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Board of Directors

Honorary Chairs
Mayor Eric Garcetti
City of Los Angeles
 
Mark Ridley-Thomas
Chair, L.A. County Board of Supervisors

Chairman
Matthew Olsen
Boston Private Bank & Trust Company


Vice Chairs
Mathias Fobi, M.D.
Bariatec Corporation

Michele A. Franchett
Stone Grzegorek & Gonzalez LLP
 
Michael McDowell
Japan House Los Angeles
 



Secretary
Deanne Neiman
Honorary Consul of Botswana    


Legal Counsel
Wafa J. Hoballah
WJH Law Group, APC 
 

Laman Alani

Haifa Azawi, M.D. 
New Women Medical Care

Kathy Jones Irish
Kathy Jones Irish Consulting
 
Jonathan Kaji
Kaji & Associates

Patti MacJennett          
 Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board 

Kristin McCowan
Office of Mayor Eric Garcetti


Rima Nashashibi
Nashashibi International Consultants
 
Stephen Ozoigbo    
International Advisor
Relativity Education
 
Lourdes Saab
L.A. County Office of Protocol
 
William Silva
Southern California Edison

David R. Stepp
Bryan Cave LLP   


Yael Swerdlow
Women's Empowerment Foundation 
 
Tina Tangalakis
Della 
 
Tim Watkins
Watts Labour Community Action Committee

Nivine Woods 
Abbott Global Enterprises  
 
 

President & CEO
Janet Elliott
Corporate Diplomats

AMD Logo



June 2017


In this month's issue you will find:

Quote of the Month 
 
Event in Review: Citizen Diplomacy Celebration
 
Welcome New Intern!

Speak Up for Exchanges 
 
Community Events

International Opportunities 
   
Upcoming International Visitors in June
 
I hope you enjoy hearing about the recent goings-on at IVCLA. Please feel free to share your comments with me by sending an email to [email protected]
Quote of the Month 
Q: What did you learn about American Culture during your visit that you didn't know before?

A: Now I have a more precise impression about American culture and the museum system. I have not known before that there are so many rich and attractive museums, I mean, with rich collections and different topics. And I met lots of museum specialists who admire their works. We are the same!
 
--Yulia Vladimirovna EVSEEVA, Director General, Vologda State Architecture and History Museum-Reserve, Russia
Event in Review: Citizen Diplomacy Celebration
Awardees Joumana Silyan-Saba and Tony LoRe

This year at the beautiful Taglyan Complex in Hollywood, IVCLA members, guests and consular corps officials came together to celebrate the importance of Citizen Diplomacy. IVCLA members and resources personify diplomacy in every professional appointment and home hospitality experience they share with international visitors. While sipping on a selection of international wines, guests also enjoyed delicious Middle-Eastern cuisine and a spectacular bellydance performance by members of the Lebanese Social Club at UCLA. Our Board Chairman and emcee for the evening, Matt Olsen, kicked off the awards ceremony.

Members of UCLA's Lebanese Social Club performing
 
Our 2017 Outstanding Citizen Diplomat Award went to Joumana Silyan-Saba, a beacon of hope for improving inter-community relations in Los Angeles. Joumana is the first Director of Strategies against Violent Extremism in the Los Angeles Mayor's Office of Public Safety. In a time when hate and bias are taking root, she strives to make peace flourish. By taking innovative approaches, she supports community-led processes that promote inclusiveness to reduce hate and prevent violence. Joumana generously gives her time to share her expertise and ideas with our international visitors working to combat violent extremism in their countries. It was our honor to recognize Joumana as our Outstanding Citizen Diplomat.
 
Our 2017 Outstanding Resource Award was presented to Tony LoRe, Founder of Youth Mentoring Connection (YMC), who dedicated his life to awakening at-risk youth to their power . The mission of Youth Mentoring Connection is to help underserved youth realize their unique gifts and purpose by matching them with caring adult mentors within a structured group setting that provides the resources youth need to reach a productive adulthood. Their vision is of a society that accepts its responsibility to meet the needs of all young people, and where young people bring their gifts back into their communities as productive members of society. Tony's unwavering commitment to undeserved youth exceeds the expectations of our international visitors with each discussion. For their dedication to improving the Los Angeles community and the world through citizen diplomacy, we were honored to present YMC with IVCLA's Outstanding Resource Award.

