Public Diplomacy Alumni Association recognizes achievements by professionals in Macedonia, Indonesia, and Washington, D.C.
The Public Diplomacy Alumni Association (PDAA) announced the recipients of its 2009 Award for Achievement in Public Diplomacy at its annual dinner on May 3. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to the conduct of public diplomacy by deserving Foreign Service and Civil Service employees and Locally Engaged Staff of the Department of State overseas.
Nominated by senior embassy and State Department officials, the honorees this year were Ryan Rowlands, Public Affairs Officer, and Amy Storrow, Assistant Public Affairs Officer in Skopje, Macedonia; Tristram Perry, Assistant Information Officer for Broadcast Media in Jakarta, Indonesia; and Lori Brutten, George Clack and David Shelby of the State Department’sDemocracy Video Challenge Team.
Mr. Rowlands and Ms. Storrow were recognized for their initiative, creativity, perseverance and Macedonian and Albanian language skills in reaching out to Macedonian youth in a challenging environment. Through multi-cultural programming, youth camps, Fulbright exchanges, creative writing courses, media outreach and alumni programs, they engaged a new generation of Macedonians in innovative and meaningful ways.
Mr. Perry was awarded for his innovative use of highly visible public diplomacy tools to advance U.S. interests in Indonesia to great effect. With uncommon energy and determination, he worked collaboratively with a wide range of actors in the media, government and the private sector to arrange for unprecedented media coverage for Secretary Clinton during her visit to Indonesia; to promote environmental education and collaboration; and to build new bridges to Indonesian youth.
The Democracy Video Challenge team in the Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) was recognized for their imaginative use of new media technologies in guiding the State Department’s efforts to engage young foreign audiences in a global dialogue about democracy through the trailblazing Democracy Video Challenge.
The 2009 PDAA Award winners were chosen from among twenty-two impressive nominations of Department of State Foreign and Civil Service employees in Washington and from every world region. The nominees included public diplomacy officers, a consul general, binational center and American Corner staff, foreign service national employees, training specialists, and Virtual Presence Post teams. Working with increasingly tight resources, the nominees brought creativity, perseverance, initiative and commitment to broadening America’s dialogue with overseas publics through exchanges, innovative programming, new media technologies and personal engagement.
