The Chicago Council on Global Affairs is seeking nominations for the 2010 Gus Hart Visiting Fellowship at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The fellowship has been endowed by the Hart family to honor Gus Hart, distinguished cofounder of the Inter-American Foundation, whose lifelong interest in the Latin American and Caribbean region and long service to The Chicago Council served as an inspiration for many in Chicago.

The Gus Hart Visiting Fellow is an emerging leader from Latin America or the Caribbean, working in the business, governmental, social, or cultural realm, who is making outstanding contributions to the advancement of his/her society, and can deliver an articulate speech to an audience in English. The goals of the fellowship are: to recognize and reinforce the work of an emerging leader who has made a tangible contribution to his/her country; to connect this emerging leader with the resources and energy of Chicago so as to benefit his/her work; and to increase awareness of Latin America and the Caribbean in Chicago and deepen the city’s connections to the region.

The Gus Hart Visiting Fellow receives a $10,000 honorarium and is selected annually to spend one all-expenses-paid week in Chicago to interact with commercial, civic, and media professionals, deliver the Annual Gus Hart Lecture, and be honored at a dinner by the Chicago Council’s Board and other leading figures. The 2008 Gus Hart Fellow was Nicolás Ducoté, cofounder of the Center for the Implementation of Public Policies for Equity and Growth, in Buenos Aires. The 2009 Gus Hart Fellow was Claudio Orrego, mayor of Peñalolen, Chile. They both had dynamic experiences in Chicago and significantly strengthened th e city’s links to the region and exemplified the ideals of the Gus Hart Fellowship.

The fellowship announcement and nomination form are available for download. The deadline for submitting nominations is September 30, 2009. The Council anticipates selecting the candidate in February and plan for the fellow to visit Chicago in May, 2010.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, founded in 1922 as The Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, is a leading independent, nonpartisan organization committed to influencing the discourse on global issues through contributions to opinion and policy formation, leadership dialogue, and public learning.