Thursday, July 8th, 2010 Written by Rob

CDS International’s
2009 Annual Report

This year’s annual report recognizes a year built on the work of our dedicated staff. Through their efforts, over 2000 students and young professionals from more than 70 countries gained career experience through a CDS program. Hundreds of companies and organizations also benefitted from the practical training programs facilitated by CDS.

As we look back on 2009, we would also like to recognize you, a supporter of CDS, for the backing and encouragement you have shown to the organization and our mission. Your financial and personal support has helped us maintain and enrich the life-changing programs we offer.

We hope you enjoy the 2009 Annual Report and look forward to working with you in 2010 and beyond!

View the 2009 Annual Report on our website!

Are you interested in having one sent to you? Please send your name and address to Chad Robertson.

Categories: Alumni, CDS International No Comments »

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010 Written by Nicole S.

The Robert Bosch Foundation Alumni Association (RBFAA) held its annual meeting in Chicago, IL, the weekend of June 18–20. This year’s annual meeting brought together alumni of the Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship Program, their guests, and distinguished leaders in the German-American and local communities. The weekend kicked off on Friday evening with a reception at the residence of German Counsel General Onno Hückmann, during which Professor Gale Mattox was awarded “Bosch Fellow of the Year”, the RBFAA’s highest honor bestowed annually.

Maggie Monahan, Nicole Harkin, Consul General Onno Hückmann and his wife, Gale Mattox, Seth Oppenheim, and Robert Bosch Stiftung CEO Dieter Berg

Gale was a member of the very first Bosch Fellowship group in 1984, was a founding member of the RBFAA, and also served as the association’s first president. Her entire career trajectory has remained dedicated to transatlantic relations and she is currently Professor of Political Science at the U.S. Naval Academy and Senior Scholar at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Gale also teaches graduate courses on EU Politics as an adjunct at Georgetown University. Congratulations, Gale—the award is certainly well-deserved!

On Saturday, two panel discussions with local experts on the topics of Economic Recovery and the Transatlantic Relationship and Globalization and Innovation in America’s Midwest were held. Following the panels, the alumni enjoyed a boat tour on the Chicago River, showcasing the skyline’s remarkable architecture. A highlight of the weekend was the gala dinner and reception at the University Club of Chicago, with keynote speaker Richard Longworth, Senior Fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The weekend concluded with a Sunday brunch at Gibson’s Steakhouse, a true Chicago institution.

Catching up on transatlantic relations at the 2010 RBFAA Gala

A special thanks goes to the Robert Bosch Stiftung for its continued support of the RBFAA and its activities including this annual meeting. Alumni and guests showed their commitment by traveling to Chicago from around the U.S. as well as from Moscow, Cairo, Amsterdam, and Stuttgart to support the spirit of the Robert Bosch Fellowship Program. We enjoyed seeing you and are already looking forward to next year!

Categories: Alumni, Bosch, Fellowships, Germany No Comments »

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 Written by Evan

The votes are in and we are proud to announce the winners of the 2009 photo and video contests!

The My America, Beyond My America, and ABROADcast photo and video contests encouraged CDS participants from around the world to present their international experiences through various formats. We were extremely impressed with their work!

Thank you to all who submitted an entry, to our judges for all of their hard work, and to the hundreds of CDS supporters that cast their vote in the People’s Choice Awards!

Congratulations to all! Check out the winning entries and stay tuned for details about the 2010 contests!

Categories: Alumni, CBYX, Contests, J-1 Visa No Comments »

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 Written by Emily W.

Sebastian Flaskamp, Bike race victor!

We’re always glad to read through the positive experiences CDS J-1 visa program participants share in their final reports. Sebastian Flaskamp’s report came with an attachment: a newspaper clipping from the Southern Standard located in McMinnville, Tennessee.

The clipping was of him on his bike, arms raised victoriously. Sebastian had won the 19^th annual Highland Rim Cycling Classic, a 110 mile race through the hills of Tennessee! The avid biker who hails from the city of Essen, Germany, beat out over 400 other riders for first place, including 55 pro riders. “It feels awesome,” Sebastian said. “I couldn’t believe it until I saw the finish.”

Sebastian’s used his professional expertise to adjust to the hilly terrain of the course. He also included a few tips he picked up during his time in the United States: namely, hamburgers. “It’s really good fuel,” he said. Quite appropriate for someone sponsored by the fast-food chain Krystal.

