We were honored to host Reggie Love, former personal aide to President Barack Obama, and Vicki Heyman, wife of U.S. Ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman, in Montreal to talk about youth involvement in politics. In addition to hosting a small group of key contacts at the Consulate and connecting via digital videoconference with an audience at the U.S. Consulate in Quebec City, we partnered with the Center for U.S. Studies of the Raoul-Dandurand Chair of Strategic and Diplomatic Studies at the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM) and the Study Group on Quebec’s International Relations (GÉRIQ) at the École Nationale d’administration publique (ÉNAP) to reach a total audience of over 300.
Throughout the day, Love spoke to his young audiences about how he went from being a college basketball and football player at Duke University to working at the White House. When asked what advice he had for youth, Love told them to grab every opportunity and to take initiative to gain experience in any way they can. From volunteering to internships, there are many ways to kick-start a career in politics, he told them, even if you don’t have any formal experience.
The U.S. Mission in Canada is pleased to be able to organize speaker events throughout the year on various topics such as the involvement of youth in politics. The Consulate would like to thank GÉRIQ and the Center for U.S. Studies for helping us organize this visit. We also would like to thank Reggie Love and Mrs. Vicki Heyman for their participation. You can find more photos of the event on our Flickr page.
