Sharon Tennison
 Sharon Tennison     (activist) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nationality | US |
Founder and president of Center for Citizen Initiatives (CCI) an organization that works to improve citizen ties between the USA and the Soviet Union/Russia. CCI has at times been sponsored by USAID. | |
Sharon Tennison is the founder and president of Center for Citizen Initiatives (CCI), an organization that works to improve citizen ties between the USA and the Soviet Union/Russia. CCI has at times been sponsored by USAID.[1]
Center for Citizen Initiatives
Tennison established the Center for Citizen Initiatives in 1983, at the height of the Cold War. The first visit consisted of 20 ordinary Americans who were sent to the Soviet Union to have conversations with Soviet citizens. The Soviet government made no effort to stop this. After the first visit, Tennison ultimately sponsored the visits of hundreds of ordinary Americans to the Soviet Union. In return, Tennison facilitated the visit of many Soviet citizens to the United States.[2]
An Economic Development Program (EDP), the first-ever business training program for young Soviet entrepreneurs[3], was started by CCI in 1989 with private funds. Four years later, when the U.S. began funding Russia projects, USAID provided EDP with a $7.3 million grant - and required that CCI work only in Russia. CCI developed Russian offices in St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Voronezh, Rostov on Don, Ekaterinburg, the Moscow Oblast (Dubna), and Vladivostok. EDP was for English-speaking participants only, which was a limitation for Russia's regions. Business libraries were started, American business consultants were assigned to each Russian office, while many Russian entrepreneurs in EDP were absorbing U.S. know-how in companies across America. EDP ran for eight years. [4][5]
CCI has founded a Russian Leaders Institute - promoting leadership training for the best of CCI-trained businessmen and taking 100 of them to Washington for Congressional meeting, also meeting Secretary of State Colin Powell[6]
Since 1987, CCI has helped organize Russian environmental groups.[7]
The CCI also had an Agricultural Initiative, identifying Russian agronomists interested in food sufficiency to travel to the U.S. to meet with American Extension Service (U.S. Department of Agriculture) specialists.[8]
2016
Tennison was detained by Russian authorities in 2016 and fined 2000 rubles ($25) for visa status violations.[9] A Volgograd court ruled on February 16 that Tennison and fellow activist Theodore McIntire were not acting as tourists when they held a meeting about relaunching programs run by the Center For Citizen Initiatives.[10]
A Document by Sharon Tennison
| Title | Document type | Publication date | Subject(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:Vladimir Putin - The man | article | 28 April 2014 | Vladimir Putin | Insights into Vladimir Putin the man by an American citizen who has worked in Russia for over 30 years and met Putin as a young KGB officer in a bureaucratic capacity long before he became president. |
References
- ↑ https://ccisf.org/overview-of-russia-sept-20-oct-17-2021/
- ↑ https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/2018/1217/How-one-woman-s-citizen-diplomacy-has-strengthened-US-Russia-ties-for-decades
- ↑ [https://web.archive.org/web/20100106010313/http://www.ccisf.org/about/economic.htm
- ↑ http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PDABQ352.pdf
- ↑ http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PDABR734.pdf
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20071018204616/http://www.ccisf.org/washington/entrepreneurs.htm
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20100105222110/http://www.ccisf.org/about/environmental.htm
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20100106063702/http://www.ccisf.org/about/agricultural.htm
- ↑ https://volg.mk.ru/articles/2016/02/17/v-volgograde-za-narushenie-vizovogo-rezhima-zaderzhana-chlen-centra-grazhdanskikh-iniciativ-ssha.html
- ↑ https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-sharon-tennison-detained-us-agent/27558544.html
