One-Step Marathon
Editor’s Note: This blog is part of an ongoing series of contributions from participants in The German Marshall Fund’s flagship leadership development program, The Marshall Memorial Fellowship (MMF).
“There can be no doubt that all our knowledge begins with experience”
I. Kant
I have just accomplished my trip to the United States as a part of the unique opportunity granted to me and other European fellows by the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) to participate in the Marshall Memorial Fellowship (MMF) in order to enhance transatlantic collaboration and cooperation. This program gave me a chance to perform a “quantum leap” to achieve a depth of understanding in just under a month that would otherwise have taken years to realize. MMF exposed me to a comprehensive and diverse set of uniquely experienced people, extremely interesting places, exciting activities and discussion on topics of global importance.
During my trip I visited five cities: Washington, DC; Cleveland, Ohio; West Palm Beach, Florida; Houston, Texas; and New York City. Could I have imagined how unique those cities would be and at the same time how many new perspectives and best practices for my home country of Ukraine they would offer? Below are some of the insights gleaned from around the United States relevant to the challenges we face in Ukraine.
Cleveland. A highly industrialized city in the past, Cleveland has been compelled to “rebrand” itself for the 21st century by diversifying its economy, attracting a highly-skilled labor force, and encouraging small and medium-sized business development. Ukraine, my home country, faced the same problems recently, as metals traditionally composed a major part of our exports. In order to compete and sustain we too have to diversify our economy in favor of high added-value industries, and find a way of bringing back to life a number of “depressed” cities and settlements.
West Palm Beach. In my personal experience I don’t know any other city which has gone so far in terms of environmental programs and water management. Water appeared to be the main and the most precious resource here, as it allows the state to become one of the major agricultural producers not only in the United States, but globally as well. Farming has progressed in West Palm Beach far ahead of what we have in Ukraine, so we have a lot to learn from Florida about proper farm management, land and water use, and implementation of advanced technologies in order to reduce risks and increase productivity.
Houston. The city, which is primarily known as the world’s oil capital, has done an incredible job in building a sustainable system for veteran rehabilitation and reintegration into society. Moreover, veterans who have succeeded in other jobs after coming back home continue to be a worthy example for others to follow by contributing to their communities, for example by refurbishing a school in a low income Houston neighborhood. There has been a war going on in Ukraine for more than two years, and nobody can predict when it will end. It is our duty and privilege to take care of those who sacrifice their lives for defending ours.
Washington and New York City. Both are global cities, but the former is the brain, the face, and the voice of the states, which bears all the political wisdom, meets the world’s leaders, and represents the United States to the world. The long and successful history of democracy’s development serves as a kind of “lighthouse” in the darkness of uncertainty and turbulence we have been passing through in Ukraine. And I really would not like to lose this guiding line after November 9, despite what appears to be an upcoming period of uncertainty and potential turbulence in the United States. While DC is the American face, New York City is the country’s heart, which never sleeps and beats in the rhythm of accelerating progress and global development. This city offers us a great example of how to become a welcoming home for everyone and at the same time to preserve its unique character.
Apart from specifics of the individual communities we visited during MMF, we fellows have also learned a lot about democracy and freedom, human rights and inclusivity, social responsibility and community development. And of course, the famous “American dream,” which promises that anyone can be anything. We also have our “Ukrainian dream” to be free and independent, to have peace, and to develop our country for future generations. Ukraine has a long history, but a very short period of sovereignty, which is again being threatened.
In the course of MMF we’ve met true leaders who were not afraid of challenges and risks and were ready to move forward together with their fellow citizens. And in fact, the United States is a country of leadership — whether you are governing the country, operating a steel plant, or running a small social business for immigrant kids. Sometimes it even seems that you can smell leadership in the air. We need to learn that and to grow and develop our own generation of leaders and agents of change, who would bring us to our “Ukrainian dream,” to our prosperous future.
At the end of my American trip I feel like I’ve accomplished a “one-step marathon” — so much I’ve learned and so many ideas I’ve collected for myself and my country for such a short period of time, thanks to this unique program run by the German Marshall Fund for over three decades. The world has become so globalized that you don’t need to run a marathon any more to get the minds and reach the hearts of your fellow colleagues across the Atlantic. You only need to open your eyes and ears and give a hand of understanding and collaboration — and you will see that an apparently long distance will be overcome in one single step.
Igor Goncharenko, Project Manager on Anti-Corruption Reform at the Project Office of the National Reforms Council of Ukraine, is a Fall 2016 European Marshall Memorial Fellow.