Members' Day at the UN / 8^th Annual Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference

Friday, February 19, 2016 

Jeanne Betsock Stillman

Past-President, UNA-USA Southern New York Division (UNA-SNY)

 

Jeanne Betsock (Ginger) Stillman consults in non-profit management, international public health, gender issues and program development. She has served as a staff member or consultant with non-governmental organizations, international organizations and universities in the US and 20 other countries. She has served as a consultant with UN Population Fund, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and UN High Commission for Refugees.   She is President of Strategies for Development, Inc., a consulting firm established in 1998.  As Board Secretary of the Public-Private Alliance Foundation, which works in development principally in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Madagascar, she represents PPAF to the UN Department of Public Information.

 

Stillman is the Past-President of the United Nations Association of the USA Southern New York State Division. She has served as co-chair from 2011 to 2016 for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference and Members Day at the UN. She has served for several terms as a Middle Atlantic Representative to the Council of Chapters and Divisions Steering Committee. In the UNA Westchester Chapter, she served as Executive Director and as a Board member and Secretary, and led development of many innovative programs including “Peace Makes the World a Better Place,” which works with 3^rd grade students in Yonkers Public Schools.  

 

Stillman edited the 11-volume Training Course in Women’s Health (1993), and supervised translation into French of a four-volume training course on HIV/AIDS. She designed and led training programs for health professionals in the US, many sub-Saharan African countries, Tunisia and Haiti. In Pakistan, she was a trainer and evaluator in a project working to build latrines and teach basic hygiene in Afghan refugee camps.  She was part of a team in 2004 that drafted a Five-Year Master Plan for Rural Development for the Government of Madagascar.

 

Stillman holds a BA from the American University School of International Service, an MSPH from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health, and carried out doctoral coursework at the Columbia University School of Public Health. She was Associate Editor of the two-volume International Encyclopedia of Population (Macmillan/Free Press, 1982). Honors include Who’s Who in America.

 

 

Chris Whatley
Executive Director, UNA-USA 

Chris Whatley serves as Executive Director of the United Nations Association of the United States, a program of the United Nations Foundation. He leads UNAs national staff in Washington, D.C. and New York, and heads up the Associations efforts to increase membership, advocate on behalf of the UN and UN causes, and educate the next generation of UN supporters in the U.S. through UNAs Global Classrooms Model UN program.

 

Before joining UNF, Chris served as Washington Office Director and Deputy Executive Director of The Council of State Governments (CSG), representing elected officials in all 50 states and the six territories on Capitol Hill, forging ties between American states and their counterparts in Canada and Mexico, and serving as an appointed advisor to the Office of the United States Trade Representative. Prior to joining CSG, Chris served as a program officer and field representative for the International Republican Institute (IRI), leading a wide range of international election observation missions and technical assistance programs in Liberia, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. He began his career as a Research Assistant for the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), studying the demobilization and reintegration of former combatants in Zimbabwe following the Lancaster House Agreement.

 

Cristina Gallach
United Nations Under-Secretary-General, Communications & Public Information

Cristina Gallach has a wealth of experience in communications, information, public diplomacy, international affairs and security policy, combined with transformational leadership and hands-on management expertise. She is also an experienced newspaper, radio and television journalist.

Before joining the UN, Ms. Gallach had served as Head of the Public Relations Unit in the Council of the European Union, Directorate General for Information and Communication, Brussels, since 2010. In that role she was responsible for designing and implementing the EU Council’s communication strategies and for its public relations and outreach to key partners, including opinion-makers, civil society and academia.

Prior to that, Ms. Gallach was Spokesperson of the Spanish Government for the European Union rotating Presidency (2010); Spokesperson and Chief Media Advisor of the European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (1999-2009); and Deputy Spokesperson of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Chief Media Adviser for the Secretary-General (1996-1999).

Ms. Gallach spent more than 15 years as a journalist, during which time she held the positions of senior correspondent for EFE, the Spanish news agency, in Brussels (1993-1996) and in Moscow (1990-1992). She was also a correspondent with El Periodico newspaper in Barcelona (1986-1990), a United States correspondent for Avui newspaper (1984-1986) and a reporter with TVE Barcelona (1983-1984).

Ms. Gallach holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University, New York, and a degree in communication and journalism from the Universidad Autonoma, Barcelona. She has been a frequent lecturer on communications and public relations in universities and at conferences.

Ambassador Sarah Mendelson
U.S. Representative for Economic and Social Affairs, U.S. Mission to the United Nations

Ambassador Mendelson has spent over two decades working on development, democracy, and human rights as a scholar and practitioner both inside and outside of government.  From May 2010 to May 2014, Ambassador Mendelson served as deputy assistant administrator, responsible for Democracy, Human Rights and Governance in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). She was also the agency lead on combatting human trafficking. At USAID, she directed a staff of nearly 100 with an annual budget of approximately $120 million. 

 

Ambassador Mendelson comes to USUN from the Center for Strategic and International Studies where she worked from 2014-2015 and from 2001-2010 as senior adviser and inaugural director of the Human Rights Initiative.  From 1999 to 2001, she was a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She is the author and co-author of over 70 publications.  Her research has included work on closing space around civil society, historical memory, public opinion in Russia, as well as knowledge and experiences with human trafficking. Dr. Mendelson received her B.A. in history from Yale University and her Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University.

