I am a graduate of the Iacocca Institute’s Global Village for Future Leaders of Business and Industry. The Global Village is a unique, exclusive, and demanding global business leadership training program that was held in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania campus and also included New York City and Washington, D.C. business visits.
Below is an excerpt from the letter of recommendation that I was pleased to receive from Mary Frances Schurtz-Leon - the Candidate Manager and Director of Residence Life for the Global Village Program.
'The intimate nature of the Global Village program makes communication skills crucial for participants to gain the most from their experience. Living in an on-campus residence with almost 100 other men and women from such diverse backgrounds can be extremely challenging. Alla was warm, welcoming, and open-minded. Alla’s excellent verbal and non-verbal communication skills and her wide cultural experience are complimented by a strong desire and ability to collaborate with others. As a result of her Global Village experience, Alla is now part of a vital and engaged global network of 2035 young leaders representing 135 different nations and territories.'
'The long term group project assigned to each intern is one of our best indicators of leadership potential. Alla contributed a minimum of 80 hours as part of the international team working on a consulting project for a Serbian developer of solar powered urban furniture for smart and sustainable cities. The smart street furniture brings Internet of Things to outdoor public spaces that people visit daily, improving urban living by making cities smarter and more convenient to live in. Alla’s consulting team was charged with the tasks of identifying cities in the U.S.A. which would provide the best markets for the client’s products.'
'Alla was a definite asset to her project team as both a researcher and a key task leader. She was always prepared and organized and consistently handled tasks with a positive and proactive attitude. Alla is focused, determined, and hard-working. She functions well in a culturally and ethnically diverse environment, recognizing the potential of her peers and motivating them to achieve. Alla was particularly supportive of team members with less experience in business and marketing. Alla is an active listener, who knows how to work well in a team environment and inspired the Team toward achieving objectives.'
'Global Village is an intense, demanding program and Alla was fully engaged in all Global Village activities. Highly intelligent, Alla welcomed challenges and exercised initiative; she possessed a high level of commitment, and empathy.'
'Alla has the emotional and mental maturity to recognize and take advantage of the learning opportunity in everything that she does. She is open-minded, dedicated, and accountable. As mentioned above, she was an energetic and enthusiastic ambassador of her home country, very open to sharing the knowledge about her culture with other participants of GV, as well as to learning about other cultures. The consummate professional throughout the program, Alla was poised and articulate whether in an informal social context among her fellow Villagers or formally introducing an executive visitor to a large audience of program participants.'
