WASHINGTON, D.C. /eNewsChannels/ — The U.S. Department of State selected Lia Putkaradze as June’s State Alumni Member of the Month in recognition of her dedication to creating community service projects for Georgian youth. An alumna of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ (ECA) Global Undergraduate Exchange Program (Global UGRAD), Putkaradze credits the UGRAD program with her achievements, explaining that the program helped her to become confident in her abilities and determined to make positive changes in her community and country.
Putkaradze participated in the 2009 Global UGRAD, studying at Utica College in New York. During her time at Utica, Putkaradze studied Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Since returning to Georgia, Putkaradze is blazing a new path as one of Georgia’s first CSR professionals, working with Ardza, a division of Georgia’s prominent Alliance Group Holding company, to draft and execute their CSR policies.
In her free time, Putkaradze also works to develop youth extracurricular activities in her home city, Batumi, where extracurricular activities for young people are limited. Putkaradze strives to coordinate community service projects to motivate and mobilize youth. Putkaradze is also working with fellow exchange alumni partners and foreign nationals in Georgia to create organizations that can independently carry out youth programs in Batumi and throughout the Caucus region to ensure the sustainability of these opportunities.
Putkaradze regularly collaborates across alumni programs to partner with her colleagues in the Muskie Alumni Association of Georgia and other programs organized by Georgian alumni, the U.S. Embassy, and IREX.
For more information visit the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ website at http://exchanges.state.gov/alumni/alumnus.html.
