Through strong, long-term relationships with food, beverage, and equipment companies, Ashraf has generated funds to make the organization ground zero for the exchange of information and services among chefs, and Egypt’s premier source of culinary knowledge and training.

“I need to do something!” Rueda said to the U.S. Ambassador to Spain after meeting him at a volunteer award conference. “ The ambassador, taken by Yolanda’s passion to help others, recommended her for a VolVis International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). Just a few months later, Yolanda came to the United States on a volunteerism and social innovation-focused IVLP with another Spanish colleague.

In his home country of Turkmenistan, Ibragim Nurjanov has been a tireless advocate for the well-being of people with disabilities, both as a sports trainer and as a participant in the Democracy Commission. As such, he was a natural candidate for an International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on the topic of “Promoting Disability Rights.”