Congressional Internship Program funded through December 2014
Washington, DC – The Hungarian American Coalition (HAC) has received a grant of $260,000 from the Hungarian Initiatives Foundation (HIF) to underwrite its Congressional Internship Program (CIP) through December 2014.
Following the HIF Board decision to approve the grant, Dr. Tamás Fellegi, President and CEO of HIF, said that “the Congressional Internship Program is an outstanding initiative that provides excellent opportunities to many young Hungarians and Hungarian Americans. We are excited to support the program and help create and foster professional and personal ties between the United States and Hungary”. Coalition President Maximilian Teleki welcomed the decision of HIF and said that “securing long-term financial support for CIP has always been a high-priority issue for us. The significant expansion of the program will allow many more talented students to become better prepared in their professional lives and become motivated for public service. We are deeply honored by HIF’s support”.
This signature program of the Coalition was established in 2005 for the purpose of bringing young Hungarian/Americans, and English-speaking Hungarians from Hungary and the neighboring countries, to gain first-hand experience at the U.S. Congress and various Washington-based institutions. Internship participants are expected to complete a Coalition research project that enables them to become familiar with the Hungarian-American community. Through assignments to Congressional offices, think tanks and non-government organizations, CIP participants learn about the workings of both the U.S. government and the non-profit world. Their experience helps them establish contacts in the U.S. in their chosen field, and motivates them to enter public service in their country of origin.
Host institutions have included: Congressman Dennis Kucinich; Congressman Andy Harris; the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs; Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS); International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES); Heritage Foundation; William Penn Association and the Hungarian Human Rights Foundation; German Marshall Fund of the United Sates; Global Entrepreneurship Week; Meridian House International.
Forty students have completed HAC’s Congressional Internship program since 2005.
The Hungary Initiatives Foundation is an independent, U.S.-based non-partisan and non-profit organization committed to strengthening the understanding and cooperation between Hungary and the Unites States of America. The Foundation is the first of its kind in the long history of the Hungarian diaspora. The Foundation wishes to take an active part in the educational, academic, personal, and professional exchange between Hungary and the United States. For more information go to: http://www.hungaryfoundation.org