The Rumsfeld Foundation is pleased to announce the 12 professionals selected to participate in the Spring 2023 session of the CAMCA Fellowship Program. Launched in 2008, the CAMCA Fellowship is a joint program of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at the American Foreign Policy Council and the Rumsfeld Foundation. It brings exceptional rising leaders from Central Asia, Mongolia, the Caucasus and Afghanistan (CAMCA) to the United States for a high-level, intensive exchange experience designed to forge enduring personal and professional connections among its talented participants. The Fellowship aims to encourage intraregional cooperation among the program countries as well as to foster stronger relations between the U.S. and the CAMCA region, and serves as a starting point for continued dialogue and collaboration among the innovative regional leaders that comprise the program’s alumni network.
As participants of the 26th Fellowship session, the Spring 2023 group will join the program’s growing alumni network of 253 former Fellows.
Throughout their six-week program, Fellows will attend a series of private high-level meetings with top policy-makers, business leaders, journalists, academics, military personnel and regional experts, exposing them to inside perspectives on how opinion making, decision making and policy making processes work in the U.S. The group will also spend a week traveling to Kalamazoo, Michigan; South Bend, Indiana; and Chicago, Illinois for meetings with local businesses and officials, providing them with a view of the U.S. beyond the nation’s capital. In addition to group meetings, program staff will assist Fellows in arranging individual meetings relevant to their independent interests as well as provide opportunities for professional development and networking. The Fellows will also participate in a group presentation at a Central Asia-Caucasus Institute public forum where they will engage with representatives from local embassies, businesses, universities, the media and others interested in current perspectives from the region.
The Spring 2023 Fellows consist of a diverse group of talented regional leaders, pictured left to right below:
Mr. Mohibullah Noori – Afghanistan – Founder and President of Fajristan-Heart of Asia Nations Integration Movement (HANIM)
Ms. Arzula Elmi – Afghanistan – Senior Fellow at Afghanistan House
Mr. Areg Kochinyan – Armenia – President of the Research Center on Security Policy
Mr. Sanan Shabanov – Azerbaijan – Senior Investment Officer for the Central and West Asian Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Azerbaijan Resident Mission
Ms. Nino Egadze – Georgia – Founder of Design Institute in Tbilisi, Georgia
Ms. Laura Demessinova – Kazakhstan – Head of the Investor Relations Division at the National Welfare Fund "Samruk-Kazyna"
Mr. Niyaz Irsaliev – Kyrgyz Republic – CEO of Unis-Kurulush LLC, a construction company that specializes in civil and industrial buildings, as well as the head of a group of companies in the field of geological surveys, design, construction and electricity production through renewable water resources
Mr. Sovetbek Kachkynbaev – Kyrgyz Republic – Founder of eco-boutique hotel, “Matsunoki,” in Karakol city, Issyk Kul Lake region
Ms. Nomin Dashnyam – Mongolia – Partner at MahoneyLiotta LLP, a leading law firm in Mongolia
Mr. Firdavs Mirzoev – Tajikistan – Co-founder of Alif, a fintech company currently operating in Tajikistan (as a full-fledged bank) and Uzbekistan (as a BNPL service provider and payment organization)
Mr. Merdan Atayev – Turkmenistan – National Consultant for the Development of Trade Facilitation Portal at the International Trade Center of the World Trade Organization and a Finance Specialist at Gujurly Inzener Economic Company
Mr. Ulugbek Gulomov – Uzbekistan – Consultant with the Agency for Strategic Reforms under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, advising the government on establishing the Tashkent International Commercial Court
To learn more about the CAMCA Fellowship Program please visit our CAMCA Fellowship page.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Sarah C. Tonucci
Executive Director, Rumsfeld Foundation
1100 17th Street NW, #402
Washington, D.C. 20036
Tel: (202) 944-1304
E-mail: sarah@rumsfeldfoundation.org
David Soumbadze
Director, CAMCA Fellowship Program
509 C Street NE
Washington, D.C. 20002
Tel: (301) 257-5753
E-mail: soumbadze@afpc.org