Congratulations Sebastian on your glorious victory and keep up the good work!

Categories: CDS International, J-1 Visa No Comments »

Friday, June 25th, 2010 Written by Chad

CDS staff met bright and early last week to watch the World Cup. Games in New York have been starting at 7:30 AM, perfect for catching a couple of goals before starting the work day.

With our varied international experience, it’s not uncommon to see German, Spanish, Argentinian, and American flags waving on any given day.

CDS staff support the U.S. and German teams early one morning

Good luck to all the teams involved (especially Team USA!). Who do you think will win it all?!

Categories: CDS International 2 Comments »

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 Written by Emily W.

Epcot Center, near the NACE Conference

This year, the NACE: National Association for Colleges and Employers and NAFSA: Association of International Educators annual conferences both took place simultaneously, June 1–4, 2010. These are the two biggest conferences attended by CDS all year and enable us to meet contacts from across the country and around the world. NACE was held in Orlando at the Walt Disney Convention Center and NAFSA took place in Kansas City.

NACE

Joanna Curtis attended NACE for CDS; unfortunately she fell ill after the first day. CDS Communications Manager Chad Robertson booked a flight down to Orlando and managed the rest of the conference for a much-relieved Joanna. This was Chad’s first time attending the NACE conference and he used the opportunity to make new contacts.

Katerina Holubova at the CDS booth

NAFSA

Katerina Holubova and Anna Oberle-Brill attended NAFSA this year along with more than 7,000 other international education and exchange professionals. It was an exciting opportunity for CDS as Anna and Katerina presented at two well-attended sessions: Managing Successful Internship Programs Abroad: Best Practices for Stakeholders and Overcoming Challenges to Internationalization at Rural U.S. Institutions. Anna was also quoted in a recent article from the Chronicle of Higher Education following the CDS presentation at NAFSA.

CDS Event – Kansas City

After four days of meeting contacts, conducting session, and networking with the international education and exchange community, Anna met up with some CDS alumni in Kansas City before she flew back to New York. Four CDS alumni from the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exhange program and some of their friends joined Anna and her family at ExtraVirgin, a Mediterranean tapas restaurant in the Crossroads Art District of downtown Kansas City. They all got to meet and catch up over tapas on the outdoor patio. One of the alumni, Bryce Klein, is a chef at ExtraVirgin; the gathering was both a fun meet up as well as a chance to support our alumni in their professional endeavors!

Left: Anna and CDS alumni enjoy tapas at Extra Virgin, a Mediterranean restaurant in Kansas City’s downtown Art District
Right: Bryce Klein, a CBYX alumnus and chef at Extra Virgin, pictured with Anna and her daughter, Antonia.

Coming Up Next

Next up on the CDS conference calendar: the AILA: American Immigration Lawyers Association annual conference in National Harbor, Maryland, June 30–July 3, 2010! We hope to see you there!

Categories: Alumni, CBYX, CDS International, Conferences, Events No Comments »

Monday, June 14th, 2010 Written by Chad

Check out Korea WEST intern DooSeok Yoon’s American experience!

Categories: J-1 Visa, WEST No Comments »

Friday, June 11th, 2010 Written by Beth

CBYX Fellows use art and play to develop intercultural understanding.

This past April, Senior Program Manager Anna Oberle and I went to Germany for the annual orientation seminars of the Congress–Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) for Young Professionals. These seminars, organized by our partner organization InWEnt, offer us the chance to get to know our new group of German participants before they arrive in the United States to start their fellowship each August. The group of 75 newly anointed Fellows is divided into three smaller groups, each meeting in different locations throughout Germany for seven days of work and play in preparation for their exciting year abroad.

This year our groups were hosted by the Gustav-Stresemann Institut in Bad Bevensen, the Wannsee Forum in Berlin, and the Akademie Frankenwarte in Würzburg. Each location is a center for political education and provides us with wonderful accommodations as well as speakers on topics of German history and the transatlantic relationship. We devote one full day to intercultural training and spend several days covering program specific information and logistics—from applying for a J-1 visa to successfully searching for internships in the United States. Special visitors at this year’s seminars included Ms. Martina Schulze from the U.S. Consulate General Hamburg, Public Affairs Division, and Mr. Paul Lehrieder, a member of the German Bundestag. The addition of CBYX alumni who joined us to share their stories, photo albums, tips, and advice was a highlight for the new Fellows.

