Fraternity-Testvériség, 2010 (88. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2010-04-01 / 2. szám
Summer 2010 Profile of an HRFA Member Who’s Making a Difference By Kathy A. Megyeri O ne of our newest, youngest, best-looking and most talented HRFA members travels regularly between Budapest and Washington, DC. In 2005-2009, he served at the Hungarian Embassy for four years as Political Officer and Press Attaché. In 2006, he was appointed the Embassy’s Chief Creative Officer and in this capacity, he developed creative diplomacy. This young diplomat designed a new approach to public diplomacy that integrates popular culture, the entertainment media and the Internet-based new media to promote his native Hungary. He was the Coordinator of Hungarian October, the series of events in Washington, DC commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution in the fall of 2006. Last summer, he returned to Hungary where he has been working as the Senior U.S. Desk Officer and EU-Americas Coordinator at the Foreign Ministry’s Department for the Americas. He has reorganized the Young Diplomats Club of the Ministry and is currently the Club’s leader. In Budapest, he has also been teaching European integration to American and European students at the joint program of Pázmány Catholic University and the University of San Francisco. Zoltán Fehér, 33, holds a Juris Doctor (J.D.) Degree from Hungary’s Pázmány Catholic University and two Masters degrees from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest in American Studies and Political Science. As a Kellner Scholar, Zoltán attended Bard College in New York where he studied International Relations. Zoltán has also authored many publications, has been awarded several scholarships, speaks Hungarian and English fluently and German conversationally. For many years, Zoltán organized youth groups that brought students and young intellectuals together for domestic and foreign policy discussions. As Chairperson of the Central European Student Network, he headed an international umbrella organization of students from seven Central and Eastern European countries in 1999-2000. For three years, Zoltán taught Political Science and International Relations at his alma mater, Eötvös University. He is a talented pianist and studied composition at the Bartók Conservatory of Music in Budapest and often played for his fellow Hungarians in Washington. What Zoltán brings to HRFA membership is intense organizational capabilities, diplomatic experience, and a youthful vigor and enthusiasm for our goals in promoting the Hungarian culture, language, and heritage. Amidst his busy schedule of booking events and traveling, he took the time to talk with me about why he joined HRFA. Zoltán, why did you purchase a policy from HRFA? As the Embassy’s diplomat for public affairs, I had been in charge of coordinating our outreach to the Hungarian- American community since 2006. HRFA is an important organization of this community, quite active nationally and in the Washington area. HRFA headquarters are in the beloved Kossuth House, which is a wonderful home to great community events. I have had the opportunity to participate at, or co-organize, many of these events myself. Through the collaboration and friendship that I developed with HRFA, and especially with its President Leslie Megyeri, I came to respect and appreciate HRFA and its work. My initial reason for joining HRFA and purchasing a policy was to support this important community organization. You are still single so what made you think of purchasing an insurance policy? Yes, I am single but I do look forward to having my own family in a few years, and it is important for me to look ahead and start building a foundation for the next chapter in my personal life. 22
