One year ago, I learned that I would be going
to Tallahassee, Florida for a US Department of State fellowship at the Office
of Program Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA). My first thing to
do was to google what and where is the city of Tallahassee. While everybody knows Florida
for Miami and Disney World, the policy-making and legislative heart of the third
most populous state in the USA is located far away from paradise beaches. Tallahassee
is a city of less than 200 000 people in the northern part of the state exactly
half way between Jacksonville and Pensacola closer to the America of the deep south than to the blue waters of Key West. This fact did not discourage me.
On the contrary, I had a chance to see the 'real' America, meet with people from
different personal and professional backgrounds and even volunteer with my
hosts during the US mid-term election.
Why I applied for PFP?
My personal interest in applying for this fellowship
was quite broad. In Ukraine, I work on donor coordination, capacity building projects
and EU assistance to security sector reform. I am specializing in EU external politics,
policies and EU cooperation programs. While the EU and its Member States remain
the biggest donors for Ukraine in most of the reform areas, the financial and
political support of the United States is equally significant. Thus, it was important
for me to understand the US system of governance and decision-making in order
to be able to recognize the logic behind its internal and external policies and to cooperate better with American
organizations and partners. There was also a personal curiosity to expand personal
and professional horizons. Applying for PFP was also an adventure, because you only
learn your place of fellowships several weeks before the departure.
What I learned
OPPAGA people selected me to
come to their office in Florida which was specifically created to serve Florida's Legislature (Parliament) by providing data, evaluative research and objective analysis to assist better
policy-making and budget deliberations. Top researchers and analysts work
there to help improve performance and accountability of Florida’s state
government. They prepare policy reviews of government programs,
performance evaluations, program summaries for legislators and legislative committees.
My experience, however, was not limited to OPPAGA’s office (even though I had
my own office with two monitors and a pack of Florida’s orange juice in the
fridge).
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| OPPAGA team in front of the Florida Capitol |
My hosts did an amazing job organizing multiple
meetings and visits to other organizations in Tallahassee, which is a home town
to numerous state agencies, lobbying organizations and professional
associations. I had a chance to visit Florida’s Department of Law Enforcement
and its Crime Labs, the Supreme Court of Florida, the Auditor General Office,
and the Florida State Departments of Education, Health and Transportation. A two-day
program was organized for me and another Fellow at the Tallahassee City
Administration where we had a chance to learn about the commission/manager form of
governance and city initiatives.
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| My presentation about Ukraine and PFP |
I saw community-policing work in practice by
attending the Citizen’s Police Academy and I assisted the work of the 911
emergency operator at the Consolidated Dispatch Agency. Furthermore, I had a
unique chance to attend several lectures at the Florida State University (FSU) and
learn about Florida’s local government, education policies and social
movements. Each of these meetings and visits deserve a separate article to be written
about, but to summarize, after the fellowship program I now have much better
understanding of the differences between US federal and state level policies
and policy-making procedures, the US court system, constitutional and electoral
processes. I know much more about Florida and its people and in return, those
people I had met – learned more about Ukraine and its people and government, the
Revolution of Dignity and the process of transformation that my country is going through now in
particular, with support from the American people.
Every vote counts
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| Volunteering with my host family - Kathy and Steve |
One more highlight of my PFP experience was to observe the
election process. I had a unique chance to be in the US during mid-term elections. This
time alongside electing representatives
to the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, Florida was voting for its
Governor, for state and local representatives and for important amendments to the Constitution.
Florida is a very important swing-state where literary each vote counts. My
host family are active members of the local Democratic Party, and I had a unique
chance to attend meetings, political debates and to volunteer with them during the
campaigning period and on the main day of voting.
Not only work
PFP is primarily a
professional exchange, but it has a very strong cultural element, because all
fellows with rare exceptions live with American host families and have a chance
to learn more about the American life. Despite missing out on Florida’s paradise
beaches, I went kayaking with alligators and saw a real manatee, I traveled to the
Kennedy Space Center where the launch of the Apollo 11 Mission 50 years ago landed
first people on the moon and I visited the National High Magnetic
Field Laboratory where I saw the strongest magnet in the world. Finally, my
host family and people from my host organization became my new life-long
friends and mentors for what I am especially grateful.
How to apply for PFP?
Professional Fellowship Program takes place
twice a year and the application process for the spring 2020 is now on-going.
The deadline to submit your application is 1 November 2019. More details are
available at the FB page of Professional Fellows Program Ukraine.
Good luck!
