Democracy Video Challenge Winners Trip to the U.S.

Alexander & Tom Inc., an interactive agency in Baltimore, MD, has worked with the Department of State on the Democracy Video Challenge (DVC), for the past three years. The DVC is a global online video challenge asking people to finish the phrase, “Democracy is…” in a three minute or less video. The prize for the six selected challenge winners is an all-expense paid trip to the U.S. The six winners included, Yared Shumete from Ethiopia, Adhyatmika from Indonesia, Joel Marsden from Spain, Farbod Khoshtinat from Iran, Anup Poudel from Nepal, and Juan Pablo Patiño Arévalo from Colombia.

As part of their first stop in the United States, the six DVC winners were presented with awards by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington, DC. The winners were also flown to New York City and featured on the Today Show. The United Nations in NYC hosted a screening of the Democracy Video Challenge winners’ videos on September 15, 2010, the International Day of Democracy. The six winners were in attendance with many of the Challenge partners, such as the Department of State, the Center for International Private Enterprise, the International Youth Foundation, and Picasa (Google).