IV “Young Leaders” Alumni Conference 2007 – Photos XXIX German-American “Young Leaders” Conference 2007 – Photos VIII European Young Leaders Conference 2008 – Photos YOUNG LEADERS PROGRAM Atlantik-Brücke has been bringing German and American Young Leaders from politics, business, academia, and the media together for week-long conferences since 1973. In the more than 30 years since then, a unique network has developed through the many personal friendships and business contacts formed between former participants on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2001, the program was extended to include an annual European Young Leaders Conference. Biennial European-American Young Leaders Alumni Conferences, as well as the Atlantic Talks held regularly in different German, European, and American cities, serve to deepen and extend the alumni network. The Young Leaders Online Directory also helps Young Leaders to stay in contact. Furthermore, Young Leaders Alumni are annually incorporated into Atlantik-Brücke’s membership to guarantee the appropriate generational change within the organization. Today, Young Leaders Alumni include high-ranking members of the U.S. and German Governments, of the Congress and the Deutscher Bundestag, of the European Union, and of state and local city governments, as well as business executives, trade union representatives, leading journalists, and military officers, to name only a few. How does one become a Young Leader? Every year, Atlantik-Brücke receives more than 500 applications, from which 100 Young Leaders – 25 to 30 each from America and Germany for the bilateral conference, and around 50 for the European conference – are chosen with the help of a steering committee made up of participants of previous conferences. Dr. Beate Lindemann and Dr. Walther Leisler Kiep with German and American Young Leaders 2006 in Hamburg-Blankenese German-American Young Leaders Conferences The program for Young Leaders from both sides of the Atlantic is one of Atlantik-Brücke’s most successful projects. The German-American Young Leaders Conference has been hosted alternately in Germany and America since 1973 (until 2003 in cooperation with the American Council on Germany). Due to the excellent reputation of the Young Leaders Network, German Young Leaders Alumni were invited to a round table discussion with President George W. Bush in Mainz in February, 2005. The German-American Young Leaders Conference offers participants the opportunity to intensively discuss current transatlantic topics during a week of plenary sessions and working groups. Leading figures of politics, business, and the media are invited to speak to the group during lunches and dinners. The XXVIII German-American Young Leaders Conference, with the topic “Overtures and Finales: Germany and the United States,” took place from August 27 to September 1, 2006, in Hamburg-Blankenese. The 2007 conference will be held from August 27 to 31 in Louisville, Kentucky. Conference Report – XXVIII German-American Young Leaders Conference 2006 German and American participants of the XXVIII German-American Young Leaders Conference 2006 in Hamburg-Blankenese European Young Leaders Conferences The European Young Leaders Conference project grew out of a series of trilateral U.S.-German-Italian Young Leaders meetings held in conjunction with the Council for the United States and Italy (Rome). Atlantik-Brücke began holding European Young Leaders Conferences in 2001, inviting participants from all countries of the European Union. Since 2005, invitations have also been extended to Young Leaders from countries that are either candidates for EU membership (such as Turkey), or have an ambition to become members (for example, the Ukraine). American Young Leaders Alumni participate as observers. Similar to the German-American conferences, participants discuss current European and transatlantic topics in plenary and work groups. Through speeches by and conversations with high-ranking representatives of the host country, European Young Leaders are also provided with an introduction to the local political and economic situation. From June 11 to 15, 2007, around 50 Young Leaders from more than 20 countries came to Kranj, Slovenia to discuss the theme “Superpower Shadows” at the VII European Young Leaders Conference. Conference Report – VI European Young Leaders Conference 2006 Participants of the VII European Young Leaders Conference with Beate Lindemann Atlantic Talks and Young Leaders Alumni Conferences Atlantik-Brücke’s Young Leaders Alumni are regularly invited to “Atlantik-Gespräche” (Atlantic Talks), which take place monthly in Berlin and several times a year in Hamburg, München, Frankfurt am Main, and in the Rheinland, as well as in other European cities and, most recently, in New York and Washington. Well-known representatives from politics and business discuss current topics from their respective areas of expertise over a dinner hosted by one of Atlantik-Brücke’s member companies. The Atlantic Talks enjoyed such success that Atlantik-Brücke, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary in 2002, invited all former European and American Young Leaders to Berlin for a three-day Alumni Conference and the chance for additional dialogue and networking. After further successful Alumni Conferences in 2003 and 2005 in Berlin, the event is now regularly held every two years in a different European or American city. In 2007, the Fourth European-American Alumni Conference took place from June 21 to 24 in Estoril, near Lisbon, Portugal. Conference Report – IV Young Leaders Alumni Conference 2007 IV “Young Leaders” Alumni Conference 2007 – Photos June 21 – 24, 2007, Estoril, Portugal XXIX German-American “Young Leaders” Conference 2007 – Photos August 26 – 31, 2007, Louisville, Kentucky VIII European Young Leaders Conference 2008 – Photos June 18 – 22, 2008 Kiev / Ukraine			“Young Leaders” Program