For eight days in March the Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council hosted a group of six Ukrainian visitors as part of the U.S. Congressional Open World exchange program. These visitors participated in a project focusing on themes including governmental accountability, promotion of civic participation and civil society, and the role of NGOs in a community.
The group began their program with a welcome to Pensacola and an orientation to the city given by Councilman Charles Bare. After discussion, the visitors were surprised and delighted when Councilman Bare presented them with certificates of honorary citizenship to the city. As newly minted honorary citizens, the group was excited to dive into the Pensacola program.
On the topic of government transparency and accountability, the group met with City Attorney Lysia Bowling and attorney Maxwell Branham to discuss the Sunshine Law, Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille to highlight how corruption is prosecuted, Independent News Publisher Rick Outzen to discuss investigative journalism, and Escambia County Director of Community and Media Relations Joy Tsubooka for a discussion on government-media relations and public records requests.
To wrap up this topic, the Ukrainian visitors were in for a treat at the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Office. Program Coordinator Sonya Daniel spoke about how elections are run and kept fair, transparent, and accessible for citizens before inviting the group to take part in their own mini-election!
Another central topic in the Ukrainians’ program was citizen activism and participation in civil society. They visited Congressman Jeff Miller’s office for a discussion with District Representative Tiffany Bates on citizen access and communication with their congressional representatives; Political blogger and former city councilwoman Maren DeWeese discussed using citizen journalism as a platform to monitor and report on possible corruption in government; North Hill Preservation Association President Melanie Nichols highlighted successful ways to mobilize citizen groups on issues that affect them; and Paula Montgomery and Janet deLorge of the Pensacola Bay Area League of Women Voters met with the group to highlight their work to involve more citizens in the democratic process and advocate for local civic and social issues.
The group also enjoyed lunch with Meg Burke and Chuntell Patterson, members of Pensacola Young Professionals, where they heard more about this organization and how it gives young people a way to get involved in their community and bring about positive change.
The third major theme of the visit was the role of NGOs and community institutions. To address this topic, visitors spent time at the Pensacola Police Department discussing community policing and accountability with Sergeant Jimmy Donohoe; Legal Services of North Florida Staff Attorney Carrie Cromey talked with the group about their mission to ensure legal access for all citizens; and visitors joined with volunteers and staff of First United Methodist Church’s Serving the Hungry outreach mission to highlight the importance of hunger alleviation work and volunteer preparing and serving lunch to underprivileged community members.
A discussion with Keyontay Humphries of the Panhandle ACLU and Escambia Youth Justice Coalition (EYJC) was a bit of a hybrid meeting, touching on the role of the ACLU in protecting individual rights and freedoms and the work of the EYJC in bringing together citizens and local institutions to focus on the problem of high juvenile incarceration rates.
The group also spent time speaking with University of West Florida International Relations students during a visit to Professor Jacob Shively’s “Causes of War” class, and they shared their perspectives on the current social and political realities of their country during the “Ukraine Today” public presentation held at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition.
In between the formal meetings, there was plenty of time for cultural excursions and fun! The group had a great time combining a tour of Historic Pensacola Village with lunch at the Smokin’ in the Square BBQ Cook-off in Seville Square. They also spent time at the National Naval Aviation Museum; even seeing some of the Blue Angel’s weekly practice! The beach was, of course, a favorite stop, and the group had the additional treat of time spent sailing in Pensacola Bay.
These visitors were hosted by a group of wonderful local members and supporters of the Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council. We would like to extend a big thank you to Joe Lepo, Michael Ritz, Jeannine Van Reeth, and Mike and Debbie Layton for opening their homes to our Ukrainian delegates and showing them warm hospitality.
A special thank you goes also to volunteer facilitator Kim Rivera who accompanied the visitors for some of the days of their professional program.
Finally, none of this program would be possible without the collaboration of our community. Thank you to everyone who contributed time and energy in meeting with our international guests and for advancing citizen diplomacy and international understanding in northwest Florida.
