Our president, David Smith, participated at The Civic Integrity – Youth Forum, organized by The Future Leaders Exchange alumni community, on the 19th of June in Chisinau, Moldova.
The goal of the event was to cover the general topic of civic integrity, and how does it look in domains as politics, justice, journalism, civic activism, etc. The main focus was on how a person can maintain their personal integrity when the society often encourages them not to.
Speakers of the forum were representatives of the diplomatic missions of the United States of America, European Union, and other representatives of Civil Society. They shared insights and debated the topics about corruption in the education system and other day to day occurrences, connecting them to the students through group discussion and questions. The participants could see in their everyday lives how people’s integrity could be challenged by these circumstances and what types of methods and tools they can use to fight back.
We were encouraged to see that participants were excited and engaged with the topics and they had a vibrant conversation about how to be a person of integrity in a corrupt world, whether that world is Moldova or America all the same.
The FLEX program is funded by the United States Government and aims to promote respect for cultural diversity, provide opportunities for personal development and engage in community service.