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ACYPL’s DemocraticYouth.net Website Wins Gold Pollie Award

Online Community for Eurasian and Eastern European Pro-Democracy Activists Receives Award for Best International Website

Washington, D.C. - March 12, 2007

ACYPL’s DemocraticYouth.net, the first online community dedicated to building the capacity of young political leaders to advance democracy in Eastern European and Eurasian countries, received the American Association of Political Consultants’ (AAPC) Gold Pollie award for best international website. The Pollie Awards, which honor the best in political campaign advertising and expertise, were presented February 22 at AAPC’s Pollie Awards Ceremony in South Beach, Fla.

DemocraticYouth.net was conceived by participants at a seminar for European and Eurasian political leaders under age 30 in Macedonia in 2005. At a follow-on seminar held in Moldova in 2006, participants designed and then launched the live site at a press conference covered by local and regional media.

A joint project of the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL), the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI), DemocraticYouth.net, as well as both youth leadership seminars, was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Currently, ACYPL is working in close consultation with seminar participants and other young leaders in Europe and Eurasia to update and maintain the site.

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“DemocraticYouth.net is helping young activists across Europe and Eurasia to strengthen democracy and develop a vibrant civil society in their home countries by drawing on the resources of and sharing best practices with their fellow activists. ACYPL is tremendously proud of the hard work these young leaders have put into the site and we’re pleased that AAPC has recognized the results of this initative,” said Brad Minnick, CEO of ACYPL.

The American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) is a bipartisan, non-profit educational exchange organization dedicated to fostering relations between the next generation of political leaders in the United States and their counterparts around the world. Participants learn diplomatic skills, engage in dialogue on bilateral issues and forge professional relationships through the unique access they receive to the political leadership of the nation(s) they visit. For more information on ACYPL, please visit http://www.acypl.org.

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