Brigitte Daniel - 2011 USA Eisenhower Fellow

On November 8^th, I was celebrated by the Bangalore Chapter of the Eisenhower Fellowships. What a treat and honor! Mr. Manju Bhandary,  is a 2004 Eisenhower Fellow and the President of the Eisenhower Fellows in Bangalore is THE man in this State. Very well respected and very connected!

For the last few months, Mr. Bhandary has kept me assured that he would be able to connect me to the companies, individuals, and organizations that would be helpful in my pursuits and objectives of my program…..and boy did he come through! He singlehandly helped to arrange many of my meetings with the large Indian tech companies and threw a fantastic party to boot. There were about 100 or so people of note and prominence who attended from various backgrounds, industries, and disciplines.  He introduced me to everyone. It was a packed house with cocktails, a wonderful program, and a great dinner to follow.

Mr. Bhandary started the event by explaining the Eisenhower Fellowships to the audience and the mission and purpose of the program.  I was then invited to say some remarks and explain my specific Fellowship program , why I chose to come to India, shared the story of Wilco, and my beliefs about why it is important for the US and India to continually engage in business various ways of partnership on a local level. It was exhilarating to be able to address that type of crowd in India.  I felt that people were taking my remarks seriously and truly understood my positions and purpose for visiting their Country.  

Overall, it was a great night! I even had some of my new friends from Google and Microsoft attend on my behalf.  The only thing missing was having my family, friends, and EF colleagues join in the festivities.  

Thank you Mr. Bhandary for your warm reception and your support as a fellow Eisenhower colleague.  The EF network at play!