The Pine Bluff chapter of The Links, recently launched an international project in collaboration with Dollarway High School.
The project is among programs The Links is conducting virtually while abiding by the safety directives enforced during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a news release.
The International Trends and Services Facet of The Links launched its LIFE (Links International Foreign Affairs and Business Enforcement) Project in partnership with the Dollarway school.
The purposes of the project are to create a future job pool of young students who might focus on careers in the international business arena and foreign affairs, and to fill a void in representation in the international business arena and foreign service appointments, according to the news release.
Dollarway High School developed a committee comprised of Superintendent Barbara Warren, Principal Yolanda Prim, Dean of Students Willie Gulley; librarian Joyce Wilkes; and staff member Marla Barnes. That committee recruited students who were interested in participating in the project, which will consist of five virtual meetings through April 1, according to the release.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The presenter for the first meeting on Feb. 4 was Alexious Butler, development diplomat for USAID (United States Agency for International Development). She represents Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida and is in residence at Morehouse College, where she is the foreign service officer.
A native of Atlanta, and in her capacity with USAID, Butler has visited and worked globally in more than 100 countries to help them to resolve issues relating to food security, environmental effects, water safety, urbanization, energy and pandemic diseases.
Butler encouraged the students to engage themselves and prepare for careers in such international service through volunteering, getting involved in student government, getting a higher education degree, planning for graduate study, and reading publications about international issues, such as the Foreign Policy Magazine. They should also get in touch with USAID, she said, and always search for study abroad programs.
THE LINKS ORGANIZATION
The Links Inc. is an international organization established in 1946, with a current membership of more than 16,000 professional women of color who are committed to sustaining and enriching the cultures and economic survival of citizens of African American ancestry, according to the release.
Although there have been no in-person events of The Links at Pine Bluff due to covid restrictions, planning for the year continues through virtual meetings.
The organization has facets that are responsible for providing services to the community: The Arts, National Trends and Services, International Trends and Services, Health and Human Services, and Services to Youth. Each facet focuses on community issues that are designed to enhance and improve the quality of life for its citizens.
The Links Inc. Pine Bluff chapter president is Yvonne Blevins. The Links is using its International Trends and Services Facet in the program with Dollarway. Members of this facet are co-chairs Brenda Martin, and Arlene Woody; Eula Liddell, Eva McGee, Jacquelyn McCray, and Carolyn Blakely.