YOUTH FOR UNDERSTANDING FOUNDATION Dr. Beate Lindemann and Dr. Walther Leisler Kiep with two former YFU exchange students, Johannes Tschich from Thuringia (left), and Jonathan Rabb from Minnesota (right) at the XV “Enchanted Holiday Evening” on December 13, 2006 in New York City Established in 1989 by Dr. Beate Lindemann and Dr. Walther Leisler Kiep as a private non-profit organization, the Youth for Understanding Foundation seeks to promote mutual understanding between young East Germans and Americans. Since its establishment directly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Foundation has made it possible for more than 3,600 East Germans to experience life in America. In 1995, the program was expanded to include American minority high school students and in the subsequent years more than 1,100 Americans have been able to spend a year in Germany. These students return home with an expanded self-confidence and a deeper understanding of the world that enables them to pursue dreams they would otherwise not think possible. But not only the young East Germans and Americans who participate in an exchange year profit from the experience; everyone they come into contact with, both abroad and after they return home, benefits from the complex new perspective that an exchange student can share. In addition, each year one or two students are supported by the “German Young Leaders Fellowship for American Minority High School Students”. This fellowship, which was established in 1996, is funded by donations from Atlantik-Brücke‘s German Young Leaders Alumni. Since 2004, the Youth for Understanding Foundation, in cooperation with the Princess Kira of Prussia Foundation, has also offered a unique opportunity to spend the summer at Hohenzollern Castle in southern Germany to young people who lost a parent in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Board of Directors Dr. Beate Lindemann, Berlin (Chair) Professor Dr. Dieter Feddersen, Frankfurt am Main Chairman of the Board of Trustees Dr. Walther Leisler Kiep, Frankfurt am Main XV “Enchanted Holiday Evening” on December 13, 2006, in New York Video of the Gala More than 250 guests came together for a festive evening on December 13, 2006, to support the work of the Youth for Understanding Foundation. The Gala was held at the Metropolitan Club in New York under the patronage of German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel and U.S. President George W. Bush, with Dr. Klaus Scharioth, German Ambassador to the United States of America, acting as Gala Chairman. The guests were welcomed by Dr. Walther Leisler Kiep, Chairman of the Foundation Council, and the evening‘s Master of Ceremonies was Cherno Jobatey, host of Germany‘s number one morning television news show. High points included two speeches by former exchange students – Jonathan Rabb from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Johannes Tschich from Heiligenstadt, Thuringia – who were introduced by Foundation Chairman Dr. Beate Lindemann, as well as reports from the “Youth of 9/11” who spent the summer of 2006 at Hohenzollern Castle in Southern Germany. The Boys Choir and Girls Choir of Harlem enchanted the guests with Christmas carols to end the XV “Enchanted Holiday Evening”. Speech given by former YFU exchange student Jonathan Rabb on December 13, 2006 Speech given by former YFU exchange student Johannes Tschich on December 13, 2006 Homepage Cherno Jobatey Dr. Beate Lindemann and Dr. Walther Leisler Kiep with the Boys Choir and Girls Choir of Harlem			Youth for Understanding Foundation