The Citizen Diplomacy Celebration would not be possible without the support of our Sponsors:




 




Thank you to the businesses, organizations, and individuals who  
contributed items and services for this evening. Their
generosity enables us to continue our work to increase
international understanding and cooperation.

SILENT AUCTION DONORS:

INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF DINING DONORS

INTERNATIONAL WINE DONORS
Welcome New Intern!



My name is Nour Dabboussi and I am a Lebanese international student at the University of California, Los Angeles, pursuing my B.A. in Communications Studies. Growing up, I have always been interested about the power of communications and debate in politics, conflict resolution and diplomatic conferences, which motivated me to pursue my degree in the field. After graduating from high school, I embarked on my educational journey in Los Angeles where I aspired to receive a top-notch experience. Here, I dedicated my time to joining different campus organizations such as the Student Government's Advocacy Committee where I developed a passion for serving my campus community and protecting students' interests. Most importantly, my experience in California for the past three years has offered me so many enriching and rewarding opportunities that have showed me that as an international student I am encouraged to succeed here. Moreover, my experience offered me the privilege of meeting many people from different backgrounds who enriched my cultural knowledge. That is why I became extremely interested about interning at IVCLA as I was fascinated by the organization's commitment to its mission of increasing international cooperation and understanding, especially during the times we are going through today. As an intern, I consider myself honored to be part of this family, where I know I am growing my experience in leadership and diplomacy, and most importantly, my passion for cultural understanding.

Speak Up for Exchanges

The proposed White House budget for FY 2018 includes funding cuts for educational and cultural exchange programs funded by the U.S. Department of State. The International Affairs Budget takes the largest and most disproportionate cuts in the Non-Defense Discretionary budget in the Administration's proposal. Additionally, as a percentage of GDP, funding for the International Affairs Budget would drop to its lowest level since World War II. Read the USGLC's top takeaways from the Administration's FY18 request for international affairs, as well as the full analysis.

Here's a great op-ed by former Secretary of State and USGLC Chair Colin Powell on the importance of America's leadership in the world.

Help combat these proposed cuts by engaging your Members of Congress!
Let them know these cuts would greatly harm America's public diplomacy efforts and, ultimately, our national security and economy.
 
Community Events
 




Parking:
On-site valet parking is available for $14 for the first hour, $2 each additional 20 mins.

Join the Middle East Institute for a Saudi fashion pop-up event, Q&A and reception with entrepreneur and fashion consultant, Marriam Mossalli. This event will be moderated by Booth Moore, Senior Fashion Editor at The Hollywood Reporter. Drinks will be served starting at 7:00pm and the discussion with Mossalli will start at 7:45pm, followed by a reception.


International Opportunities

 
Eisenhower Fellowships (EF) is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit international leadership organization with a distinguished history of awarding exceptional U.S. leaders ages 32-45 from all professional fields a four or five-week fellowship abroad. Each year, 10 USA Eisenhower Fellows travel for five weeks to one or two countries in the EF network. In addition, 10 Zhi-Xing China Eisenhower Fellows are awarded a four-week fellowship focused exclusively on China.

The deadline for the Zhi-Xing China Fellowship is September 1, 2017.

Upcoming International Visitors
The following are among the arriving guests of the
U.S. government whose professional appointments in 
Los Angeles will be arranged by the
International Visitors Council of Los Angeles.
 
June   2017
 
Armenia

Integrating the Needs of Refugees into Social Policy
June  1 - 6   

Azerbaijan
Trade, Logistics, and Economic Growth
June 10 - 15  
 
Romania
U.S. Museum Design and Management
June 21 - 24
Austria
Croatia
France
Germany
Hungary
Netherlands
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Vatican City
Migration and Integration Issues in the U.S.

June 22 - 28     

Editor: Danica Kreculj
Projects Coordinator
(213) 388-1428