the home hospitality extended by various USA Fellows. Several toured farms and got a taste of life in the Midwest, while others had a glimpse of American history and traditions.
In mid-November, the Fellows reconvened in the Philadelphia area for Closing Seminar sessions at Villanova Conference Center, where they were joined by three USA Fellows from Research Triangle, NC, who had recently returned from their travels abroad: Wendell McCain (China and China Taiwan), William “Beau” Mills (China), and Richard Moore (China, China Taiwan, and India). Here, all Fellows shared insights from their two months on the road and considered changes they might implement in their workplaces and lives upon returning home.
Before departing for home, the Fellows participated in EF’s Global Competitiveness Conference at the Rittenhouse Hotel in Philadelphia. In addition to their involvement in breakout sessions and discussions, they took part in a seminar with EF Chairman Colin Powell, who also awarded them their EF certificates.
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Nearly 300 people – including more than 80 Fellows from around the world – were on hand to welcome General Colin Powell, USA (Ret.) as new EF chairman during the conference on global competitiveness held November 15 and 16 in Philadelphia.
