We were thrilled to welcome many members of the current 2022-23 NextGen Cohort in Berlin for their Leadership Day. The day agenda included a wide set of meetings to provide an exchange between representatives of transatlantic politics, business, and academia.
The morning was kicked off with a meeting at the U.S. Embassy at Pariser Platz William Czajkowski, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs, Regional Senior Commercial Officer, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce and Christin Mechler, Senior Regional Investment Specialist. The informal exchange included ranged from commerce, education, and sustainability. Topics included but were not limited to (free) trade opportunities between the two countries, the overall sentiment of cooperation between the U.S., EU, and Germany, the aim to make the role of academic and educational formats more efficient and flexible in the U.S and finally, strategies to enforce a greener economy on both sides of the Atlantic.
We continued with a great presentation by Professor Abe Newman, Professor of Government, Georgetown University, and Spring 2023 Richard C. Holbrooke Fellow at the American Academy in Wannsee, Berlin. Abe Newman’s presentation on networks of globalization and weaponized interdependence provided a great base to discuss the challenges of transatlantic business and politics regarding larger global challenges. A main point of discussion was the geopolitical shifts in the global arena and how the transatlantic partnership could cooperate stronger to face the changing political dynamics of other heavyweight countries. The role of large businesses and corporations in an ever-connected world was discussed in terms of their potential to shape the global economy and enforce certain values.
The NextGens also went to the German Federal Foreign Office and had an exchange Theresa Monaghan, Senior Policy Advisor to the Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation, Michael Link. The round gained insights to the priorities of the Foreign Office with its role in strengthening transatlantic relations. A major point of the round was the role of cultural exchange as means to enforce stronger exchange between both countries and how to make these opportunities have more visibility and more possible funding.
The last meeting of the day took place at Pfizer Germany, at which Simon Bauer, Senior Manager Policy & Public Affairs, Carolin Crockett, Director External Communications Germany and Thomas Kleine, Country Lead Pfizer Digital, presented some of Pfizer’s projects in terms of digitalization and artificial intelligence. They also gave insights to Pfizer’s communication strategies with the backdrop of fake news and misinformation taking the pandemic as an example.
The Leadership Day concluded with gathering at Microsoft for AmCham Germany’s Female Founders Award.
We would like to thank William Czajkowksi, Christin Mechler, and Anne Drope from the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, Johanna Gallup and Abe Newman from the American Academy, Theresa Monaghan from the Federal Foreign Office, as well as Simon Bauer, Carolin Crockett and Thomas Thomas Kleine from Pfizer for welcoming us and making this Leadership Day in Berlin a success!
