Placement: Meridian Center for Cultural Diplomacy (MCCD), Washington D.C.: April 5 – August 14, 2019
During her internship at MCCD, Borbála was involved in the following four projects: Next Level; Cultural Diplomacy Leadership Council, Cultural Diplomacy Forum and various exhibitions. Next Level is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Meridian International Center with a mission is to use hip hop music, dance, and art to foster cross-cultural creative exchange in diverse communities. Borbála’s main responsibilities in the project included the management of the website and organizing the two most important events of Next Level in the US (Orientation and Next Level Global). The Cultural Diplomacy Leadership Council is a network of leaders and advisors around the United States and the world who believe in employing the arts and culture as a tool of diplomacy and global engagement. Borbála was in charge of preparing recommendations for the leadership council and organizing several events for the participants. Borbála also helped in the preparations for ‘Meridian Diplomacy Forum: Countries of the Mekong’ that brought together government, business and artistic leaders to discover and explore the ecological, cultural and economic allure flowing through the sub region. Finally, she also got involved in the preparations of two exhibitions organized remotely in countries such as China or Indonesia, including doing secondary research for podcasts. Borbála was also instrumental in organizing the Coalition’s 2019 Gala Dinner and Dr. László Brenzovics’s visit.
“There are two main aspects of my internship at Meridian that proved to be of great help when I took over this new role: the experience I gained in project planning and project proposal writing, and the lessons I learnt regarding teamwork. I have been taking what I have learnt in D.C. as a set of best practices and trying to implement them in my organization and my department in particular.”
Borbála Péntek holds an undergraduate degree in International Relations and European Studies from University of Babes-Bolyai (Cluj Napoca, Romania) and two graduate degrees in Conflict Analysis and Management and in European Affairs and Project Management from the same university. Currently, Borbála works as a business research analyst at the KPI Institute, a research institute specialized in business performance and she is also the regional coordinator of the Canadian Rákóczi Foundation’s Students Without Boundaries Program. She has also been responsible for implementing cultural projects in Transylvania through grants received by the Hungarian National Cultural Fund. Alongside her university studies, Borbála pursued various internships, including a three-month internship at the Office for the European Representation of Hungarian National Communities in Brussels, Belgium. Borbála is interested in minority issues, human rights advocacy, conflict management, business research and cultural diplomacy. She speaks English and Romanian fluently, and Spanish on a basic level.