Capstone Vietnam, of which I’m managing director, has been selected to participate in a program entitled Vietnam and USA mid-level professionals exchange program: Mutual learning for economic empowerment in the context of business and government partnerships. Portland State University (PSU) was awarded a 2-year, $400.000 grant by the Professional Fellows Division of the Education and Cultural Affairs Office of Citizen Exchanges at the State Department to implement this program, one of 16 awarded under the FY12 Professional Fellows Program Open Competition. The Center for Public Service in the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government will implement the Professional Fellows Program.

The Center will conduct a four-part, two-way Economic Empowerment Program for approximately 32 mid-level professionals interested in economic empowerment and in effecting positive change in their organizations and communities; 16 participants from Vietnam, and approximately 16 U.S. participants. The program goal is to promote mutually beneficial partnerships between Vietnamese and U.S. professionals; provide Vietnamese professionals an opportunity to gain knowledge of U.S. economic empowerment practices, and provide U.S. participants with an opportunity to share their knowledge with their Vietnamese counterparts.