{"id":342,"date":"2019-03-02T10:30:17","date_gmt":"2019-03-02T10:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glc-teachdemocracy2.org\/?page_id=342"},"modified":"2026-01-20T04:51:55","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T04:51:55","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/glc-teachdemocracy2.org\/index.php\/about-us\/","title":{"rendered":"About Us"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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First European delegation to the US, spring 2012<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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15 years of history<\/span><\/h1>

The seeds of our community were planted in 2011 through the Great Lakes Consortium for International Training and Development in Northwest Ohio. The Consortium launched its work in international civic engagement and it received its first Professional Fellows Program grant from the U.S. Department of State\u2019s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.<\/p>\n

This initial grant supported a Legislative Fellows Program focused on citizen legislative advocacy in minority communities, followed by a second grant in 2012 dedicated to building grassroots democracy in minority communities. A third grant, awarded in 2014, expanded this work by focusing on sustaining civic participation in minority communities.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Between 2011 and 2018, the exchange programs brought together partners and participants from Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and the United States, combining long-term exchanges with extensive post-grant activities. From 2018 onward, Albania was included through new grants centered on shaping participatory democracy, extending the engagement across five European countries and the United States through 2024.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The program was designed to provide opportunities for young professionals to collaborate and share ideas with U.S. partners, build lasting relationships and make positive changes in their communities and societies. It focused on human rights and social justice, ensuring that all voices are heard in minority and rural communities through community organizing, advocacy and civic engagement.<\/p>

Upon their return, fellows<\/span>\u00a0worked to expand and strengthen community organizing, social services, education and community development practices. The advances in policies, attitudes, and mindset they have been able to facilitate on both the local level and national level are very impressive, especially in working Roma, disabled, LGBTI+, immigrant, or rural communities, impacting hundreds or thousands of people.<\/span><\/p>

In 2025, after bringing more than 300 Europeans to the US and more than 140 Americans to Europe, the program was discontinued from the State Department. However, its alumni network was too connected and too resilient to just let go and is now seeking to continue international collaboration, supporting its members in achieving social change in their fields, while further expanding and promoting community organising in Central and Eastern Europe.<\/span><\/p>

Throughout all these years, the program developed under the tireless leadership of Dr Elizabeth Balint. Even after retiring in 2023, she continues playing an active role in the life of the GLC Alumni Network. Apart from being an honorary member of its network’s Board, Elizabeth keeps volunteering to support the networking, fundraising and administration of the network.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Fellows by country 2012-2024<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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0<\/div><\/div>
Albania<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Bulgaria<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Dave beckwith (1950 - 2022)<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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This program was and still is shaped by the leadership and vision of David Beckwith of Toledo, whose guidance on community organizing was instrumental for the success of the program. Although he passed away in February 2022, his legacy continues to inspire us all.\u00a0He had a distinguished career as a community organizer, trainer, and consultant, leading grassroots efforts in Toledo and earlier working with community organizations around the US.<\/p>

In his memory, and with the blessing of his family, the GLC Alumni Network raises money for its Dave Beckwith Fund, which we then continue investing in strenghtening translantic leaning, exchange and collaboration, further advancing social justice.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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First European delegation to the US, spring 2012 15 years of history The seeds of our community were planted in 2011 through the Great Lakes Consortium for International Training and Development in Northwest…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-342","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"campaignId":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glc-teachdemocracy2.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glc-teachdemocracy2.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glc-teachdemocracy2.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glc-teachdemocracy2.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glc-teachdemocracy2.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/glc-teachdemocracy2.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3329,"href":"https:\/\/glc-teachdemocracy2.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/342\/revisions\/3329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glc-teachdemocracy2.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}