The world became a little smaller recently when former Wyche attorney John Simpkins and Bakala Foundation Executive Director Václav Pecha unexpectedly found themselves seated next to one another during a week-long youth leadership program in Prague, where both were serving as mentors.
Within minutes of conversation, the two discovered a shared connection to Greenville and to Wyche – specifically through Marshall Winn.
Marshall recently shared the story after receiving a photo and note from Pecha following the program. Marshall has worked closely with Pecha for several years through the Bakala Foundation’s scholarship program, serving on the interview committee that selects Czech students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies at English-speaking universities.
After the chance encounter, Pecha shared: “We ended up sitting next to each other by total accident, and ten minutes of discussion led to making the Greenville connection and made the world an even smaller place. John is truly wonderful, and I am a better person having met him.”
Simpkins is president of MDC, a nonprofit that works to expand economic mobility across the South. His distinguished career has included leadership roles with the Aspen Institute’s Aspen Global Leadership Network, service as General Counsel of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Deputy General Counsel for the White House Office of Management and Budget. He also once served as of counsel with Wyche and continues to teach at Duke Law School.
Pecha brings equally remarkable experience to his work as Executive Director of the Bakala Foundation. His career has focused on international development, democratic governance, and humanitarian efforts, including leadership roles supporting election and reconstruction initiatives in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, and South Sudan. His public service has been recognized with both the NATO Non-Article 5 Medal and the Czech Republic Minister of Defense Medal for Service Abroad.
It’s a wonderful reminder that the relationships built through Wyche—and through a shared commitment to leadership and service—have a way of spanning continents.
