This month the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion had the unique opportunity to host a group of ten international visitors from Austria, Denmark, India, Lebanon, the Maldives, Poland, the Republic of North Macedonia, Ukraine, and Venezuela. These visitors were invited to the United States under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. While in the United States the program participants explored the topics of the Rule of Law and the U.S. Judicial System. Their program was arranged by CRDF Global. Nicholas Merrill and his colleagues at the Utah Center for Citizen Diplomacy generously invited UCLI to host the group for an afternoon.
On February 21, 2023, Mary Anne Davies and her colleagues at the Disability Law Center welcomed us into their beautiful facility and provided a tour of the building and a brief presentation about the Disability Law Center’s mission. We then met back in the boardroom and Kaitlyn Pieper, UCLI Executive Director, provided a demographic overview of Utah and Utah’s legal profession. Following this, we heard from a panel of experts including Jon Wayas, Associate Director at the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion; Michelle Oldroyd, Director of Professional Education & Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at the Utah State Bar; and Jon Puente, Director of the Office of Fairness, Equity, and Accountability at the Administrative Office of the Courts. The panel was interactive and responded to many audience questions about affirmative action, gender issues in the legal profession, and racial dynamics in the United States.
UCLI was honored to host such a distinguished group of legal professionals who are doing such incredible work to move justice forward in their home countries (names and home countries of participants listed below). Thank you to Nicholas Merrill and his colleagues at the Utah Center for Citizen Diplomacy for making this connection and to Mary Anne Davies and the Disability Law Center for hosting us at their lovely venue.
Denmark, Ms. Sine Cully
India, Mr. Jose Abraham
Lebanon, Ms. Rania Yahfouf
Maldives, Judge Hamid Rasheed
Poland, Ms. Malgorzata Leokadia Szuleka
Republic of N. Macedonia, Ms. Njomza Selimi Osmani
Ukraine, Ms. Halyna Chyzhyk
Ukraine, Ms. Iryna Levandovska
Venezuela, Mr. Alexis Algarra
International Visitor Liaisons: Mr. Gregory Burnside and Ms. Maren Mentor
