Hosting Marshall Memorial Fellows
Last year, I was a traveling fellow in the German Marshall Fund’s Marshall Memorial Fellowship program. I distinctly remember the moment in Bilbao when I decided that I wanted to get Lexington as a stop for the transatlantic relationship-building program. We were eating dinner on the last night with our cohort, and I shared a meaningful conversation with Jon Recacoechea about the tension of wanting to leave your place but the feeing that you have to stay because in some way you have an obligation to it. I was so struck that someone in a completely different part of the world and a completely different career felt the exact same way about their place that I did about my place.
Just over a year later, Lexington welcomed a cohort of six European MMF fellows - Ander Molinero, Elena Beganu, Grigor Yeritsyan, Ivana Stanojev, Piotr Derejczyk, & Valentina Lana
Over the past three days, Jen Algire and I got the privilege to show these visitors what makes Kentucky so special to us.
On their first day, we explored the rural and urban dynamics of Kentucky, a sort-of conduit for understanding contemporary American politics. We met with historians, journalists, entrepreneurs, and politicians, including Kentucky’s Secretary of State, Michael Adams. We went to Estill County and spent time talking with folks there about community development and narratives of rural Kentucky and talked with other members of the Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange.
On day two, we explored the relationship between land and the economy in Central Kentucky. We explored the ways in which land use policy impacts Central Kentucky communities and talked at length about the need for more regional cooperation. Fellows explored several land-based industries in Central Kentucky, including the equine, bourbon, and agriculture technology industries. They even got to meet with another of Kentucky’s top elected officials, Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles.
On their last day, fellows explored the work happening in Lexington to navigate the complicated global issues of democracy reform, climate, race, and youth power. We started the day by talking about the role of the University of Kentucky in Lexington, and then moved through four panels featuring activists, city staff, council members, and educators.
Kentucky is complicated. Across the three days, the fellows met with almost 50 Kentuckians to hear about our best, our worst, and everything in between. As we approached the end of our time together, I was reminded why I do the work I do and why I wanted to bring the fellows here. There are just so many amazing people here trying to make our place whole through deep partnerships. I am so deeply grateful to see how willing so many in my community are to voluntarily give up their time to help a small group of Europeans understand our place.