International Visitor Leadership Program, Washington, DC (1/2010)

Because of NetMission Ambassadors Program, Bianca Ho (Class 2009) has been brought in contact with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the White House’s Director of New Media, Macon Philips.

In September 2011, Bianca got a chance to be the MC of “BlogFest.asia”. In this event, Bianca met American officials who nominated her to the US State Demartment’s Internetional Visitor Leadership Program.

The program brought her to Washington, DC, for 5 days in January 2010, where she joined advocates from such countries as Moldova, Turkey, Colombia, Lebanon, the Philippines, Iran and Mainland China. They attended a speech by Ms. Clinton and met with Mr. Phillips and representatives from the State Department, Freedom House, and the Centre for American Progress (a think tank).

It was an eye-opening experience for Bianca to learn how experts are using IT to bring benefits to other sectors, be it the government, the private sector or even children in Burma. She hopes to use the knowledge she has gained in working on community projects for NetMission.