On November 16, 2021, the Austrian Embassy hosted an alumni meeting of US ALPS graduates, the Austrian Leadership Program Series.
Alumni become volunteer "advertisers" or “citizen ambassadors" for Austria abroad, initiating cooperative projects, twinning cities, setting up cultural exhibition projects, establishing business contacts, and providing useful information and high-level contacts to representative offices abroad. Since 2016, 20-25 international decision-makers, executives and multipliers, aged from 25 to around 45 years, from the fields of politics, administration, business, media, and culture have been invited to Austria once or twice a year. In the long term, ALPS should help to create a sustainable alumni network in these countries, which will help Austria to assert its foreign and economic policy interests.
During the alumni meeting at the residence of the Austrian Ambassador in Washington DC, the participants had the opportunity to exchange ideas with each other, with U.S. alumni from the different "cohorts," and with the representatives of the Austrian Embassy, including Deputy Chief of Mission Günther Salzmann, the Head of the Economic Policy Department, Mr. Georg Lack, and head of the Austrian Cultural Forum Washington, Dr. Johannes Aigner.
From left to right: alumnus Justin Schardin, Deputy Chief of Mission Günther Salzmann and alumna Margaux Avedisian.
Photo: Austrian Press & Information Service