It is with great pride that we congratulate our Founder and Executive Director Neda Abghari for her recent appointment as a Marshall Memorial Fellow of the German Marshall Fund.

She is Atlanta’s first Arts and Culture leader to participate in the prestigious program through which she will work to strengthen transatlantic ties with global leaders to shape the future of the Arts and public policy, locally, nationally, and internationally.

The Marshall Memorial Fellowship is GMF’s flagship leadership development program. Created in 1982 to introduce a new generation of European leaders to the United States, MMF grew in 1999 with a companion program that began sending emerging leaders from the United States to Europe. GMF awards 75 Marshall Memorial Fellowships each year to the best and brightest from all sectors, including business, government, and civil society. Selected fellows engage in 6 months of preparation designed to enhance their understanding of transatlantic relations before embarking on 24 days of policy immersion across the Atlantic. Today, the MMF alumni network numbers nearly 2,500 leaders.

GMF selects fellows from all 50 U.S. States and across 39 European countries. These fellows join a network that includes notable alumni such as Emmanuel Macron, (MMF’06) Presidnet of France, Federica Mogherini (MMF 2007, Italy), EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; Bertrand Badre (MMF 1998, France), Managing Director and World Bank Group CFO at the World Bank; and Annie Maxwell (MMF 2007, United States), President of the Skoll Foundation.