Press Release

USCCD Encourages Young People to Engage in 21st Century International Challenges

November 04, 2010

Contact:  Julia Lawless
Email: Julia.Lawless@StoryPartnersDC.com

High School & College Students Play Pivotal Role in Historic Summit for Global Citizen Diplomacy

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Empowering young people to continue to increase their international footprint and seek innovative solutions to address 21st century global challenges is the goal of the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy's (USCCD) Youth Scholarship Program, which will send four students to the U.S. Summit & Initiative for Global Citizen Diplomacy, in Washington, D.C. November 16-19.

The Summit will be the first such meeting since President Eisenhower's People-to-People conference on the same subject on September 11, 1956 and will serve as the launch for a "Decade of Citizen Diplomacy" with a goal to double the number of American citizen diplomats by 2020.

Citizen diplomats, Omar Bustami, a student at Georgetown University's Paralegal Studies Program; Grace Li, a high school student from Houston Texas, and a founding partner of We Care Act; Michael Hayes, a senior at Clark Atlanta University; and Kyle Gracey, a graduate student at the University of Chicago, all were awarded full scholarships to attend the Summit.

"There is no question, we have a shared responsibility to be globally competent and participate in the world," said Ann Schodde, President and CEO of the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy. "Each of the students selected to attend the Summit on scholarship posses an intellectual breadth and keen ability to understand the diverse and complex challenges facing our world today. I am delighted to have such a talented, thoughtful, and diverse group of students join us for this historic event."

In addition to the Youth Scholarship students, Pippa Biddle, a student at Miss Porter's School in Farmington Connecticut, and Ross Seidman, a senior at McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Maryland will speak during the Summit's opening plenary on November 17, as part of it's the Future of Citizen Diplomacy: The Next Generation of Citizen Diplomacy Leaders segment.

"Pippa and Ross have proven track records as community leaders, working to bridge the gap between different cultures both at home and abroad," Schodde continued. "Their community volunteer work demonstrates the power of our youth and lays the groundwork for future generations to continue to remain engaged with diplomatic dialogues, changing the world, one hand shake at a time."

Established in 2006, the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that promotes and expands opportunities for all Americans to be citizen diplomats and affirms the indispensable value of citizen involvement in foreign relations. For more information visit: www.uscitizendiplomacy.org

STUDENT BIOGRAPHIES FOLLOW:

Omar Bustami
Omar, 23, from San Clemente, California, has led over 60 American students, on three separate trips, through Israel and the West Bank. Omar says the Olive Tree Initiative (OTI) helped him to "understand that one could be a pro-Palestinian and a pro-Israeli. but more importantly a pro-humanitarian." He has been distinguished as a Chancellor's Living Our Values Award Recipient, City of Irvine Honoree, Israel-Palestine Solution Debate Winner and Falafel Eating Champion.

Omar has received a B.A. in Political Science and a B.S. in Engineering from the University of California-Irvine and is currently attending Georgetown University's Paralegal Studies Program in Washington, D.C.

Grace Li

Fifteen-year-old Grace Li is a sophomore at Glenda Dawson High School in Pearland, Texas. Grace and her younger siblings, Sharon and Eric Li, founded a non-profit organization, We Care Act (Manvel, Texas), to inspire and engage youth around the world participate in community service and to help young disaster victims to recover. In 2008, Grace and her siblings started by making newsletters and collecting donations in school and their neighborhood and personally delivering funds to the earthquake victims in Sichuan, China. Since then, We Care Act has evolved from a small, backyard family fundraiser to an international organization—more than 80 team leaders from four different countries—with a clear purpose and goal in mind. Besides from assisting students in Sichuan, China, We Care Act also helps victims of hurricane Ike in Galveston, Texas, earthquake victims in Qinghai, China, and Haiti, and poverty children in Hunan, China.

We Care Act is recognized by the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy as a Top 10 Youth Service Task Force, and Grace's attending the summit will showcase her organization's extraordinary work and in the meantime inspire and engage more people around the nation and the world for citizen diplomacy. In addition, by attending the summit, Grace hopes to partner with other organizations as potential sponsors to her many exciting ideas and programs, such as providing leadership trainings for team leaders, educational opportunities for disaster victims and service opportunities for citizens in the youth community.

Michael Hayes

Michael is a senior at Clark Atlanta University and pursuing a degree in Communications with a concentration in Speech. He is president emeritus of the Forensics society, member of the Toastmasters and a former participant of the Model United Nations. He is currently President of Vanguard Leadership Group, a national non-profit leadership academy, and an employee for the United States Department of Commerce Regional office, Minority Business Development Agency. Mr. Hayes has worked within the Egyptian Embassy (Trade and Commercial Office) in Washington D.C. and as a business consultant in the East Bay, CA. He is a Rhodes Scholar candidate and hopes to obtain a doctorate from Oxford University in Development Studies.

Kyle Gracey

A Masters student at the Univ. of Chicago is leading SustainUS, which focuses on sustainable development policy. Kyle led a youth delegation to the UN climate negotiations in Poland and spoke at the 2009 Power Shift conference. He has an extensive list of organizations and institutions that he has been involved with and is a leader in his field of work. His organization was selected to the top ten by the Youth Service Task Force.

Pippa Biddle

Pippa Biddle was selected by the Jane Goodall Institute and Dr. Jane Goodall as the Roots & Shoots Youth Leadership Fellow for 2010 - 2011. As the Fellow Pippa is leading the Global Youth Leadership Campaign and serves as a mentor to the National Youth Leadership Council. Over the course of her Fellowship, Pippa will be spreading her message of hope and the power of youth service through speaking engagements in the United States and abroad.

As a member and co-head of the service club Concordia at Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut, Pippa planned and mentored students as they developed service projects that gave back to the community. Among these projects, was a Mother/Daughter Leadership Tea aimed at building confidence and leadership skills in girls in the Connecticut foster care system as well as growing the bond between foster moms and daughters. Pippa has also lead and participated in a reading buddies program, assisted in planning residential camp for children with HIV/AIDS, and served as coach for individual athletes in Alpine Ski Racing with Special Olympics.

Ross Seidman

Ross Seidman is currently a senior at McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Maryland. He began his community service work in the fourth grade when he organized and launched "The Kindness Campaign" in which students and faculty heard from various speakers, like U.S. Congressman Elijah Cummings, who shared their views and experiences with kindness as a means to stress the importance and potential impact it can have within a community. Since then Ross has volunteered in the pediatric ward of Sinai Hospital as well as participating in construction work with Habitat for Humanity.

Over the past three and a half years Ross's leadership and community service experience has been cultivated by his involvement with BBYO through his AZA chapter. He is currently serving as the president of the Baltimore Council and previously served as the president of his chapter, as well as the vice- president and treasurer for both his chapter and Baltimore Council. In addition to holding these positions, Ross has coordinated two Leadership Training Institute programs for over 200 teens from the DC Metro Area. He also planned and implemented a Regional "Stay Awake Athon" in which teens stayed up all night to raise money for BBYO members in Bulgaria, resulting in $10,000 to support BBYO programs overseas. Ross was also recently selected to serve on Youth Service America's National Youth Council for 2010-2011.

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