Press Release

Roundtable of U.S. - Muslim Experts Will Outline Plan of Action

November 11, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Shelton Jones, 225-439-9700
shelton.jones@storypartnersdc.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A roundtable of U.S. - Muslim experts of the U.S. Summit and Intiative for Global Citizen Diplomacy will present recommendations for using citizen diplomacy activities to improve relations between the peoples of the United States and predominantly Muslim societies.   The roundtable will take place Thursday, November 18 from 9:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at the U.S. Summit and Intiative for Global Citizen Diplomacy at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C.  Roundtable Co-Chairs are Randa Fahmy Hudome, President of Fahmy Hudome International, and Stephen Grand, Director, Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, The Brookings Institution.

The U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy, in partnership with the U.S. State Department, is hosting the U.S. Summit and Global Initiative for Citizen Diplomacy November 16 - 19.  This historic event will bring together nearly 600 high level international opinionleaders from 39 countries and will be the first such meeting since President Eisenhower's People-to-People Conference on the same subject on September 11, 1956.

The goal of the Summit and Initiative is to dramatically increase efforts to help resolve major global challenges of the 21st century by doubling the number American citizens of all ages engaged in international activities at home or abroad, from an estimated 60 million today to 120 million by 2020.

The roundtable brought together 23 experts for a series of meetings that examined the current state of citizen diplomacy between the United States and Muslim-majority countries, identified best-practice models of engagement, explored the possibilities presented by new technologies and formulated recommendations for the future. 

“The recent controversies over the Park51 community center in New York and a Florida pastor’s threat to burn the Koran have highlighted the misunderstanding and fear still surrounding Muslims and Islam in America.  Unfortunately, these high-profile incidents have further damaged America’s frayed relations with predominantly Muslim societies.   The citizen diplomacy intiatives we advocate in our report are more important now than ever, ” said Stephen Grand, Roundtable Co-Chair, and Director, Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, The Brookings Institution.

“I am very proud of the roundtable’s work and our vision for the future.  We have outlined an ambitious agenda that galvanizes the energies of governments, private corporations, philanthropic institutions, non-profit organizations and ordinary citizens – to help ensure the next generation of leaders from the United States and predominantly Muslim societies know and understand one another, “ said Randa Hudome, Roundtable Co-Chair, and President, Fahmy Hudome International.

Members of the roundtable are:

  • Aakif Ahmad, Leadership Team, U.S. - Muslim Engagement Initiative
  • Salman Ahmad, Band Member and Founder, Junoon/Salman & Samina Global Wellness Initiative
  • Akbar S. Ahmed, Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, American University
  • Salam Al Maryati, Executive Director, Muslim Public Affairs Council
  • Maxmillian Angerholzer III, Executive Director, Richard Lounsbery Foundation
  • Ed Bice, CEO, Meedan
  • Bishop John Chane, President and CEO, Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation
  • Courtney Erwin, Legal Affairs Manager for Education Above All, Office of Her Highness Shaykha Mozah
  • Amb. Marc Ginsberg, President, Layalina Productions
  • Joel C. Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland Church
  • Shamil Idriss, CEO, Soliya
  • Sherman Jackson, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan
  • Al-Husein Madhany, Interculture
  • Imam Mohamed Magid, Executive Director and Vice President, All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center/Islamic Society of North America
  • Peter Mandaville, Director, Center for Global Studies and Associate Professor of Government & Islamic Studies, George Mason University
  • Dalia Mogahed, Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, Gallup
  • Sally Quinn, Columnist, The Washington Post
  • Amb. Cynthia Schneider, Distinguished Professor of Diplomacy, Georgetown University

 

About the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy

The U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy (USCCD) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization established in 2006 to promote and expand opportunity for all Americans to be citizen diplomats and affirm the indispensable value of citizen involvement in foreign relations.  

 

Additional information about the USCCD may be found at www.uscenterforcitizendiplomacy.org.

 

 

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