Video Available: The Best of Cultural Diplomacy Today







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The Best of Cultural Diplomacy Today: Winners of the Lois Roth Foundation Awards for Excellence in Cultural Diplomacy

You are invited to join us on February 5 to learn about the Best of Cultural Diplomacy.

The program is sponsored by: The Lois Roth Foundation is a partner of the Public Diplomacy Council of America. Founded in 1987 to honor the life and legacy of USIA Foreign Service Officer Lois Roth, its mission is to promote and encourage dialogue across national, linguistic and cultural boundaries. With an emphasis on the humanities, arts, and social sciences, LRF carries out its mission through; Fulbright and Academic Collaborations; Awards for Excellence in Cultural Diplomacy; and literature and translation programs and awards.
 
The Lois Roth Foundation Awards for Excellence in Cultural Diplomacy recognize outstanding achievement by members of the three pillars of cultural diplomacy: Foreign Service Officers, Locally-Employed Staff, and personnel at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Award winners demonstrate cross-cultural sensitivity and understanding, ingenuity and imagination in programming, familiarity with global affairs, patience and wisdom in mentoring new colleagues, and special skill in promoting high-quality, lasting exchange opportunities with the civil sector.
 
At noon ET on February 5, 2024, please join us for a First Monday Forum webinar and hear three of the 2023 recipients talk about the work that earned them their awards. Foreign Service Officer Larry Socha, winner of the Lois Roth Award, will talk about building a new American Space and programs for artists, exchange participants, and students of English in Mogadishu, Somalia—one of the most dangerous and restrictive diplomatic environments in the world. 
 
Sami Saaied, has been a locally-employed Strategic Public Engagement Specialist at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia for over 20 years.The winner of a Gill Jacot-Guillarmod Career Achievement Award, Sami will discuss his success in creating new higher education programs that bring US perspectives to urgent and long-running issues—like PRC influence, security cooperation, and anti-human trafficking—thanks to his broad contact base and expertise in program and grants management.


 
The Ilchman-Richardson Award went to Dr. Jenny Verdaguer, the Branch Chief for the Western Hemisphere in the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Office of Academic Exchange Programs. Jenny will discuss the experience of leading a team that annually supports 1,700 exchange participants from thirty countries. Among other accomplishments, Jenny pioneered multi-country collaborative research initiatives, such as the Fulbright Regional Network for Applied Research and the Fulbright Amazonia Initiative.
                                                                
Please come to learn how some of our finest cultural diplomats are making important contributions through their work and participate in what is expected to be a lively Q&A session!
 
To register for this program please click HERE.