Local UK students discuss world affairs with US Ambassador to the UK at Bloomberg in London

Bloomberg recently hosted United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Matthew Barzun, and nearly 200 students from local schools including Petchey Academy, one of the schools that Bloomberg supports through our educational initiative called Bloomberg Startup, in our London office.

As part of Ambassador Barzun’s youth outreach initiative, he spoke about the role that the UK and US play in world affairs and listened to students’ perspectives on these global issues.

This event marked the 155th school discussion that Ambassador Barzun completed since taking office in 2013. Both this visit and his 100th talk last year were held at Bloomberg’s London office in partnership with ReachOut, a UK charity that provides young people from disadvantaged communities in London and Manchester with one-to-one mentoring.

Our support for ReachOut and involvement with Ambassador Barzun’s youth outreach initiative helps students in our local London community with character development and global understanding.

During the event, Ambassador Barzun led an interactive discussion where students shared their thoughts on foreign policies that were most important to them. The conversation included topics on inequality, immigration, education and access to opportunities in the United States.

The Ambassador also explained the different elements of foreign aid and presented examples of the US’s engagement in foreign affairs and collaborations with the UK.

The students, aged 13-18, said they left the event with a greater understanding of the US Ambassador’s involvement in the UK and role in political relations. Many students mentioned that they now have a better idea of American foreign policies, the constitution and the issues that America is facing.

Several students said the most interesting thing they learned was the scale of America’s support on a variety of global issues and how connected both our countries are. Others were fascinated to learn about Bloomberg as a company and how it contributed to many charities and organizations locally and globally.

In particular, Bloomberg has been a proud supporter of ReachOut for nearly a decade. During that time, 337 Bloomberg employees have volunteered nearly 1,200 mentoring hours across ReachOut’s network of supported schools in London.

Learn more about our other educational philanthropic efforts in the UK such as our collaboration with Teach First.