Martin W Nagy

Taking Action Volume III Martin W Nagy

Volume III "Taking Action-Changing Lives in Minority Communities" is a result and a study guide of a grant from the U. S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Office of Citizen Exchanges, Professional Fellows Division to the Great Lakes Consortium for International Training and Development (GLC), a program of WSOS Community Action Commission. GLC has received grants from the Department of State since 2011 to provide professional development in the field of community organizing a relatively new profession in Eastern Europe) through training, mentoring and two-way exchanges of mid-level professionals from Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and the United States. Urban and rural participants alike gain knowledge of U. S. practices in citizen participation and advocacy, engaging, minorities, and marginalized populations in civil society and politics, collaborating with community leaders to inform changes in legislation that make a difference in minority communities (incl. Roma, disabled, homeless, immigrant, LGBT). The sixty stories in Volume III document efforts undertaken in Eastern Europe to develop grassroots democracy through citizen engagement. Volume II contains 48 stories and Volume I contains 85 stories). U. S. mentors from the U. S. internship hosting organizations are selected to travel for a reciprocal visit overseas. Mentors have an opportunity to share professional expertise and gain a deeper understanding of the societies, cultures and people from Eastern Europe. The citizen civic exchange promotes mutual understanding, creates long-term professional ties not only between the U. S. and the European participants but also among the participants within Europe and within their own country. These programs strengthened the capacity of our European partners and the European Networks.