Dutch Inclusion Leaders Network Launch

Alumni of the Transatlantic Inclusion Leaders Network and the Marshall Memorial Fellowship recently joined together with the support of an Alumni Leadership Action Grant to launch the Inclusion Leaders Network in the Netherlands. The launch brought together over forty community and political leaders across parties and sectors in Amsterdam for a half day inclusive leadership workshop facilitated by five-year TILN facilitator David Johns from the White House, Dr. Mischa Thompson of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, and GMF Resident Fellow Lora Berg. The energy in the room was extraordinary as a multiparty platform begins to emerge with consensus on the high value of inclusive leadership going forward in the Netherlands. With alumni leadership action grant project lead Mpanzu Bamenga (TILN ’15) and Ahmed Larouz (MMF ’08), Ufuk Kahya (TILN ’14), Samira Rafaela (TILN ’16), and Kamran Ullah (TILN ’13), the launch proved to be a success as more transatlantic leaders see the value of inclusive leadership and diversity in leadership roles across sectors and political parties.

TILN 2016 Brussels Workshop: Inclusive Leadership for the Transatlantic Community

GMF convened the Transatlantic Inclusion Leaders Workshop (TILN) March 15-20, 2016 in Brussels, Belgium with the support of the U.S. State Department, Meridiam, Open Society Foundation, Balkan Trust for Democracy, Operation Black Vote, World Jewish Congress, IMPACT and UNITAS, in conjunction with the Helsinki Commission and other partners. The Brussels TILN workshop was the fifth edition following the April 2012 groundbreaking TILN Workshop in Copenhagen, Denmark that brought together over 65 young leaders of diverse backgrounds representing 26 countries. The 2016 Brussels TILN Workshop built upon the foundation set in Copenhagen by including a focus on mobilizing international networks to advance inclusive societies and governance in addition to political training for 25 rising elected leaders with diverse backgrounds across Europe and the United States. TILN membership now stands at close to 120 with plans to convene the fifth anniversary in May in Turin, Italy, and conduct annual workshops to expand the network of rising diverse leaders through 2020.

The TILN Brussels Workshop this year proved to be an exceptionally energizing and powerful training model, first strengthening the TILN rising leaders’ cohort and leadership skills, and then, introducing the group into the high powered transatlantic policy event - the Young Professionals’ Summit of the Brussels Forum. TILN's rising leaders made the Brussels Forum brought diverse viewpoints and knowledge to policy discussions. The Brussels Workshop and Brussels Forum not only gave the TILN rising leaders the opportunity to reach beyond their core network, but also to connect with the scope and importance of the transatlantic relationship, envisioning their unique leadership roles in the global community.