MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. – The Talloires Network and the MacJannet Foundation will present the first annual MacJannet Prize for Global Citizenship at an award ceremony on June 6 at the Tufts European Center in Talloires, France. The Prize winners were announced on April 16 after a Selection Committee of leaders in higher education civic engagement reviewed the 67 applications.
 
First prize is being awarded to the Urban Health Program at Aga Khan University in Pakistan. The two second prizes are being awarded to Opération 7ème Jour (Operation 7th Day) at the Université Saint-Joseph in Lebanon and the Theewaterskloof International Community Development Project at Cape Peninsula University of Technology in South Africa. The third place winners are:
·        Alashanek Ya Balady (American University in Cairo in Egypt)
·        Assistance Program for Local Development (Universidad Señor de Sipan, Peru)
·        The Human Rights Clinic (Al-Quds University, Palestine)
·        Playing for Time Theatre Company (University of Winchester, United Kingdom)
·        Women Legal Leaders & Legal Feminism Clinic (University of Haifa, Israel)
 
The Talloires Network will be flying two representatives from each of the first and second place winners to receive their awards in person at the award ceremony in Talloires. The Urban Health Program at Aga Khan University will be represented by Dr. Muhammad Yousuf, Principal Coordinator of the UHP, and Maliha Naseer, a Community Medicine Resident in the UHP. Opération 7ème Jour will be represented by Ms. Gloria Abdo, Social Animator in USJ’s Social Service directorate, and Ms. Joëlle Hobeika, a medical student at USJ active in Opération 7ème Jour. The Theewaterskloof International Community Development Project will be represented by Prof. Lineo Vuyisa Mazwi-Tanga, Vice-Chancellor of Cape Peninsula University of Technology, and Fattinald Rangongo, a student in CPUT’s Department of Entrepreneurship and active participant in the Development Project. Also participating in the ceremony will be several members of the Talloires Network secretariat staff as well as officials from the MacJannet Foundation Board.
 
Members of the Talloires Network secretariat staff will also participate in the ceremony. Professor Robert Hollister, Dean of the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University, Susan Stroud, Executive Director of Innovations in Civic Participation, and Elizabeth Babcock, Coordinator of the Talloires Network, will all share their knowledge of higher education civic engagement with award winners.  Tony Cook, President of the MacJannet Foundation, will also engage with award winners and offer his perspective on the role of the MacJannet Foundation in promoting global citizenship.
 
In addition to the award ceremony, representatives of the winning programs will have the opportunity to meet and discuss ideas with one another and with the Talloires Network and MacJannet Foundation staff. The Talloires Network will be holding several capacity-building workshops on topics such as fundraising, program management, and working with students in order to help the representatives gain new ideas and skills to take back to their programs.
 
The Talloires Network is also pleased to be partnering with the Pearson Foundation to produce a short video of interviews with the program representatives to be shown at the award ceremony and also posted on the MacJannet Prize website. The Pearson Foundation is sending several of its staff to film and edit this video with the program representatives the day before the award ceremony. As the philanthropic arm of Pearson plc, one of the world’s leading media and education companies, the Pearson Foundation extends Pearson’s commitment to education by partnering with leading nonprofit, civic, and business organizations to provide financial, organizational, and publishing assistance across the globe.
 
The award ceremony and the other activities for the winning programs’ representatives will take place at the Tufts University European Center, which is based at the historic Priory in Talloires, France. Located on the scenic shore of Lake Annecy less than an hour from Geneva, the Priory was given to Tufts University by Donald and Charlotte MacJannet to host students studying abroad as well as international conferences and seminars. The Priory also hosted the Talloires Conference 2005, which gave rise to the Talloires Declaration on the Civic Roles and Social Responsibilities of Higher Education and the launch of the Talloires Network.
 

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The MacJannet Foundation carries out the life work of Donald and Charlotte MacJannet by offering scholarship programs, awards, and other financial support for the Tufts University European Center (http://www.macjannet.org/).
 
The Talloires Network is an international association of institutions committed to strengthening the civic roles and social responsibilities of higher education (http://www.tufts.edu/talloiresnetwork/).
 
The MacJannet Prize for Global Citizenship recognizes exceptional student civic engagement initiatives based in Talloires Network member universities around the world and contributes financially to their ongoing public service efforts. Visit http://www.macjannetprize.org/ in the upcoming months for profiles and documentaries of the winning programs, and for information about next year’s competition.

Contact:
Elizabeth Babcock
Talloires Network Coordinator
babcock {at} icicp(.)org
(p) 202-775-0290
(f) 202-355-9317