Dear Fulbright: We Thank You
It has been around eight years since we, Diana, Maya, and Rony, eagerly applied for the Fulbright Program. We wrote our essays and described our ambitions to seek an education in the United States and equip ourselves with skills and perspectives that we can use to come back to Lebanon and serve our community. We each had our own vision on how we would use our degrees in law, business, and public policy to further this goal.
The value of having participated in the Fulbright Foreign Student Program cannot be overstated. The experiences we had, the lifelong relationships we built, the lessons we learned, and the vast network we joined are unparalleled. We completed the program, and each went on to pursue our careers.
While we always recognized how much this experience contributed to our personal and professional growth, we gained a new appreciation for the Fulbright program six years later. Our paths crossed again because of the drive to give back to Lebanon instilled in us years ago. The passion we had expressed in our essays years ago was still there.
In the wake of the situation in Lebanon in 2019, the sense of responsibility to serve our community was reignited. The most valuable lesson we had learned through the Fulbright Program was that coming together and pooling individual capabilities together can make a real difference. This culminated in the birth of Impact Lebanon. Founded by 17 members of the Lebanese Diaspora, Impact Lebanon is a non-profit organization that aims to bring together the Lebanese community across the diaspora and Lebanon to promote active citizenship.
Impact Lebanon is a grassroots social incubator. It encourages the brainstorming of ideas, promotes the sharing of knowledge, resources, and expertise, and connects people to turn ideas into successful initiatives. While still young, Impact Lebanon has produced several initiatives designed to create an impact in Lebanon. This includes an environmental academy, an online platform for artists in Lebanon to sell their designs and the profits go to charities in Lebanon, a mentorship program, a platform that provides access to information on voting in Lebanese elections, and raised over 8 million dollars for the benefit of the victims of the explosion which rocked Beirut in August 2020, among others.
We are immensely grateful for the education, knowledge, and community service values that Fulbright has granted, and how this has ultimately contributed to Lebanon. We hope that our story encourages our fellow Fulbright alumni, both in Lebanon and in the diaspora, to join us and further our common goal.
Alumna Maya Hodroj received her Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University in 2015.
Diana Abbas received her Master of Public Administration and Policy (MPA) from Rockefeller College at the University at Albany in 2014.
Rony Yaacoub his Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Vanderbilt University — Law School in 2014.
