FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 14, 2015
Coro Pittsburgh builds capacity around Transparency and Accountability in Zimbabwe
Pittsburgh, PA— Mary C. Parker, Director of Training and Learning Development at Coro Pittsburgh, will travel to Zimbabwe from Wednesday, April 15 through Tuesday, April 28 to support Ntandoyenkosi Dumani in his work around transparency and accountability, through a U.S. Department of State grant awarded through the Community Solutions Program. This two-way exchange strengthens the capacity of community leaders to develop creative solutions to challenges in their home communities.
During Mary’s time in Zimbabwe, Mary will build the capacity of civic society organizations and civic leaders by conducting three workshops on civic engagement specific to effective inquiry, facilitation, and strategies for community dialogue in Plumtree Town, Bulilima and Mangwe Rural Districts. Mary’s work in Zimbabwe will help to foster cross-national dialogue on best practices in civic engagement in Zimbabwe and Pittsburgh.
Coro Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, PA, was initially connected with Kulani Trust in the fall of 2014 when they hosted Ntandoyenkosi Dumani through the Department of State’s Community Solutions Program. During his four months with Coro Pittsburgh, Ntandoyenkosi offered trainings to three of Coro’s programs using leadership development tools he developed in Zimbabwe. In addition to his leadership development trainings, he conducted a behavioral assessment with our current participants and alumni and led Coro staff in a team building retreat.
September 17, 2014: Community Solutions Program Leader Ntandoyenkosi Dumani led Coro Pittsburgh’s Leaders in Learning in a skills training on The Problem Tree Analysis that will help Leaders in Learning deepen their understanding of the racial achievement gap in Pittsburgh Public Schools. Learn more about Coro Pittsburgh’s Community Solutions Program Leaders here.
In addition to the tremendous benefits Ntandoyenkosi brought to Coro Pittsburgh, this fellowship started a partnership between him and Mary. Ntandoyenkosi worked with Mary throughout his time in Pittsburgh to find ways to translate his experience back to Zimbabwe. Ntandoyenkosi sees this trip as an opportunity to deepen that partnership and develop a lasting relationship between Coro Pittsburgh and Kulani Trust.
The Community Solutions Program is a professional development program for the best and brightest global community leaders working in the fields of transparency and accountability, tolerance and conflict resolution, environmental issues and women and gender issues. The program matches global leaders with organizations across the United States to collaborate on projects and leave better positioned to make lasting change in their home communities.
For press inquires please contact:
- Sarah Miller, Outreach Manager, Coro Pittsburgh: 412-258-2673, smiller@coropittsburgh.org
- Taunya Atwood, Senior Program Officer, IREX: 202-628-8188. tatwood@irex.org
- Nathan Arnold, Public Affairs, Department of State: 202-632-9351, eca-press@state.gov
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