Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

Home > ECA News > Opening Plentary Remarks

Remarks by Assistant Secretary Patricia S. Harrison
P4L YES Civic Workshop
June 8, 2004

Good morning everyone, and welcome to the State Department.

As you may know, the State Department, and the Bureau I lead - Educational and Cultural Affairs - is the sponsor of the YES program -- and each of you are truly pioneers, our youth ambassadors as members of the very first YES high school delegation.

YES is part of our Partnerships for Learning programs which helps Americans and people from other countries, people of good will work together on behalf of young people everywhere. The successor generation.

But we need your help and so I want to say thank you for coming to the United States, leaving your friends and families and neighborhoods and giving us a chance to not only know you, but to understand more about your culture, your communities, and your countries.

It is my hope that through exchange programs like YES we can also encourage American teen-agers to visit your countries and live with host families as well.

Let me tell you something interesting about yourselves.

Even though I do not know you personally, I had a chance to talk to many of you when you first arrived here.

I remember the young woman from Cairo who wanted to know why American teenagers were asking her all the time, "What is it like to ride a camel?" As she pointed out-she is from a very big and sophisticated city, Cairo, and had never been on a camel in her life.

We know that the people who come to this country as part of an exchange program return to their own countries with not only information but with the benefits that come from this very special experience.

You now have some tools, skills and knowledge that perhaps you did not have before. I know that when I travel and have a chance to talk and meet with people from other countries, it gives me an experience you just can't get from reading a book.

In fact, I believe in exchanges so much that I usually tell people, if you don't go, you don't know.

As great as television or the movies or the Internet may be, none of them can ever take the place of face to face contact, real relationship building in real time.

An opportunity to get to know people beyond the stereotypes and caricatures that define many of our cultures, including that of the United States.

I heard about the impressive presentations that so many of you made in your host communities and states.

Bob Persiko e-mails me on a regular basis. And I know many of you want to see more Americans come to your countries.

And in response, we are opening up opportunities for American youth to travel to your countries on short-term visits.

Leadership has been a theme of our program from the beginning. We know that when you return home you will start to think about how you can contribute-at every level. In your community, or perhaps one day, in business, or government, or politics, the arts and sciences.

And that is also why I am interested in hearing from you about your weekend in Boulder, Colorado, which focused on leadership and community building, organized by Sister Cities International. Let me know if you thought this was a valuable program.

Bob Persiko will give you my e-mail if you do not already have it.

Leadership does not wait for someone to become a certain age before it shows up. It is a muscle that should be exercised every day until one day; you will find you have the strength to do what you need to do.

Leadership begins from within. That quiet thought when you begin to think: I can do that. I may not know how. But I can start now to find out.

I am very lucky because my day begins every day with a real leader, Secretary Powell, who believes that leaders must be optimistic. Because hope is a force multiplier-and if you want to get something done, you can not do it all alone, you need to increase the numbers of people who will be attracted to your positive vision for change and help you.

Professor Warren Bennis at the University of Southern California said about leadership: "Good leaders make people feel that they're at the very heart of things, not at the periphery. Everyone feels that he or she makes a difference to the success of the organization. When that happens people feel centered and that gives their work meaning."

And I would add that when people feel centered and meaningful, they will follow a leader to places they wouldn't otherwise be willing to go.

I know I've experienced that in my own life and perhaps you have, too.

Colin Powell is the son of Jamaican immigrants, not the product of elite schools or privilege.

Growing up in a tough neighborhood in the South Bronx, he learned a lot beyond what he learned from books. He built on that experience and I believe it served him well in other environments as well. He began as a young person to see a vision for his life.

Leaders come in all shapes and sizes. They come from all countries, all communities, all religions-no one gender or economic status, or race or religion can claim they have a monopoly on leadership qualities.

Last year we brought over a group of women teachers from Afghanistan as part of our international visitors program - women who had taught young girls despite great threat and torture by the Taliban.

I asked one of them: "How did you find the courage to do this?"

"It wasn't courage." she said. "It was just the right thing to do." Just the right thing to do.

Leadership is not only knowing the right thing to do, it is finding the courage to do it.

During your time here you have had a chance to watch up close, how Americans get involved beyond government, through the community, through organizations they form, through political involvement at a grass roots level.

This is one focus of your Washington, D.C. program this week, and I'm sure you have witnessed good examples of citizen participation in the communities where you were hosted.

You also were involved in community service projects.

You have also seen that we do not have all the answers.

Your ten months in the U.S. is coming to an end this week. I hope that this is just the beginning of the exchange, not the end.

If you formed friendships, these will continue.

What you learned, you now need to share with others at home, so that this exchange of information goes beyond just those who have had the opportunity to travel.

I encourage you to join alumni groups so that you can work together with others who have had an international experience to find ways to make a difference at home.

Our experience with other programs has shown that alumni who work together can really accomplish great things.

We are proud that the YES Program enjoys strong support from our congress. When you visit congressional offices tomorrow, I encourage you to express your appreciation to every member you meet for the support that made your scholarships possible.

After you've been back home for a time and begin thinking about where you'd like to go to university, I hope you'll consider coming back to the U.S. to study here.

As alumni of a U.S. exchange program, you are joining the ranks of presidents, prime ministers, Nobel prize winners, and leaders from every walk of life that you could imagine.

People like Kofi Annan, who was in Minnesota while he was here, and Anwar Sadat, President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, Prime Minister Tony Blair of Great Britain, President Megawati of Indonesia, and hundreds and hundreds of others were all alumni of our exchange programs.

You were chosen for the YES Program because someone thought you had the potential to be a future world leader.

So with that vote of confidence, you can begin to move toward your dream, your vision with confidence.

You are a truly remarkable group of young people - of young leaders.

Thank you and I'd be happy to answer any questions you have for me.

Back to the top