Press Release
Bridgetown, Barbados, Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - Barbadian Shawn Knight, a Technical Support Representative at LIME, Wildey, St. Michael returned recently from the International Visitor Leadership Program run by the United States Department of State.
The Vice President in the Youth Arm of the Barbados Workers Union joined ten other participants from around the world in examining the United States' labor programs. They looked at the structure of the U.S. labor movement in domestic and international economic, labor and trade policies.
They also explored the origins, history, operation and role of organized labor in U.S. society as well as addressed the various perspectives of labor/management relations in the public and private sectors; and observed the role of U.S. organized labor in the political, economic and social systems at the federal, state, and local levels.
The program ran from August 31 - September 18, 2009.
In addition to Washington D.C., Knight also travelled to Kansas City, Missouri, Atlanta, Georgia and Los Angeles, California visiting various labor organizations.
He recently paid a courtesy call on D. Brent Hardt, Chargé d'Affaires at the Embassy of the United States of America to Barbados and Eastern Caribbean.
During the visit, Chargé Hardt congratulated him on being chosen for the program and expressed the hope that the knowledge and experience he gained in the U.S. would help with his further development.
Knight thanked the Chargé and his staff for nominating him and making his trip possible. He described the experience as "brilliant" adding that he especially enjoyed his visit to Kansas.
The International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) seeks to build understanding between the United States and people of other countries through carefully designed visits that reflect the visitor's professional interests and supports the foreign policy goals of the United States Department of State.
Over the years, hundreds of former participants in the IVLP have risen to important positions in their countries. Among the alumni are over two hundred current and former heads of Government or Chiefs of State. In this region, over 200 persons from Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and St. Kitts and Nevis have been selected for the program.