A tradition on the final evening of the seminars is to play Der Grosse Preis—a jeopardy-style quiz game which we use to review seminar content. The prize for the winning team? A pocket-sizeLangenscheidt German–American dictionary of course! Noteworthy vocabulary words of April 2010 included volcanic ash cloud—the natural disaster responsible for ruining many travel plans in the midst of our journeys! My own trip to Spain got postponed thanks to Eyjafjallajökull so I opted to join Anna at the seminar in Berlin, making me the first CDS staff member to attend all three seminars of which are usually divided between the two colleagues who travel to Germany at this busy time of year.

The mood at the seminars was full of enthusiasm and anticipation. During this preparatory week, we watch participants become a close-knit group of allies, solidifying for themselves an invaluable support structure for the year. It’s important to be reminded of the sheer excitement that one feels leading up to a year abroad and the seminars re-energize our staff team for an intense placement process and other behind the scenes administrative work. We would like to thank InWEnt gGmbH and the Fellows of the 27^th group of the CBYX program for three entertaining weeks in Germany, bis nächstes Jahr!

CBYX Fellows enjoy a tour of the Altstadt

Categories: Alumni, CBYX, Fellowships, Germany 1 Comment »

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 Written by SunJeong

We were delighted to host the Evening with Korea WEST networking event on Wednesday, May 19^th, at the main CDS office in Manhattan. This event was coordinated as part of the Korea WEST program, which aims to provide select Korean students the opportunity to gain professional and cultural experience in the United States through a combination of language training, seminars, travel, and an internship at a U.S. company in their field.

The networking reception provided an opportunity for New York-area employers to meet with our new group of competitively selected Korean university students, learn about hosting a WEST intern, and network with other professionals from a variety of industries. The guests had a wonderful time mingling while trying the delightful Korean snack kimbap, and enjoying a variety of cheeses and wines. The Korea WEST participants had a chance to make a meaningful connection with employers in their fields of interest and to put their business English skills into practice.

If your company is interested in learning more about hosting international students or about attending future networking receptions, visit our website to find out about our INTERNational Recruiting initiative or how to get involved with the WEST program directly.

Categories: Events, J-1 Visa, WEST No Comments »

Thursday, May 27th, 2010 Written by Emily W.

(Re)Discovering Germany in Denver: Spring 2010

CDS is proud to co-sponsor the intercultural series (Re)Discovering Germany for the third year in a row! This spring, we held events in Denver, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, where over 100 people joined us to learn more about career development programs and opportunities to study and research in Germany.

Germany’s higher education system, cutting-edge research opportunities, dynamic job market, and central geographic and political position in the European Union all underscore its importance to American students and young professionals interested in pursuing education abroad and developing their careers. University administrators, deans, college professors, and interested university staff were invited to attend these events to learn more about opportunities for their students to study and work in Germany through CDS International and our partners. Many attendees themselves have been impacted by experiences in Germany and come to rediscover all there is to offer today’s young professionals.

The event began with the panel discussion “Why Choose Germany”, consisting of panelists who have studied or interned in Germany—CDS is proud to feature alumni from our programs as panelists at these events. In Denver, we had two alumni panelists: Cherylyn Harley LeBon, who works with the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association and is an alumna of the Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship Program, as well as Denise Jacoby of HW Commercial Interiors, an alumna of the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange Program for Young Professionals (CBYX). In Philadelphia, CDS alumnus Arrus Farmer, Assistant Vice President of PMC Property Group, spoke of his experiences both as a CBYX Fellow and as a recent Bosch Fellow in Germany. Our final event took place as a workshop in conjunction with the annual AACRAO conference in New Orleans. Peter Joslyn sat on the panel as an alumnus of CBYX who is currently a graduate student at Louisiana State University.

After the panel discussions, CDS presented our work abroad programs and fellowships as well as international study tours and university partnerships. Guests were encouraged to network and ask more detailed questions on the programs and take informational materials for their students.

We look forward to an exciting fall series in St. Louis and Minneapolis! For more information on participating in or hosting this intercultural series, please contact Emily Wiechers.

Categories: Alumni, Bosch, CBYX, CDS International, Events, Fellowships, Germany, TREF No Comments »