Baroness Smith and Lord Falconer travel to Russia to promote 2009 Fellowship Programme
During the end of September 2008, the Trust Chairman Lord Falconer, Baroness Smith, Trust Director Brian Brivati and Deputy Director Natalia Westcombe travelled to Russia in order to promote the 2009 Fellowship Programme and to meet with a large group of alumni to deepen the Fellowship network via the creation of a Russian alumni organisation. The visit was sponsored by Renaissance Capital, KPMG, Dr Armen Sarkissian, Clifford Chance, the PBN Company and Sistema.
Baroness Smith and Natalia first travelled to Nizhny Novgorod – the fourth largest city in Russia and the capital of Privolzhsky Okrug, one of the seventh Federal regions of Russia, to raise awareness in the region about the Trust’s work and encourage young leaders to apply for the 2009 Programme. Baroness Smith was popular with the local press (see photo below) and the visit attracted a large amount of media attention.
Baroness Smith, Natalia, Roman Skudniakov (2007 Fellow) and Anastasia Ermolaeva (2003 Fellow) attended a press conference at the Interfax News Agency, which was focused on the application process of the 2009 Fellowship Programme. The Trust team spoke about the huge range of opportunities available on the Programme and and the selection criteria for candidates. The Fellows shared their experiences of their five weeks in the UK and encouraged other young leaders from the region to apply.
Baroness Smith is interviewed by a regional TV company, ‘Volga’, about the Trust’s Fellowship Programme
After spending two days in Nizhny Novgorod, Baroness Smith and Natalia travelled to Moscow. They were welcomed to the Russian capital by a large group of John Smith alumni and were joined by Lord Falconer, the Chairman of the Trust and Brian Brivati, Director of the John Smith Memorial Trust.
L-R the Trust’s new Deputy Director Natalia Westcombe, Daria Dazidova (2006 Fellow), Lilia Vlasova (2006 Fellow), Larissa Poludnevich (JSMT Russian Coordinator), Anastasia Ermolaeva (2003 Fellow), Natalia Nikitina (2005 Fellow), Liudmila Kotova (2008 Fellow), and Ibragim Arsanov (2008 Fellow) enjoy an evening at the Fire Bird restaurant in Moscow
On 27th and 28th September, Brian led a two-day workshop for alumni at the Moscow office of Trust sponsor KMPG. During the workshop, the twenty Fellows discussed ways in which they could strengthen their alumni network. It has been planned that the Russian Fellows will set up their own NGO – an ‘Association of the Alumni’ – in order to build on the work of the existing network and work together in a more connected way. The Trust would like to thank KPMG for generously allowing the use of their facilities and for their kind sponsorship of the dinner held with Fellows whilst the Trust team were in Moscow.
Trust Director Brian Brivati leads the work-shop, encouraging Fellows to think about ways in which they can work together
Breakfast at Clifford Chance was one of the highlights of the visit. Tony Smith, Hermann Schmitt, and Michael Cuthbert, Managing Partners from Simmons and Simmons, White & Case and Clifford Chance welcomed the Trust team, and Irina Krilatova and Maxim Timofeev (2008 Fellows). An interesting discussion took place on how the Trust can develop their work with young legal professionals in Russia.
Lord Falconer talks to Michael Cuthbert at the Clifford Chance office in Moscow
Hermann Schmitt, Managing Partner from White & Case with Maxim Timofeev (2008 Fellow) looking at the Trust’s 2008 Annual Review
The day concluded with a welcome reception at the British Embassy hosted by Dr Laurie Bristow, the Deputy Head of Mission. The reception was attended by a number of Fellows.
Another highlight of the visit was a roundtable discussion held at the PBN Company (an international PR company) chaired by Igor Yurgens, Chairman of the Institute of Contemporary Development.
Lord Falconer, Baroness Smith, and Richard Wallace (Trustee) at the PBN
Discussion participants included Evgeny Gontmakher (Board Member, Institute of Contemporary Development and Director for Social Policy, Institute of Economics, Russian Academy of Sciences), Vyacheslav Nikonov (President Russkiy Mir Foundation), Alexander Khilkov (Open World Leadership Centre), Dr John Pollock (American Council for International Education), Josh Willson (School of Russian, Georgy Bovt, Political Observer), Peter Necarsulmer (Chairman and CEO of the PBN Company) and the Trust delegation.
The visit concluded with a dinner reception held in honour of the Trust visit sponsored by Sistema, a new Corporate Friend of the Trust in the Shashlik-Mashlik restaurant at Stariy Arbat.
Andrei Beskinsky (Junior Youth Chamber International), Brian Brivati (JSMT),
Maxim Chereshnev (2007 Fellow), Ibragim Arsanov (2008 Fellow) and Baroness Smith in Moscow.
The John Smith Memorial Trust would like to thank its sponsors Renaissance Capital, KPMG, Dr Armen Sarkissian, Clifford Chance, the PBN Company and Sistema for their kind help with the visit. We are also extremely grateful to British Embassy in Moscow who helped a great deal with visit arrangements and hosted a reception for the Trust guests. We would like also to say thank you to Anastasia Dergunova and Irina Moiseeva, volunteers from Nizhny, who helped with local media relations. Special thanks to Larissa Poludnevich, JSMT Russian Coordinator, who did an excellent job in making this visit possible.
September 2008