Panel & Q&A:  Post-Paris Leadership for Climate Change

Moderator: George A. Garland, President, UNA-USA Southern New York State Division

Dr. George A. Garland currently serves as president of the Southern New York State Division of UNA-USA. In 2000, he began his ongoing affiliation with the organization as full-time executive director for the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area, covering Washington DC, northern Virginia, and suburban Maryland. During his four-year tenure, membership climbed from 800 to 1,400, one of the largest UNA chapters. The YPIC group grew to 400 members with an e-mail string of 2,000 prospective members, the largest in the US. His chapter initiated Global Classrooms and Model UN projects in Washington, DC public schools. His large group of college interns came from over 25 countries.

In November, 2004, Dr. Garland joined the New York headquarters of UNA-USA as full-time Executive Director of National Membership. During his three-year tenure, membership at the national level grew from 12,000 to over 18,000 in 175 chapters and divisions. He acted as staff contact for: Council of Chapters and Divisions steering committee; the Membership Committee of the UNA-USA Board; and the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) Committee of the UNA-USA Board. Among the many programs he and his staff directed were: planning, managing, and implementing the UNA-USA Biennial Convention and the Annual Members Day; developing a Student Alliance program to offer resources to high school and college students nationwide; developing background information on the Millennium Development Goals for UNA-USA’s Global Policy Project; and implementing a pilot projects on Career Events for young professionals.

In 2008, Dr. Garland joined the Southern New York State Division and helped initiate the annual Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting, which became UNA-USA’s Members Day. He was director for the national Members Day from 2009 through 2012. In 2011, Dr. Garland helped initiate and became director of the Division’s Energy Project, whose mission is to “engage UNA-USA chapters, divisions, and members in support of UN-Energy endeavors and engage more effectively the UN system in addressing the energy needs of developing countries as well as the need for less energy intensity in developed countries.”

Prior to his affiliation with UNA-USA, Dr. Garland served in the public sector during a 34-year career as Policy Analyst with USEPA in Washington, DC. From 1966 to 2000, his work ranged from writing congressional regulations on hazardous waste issues to developing composting cost strategies for local governments to reporting on cutting edge food recovery and waste reduction issues. In 1988 he began a four-year consultancy as Chief Technical Advisor for Toxic Chemicals and Pollutants for UNWHO’s Regional Office in South East Asia, and worked with UN employees in India, Indonesia, Burma, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

He has published over 30 articles on waste management, composting, recycling, and food waste for EPA, as well as the World Bank, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, and Biocycle magazine.

Dr. Garland holds advanced degrees in Industrial Administration from Carnegie Mellon and Public Health from the University of North Carolina. He holds a doctorate in Administrative Theory and Practice, Economics, and Human Systems from George Washington University.

 Panelists:

Nilda Mesa
Director, New York City Mayor’s Office of Sustainability

Nilda Mesa is the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. She first joined the de Blasio administration as Director of the Mayor’s Office of Environmental Coordination.  Previously she worked in a number of roles at Columbia University, including Assistant Vice President for Environmental Stewardship, founding and leading the sustainability office to promote and implement sustainability measures within management and administration, focusing on green building and design, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and air quality. She was also Associate Dean for Administration for the School of Journalism, and adjunct professor at the School of International and Public Administration, where she taught environmental policy.

She has a long history of government service in the environmental arena.  In the Clinton administration she held senior environmental leadership positions at the EPA, Pentagon and the White House Council on Environmental Quality, in which she worked on land use, air and water quality, environmental justice, natural resources, and environmental reviews. She also served as Deputy Attorney General in the Environment Section of the California Department of Justice, and as a legislative aide for U.S. Senator Alan Cranston.

She is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Northwestern University.

 

Austin Schiano
Partnerships Director, Give Me 5 (for People+Planet)

Austin Schiano is the Partnerships Manager at the Give Me 5 (for People and Planet) Campaign. Prior to this work Austin was the Coordination Associate for the World We Want 2015, a joint civil society and UN initiative of the United Nations Millennium Campaign (now SDG Action Campaign). Austin remains an active member of the World We Want 2015 Policy and Strategy Group, and also works extensively in Media, and in various projects within the UN system. 

Austin has a master’s degree in global affairs from New York University.  His BA in English and Political Science is from Drew University.

 

Bill McKibben
350.org (Video)

Bill McKibben is an author and environmentalist who in 2014 was awarded the Right Livelihood Prize, sometimes called the ‘alternative Nobel.’ His 1989 book The End of Nature is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change, and has appeared in 24 languages; he’s gone on to write a dozen more books. He is a founder of 350.org, the first planet-wide, grassroots climate change movement, which has organized twenty thousand rallies around the world in every country save North Korea, spearheaded the resistance to the Keystone Pipeline, and launched the fast-growing fossil fuel divestment movement. 

The Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he was the 2013 winner of the Gandhi Prize and the Thomas Merton Prize, and holds honorary degrees from 18 colleges and universities. Foreign Policy named him to their inaugural list of the world’s 100 most important global thinkers, and the Boston Globe said he was “probably America’s most important environmentalist.”  

A former staff writer for the New Yorker, he writes frequently for a wide variety of publications around the world, including the New York Review of Books, National Geographic, and Rolling Stone. He lives in the mountains above Lake Champlain with his wife, the writer Sue Halpern, where he spends as much time as possible outdoors.

Jamie Henn
Strategy & Communications Director & Co-Founder, 350.org

Jamie Henn is Co-founder and Strategy and Communications Director for 350.org, an international climate campaign, as well as the Communications Director for 350 Action. Over the past five years, 350.org has organized more than 20,000 climate demonstrations in over 180 countries around the world. In the United States, 350.org has helped lead the fight against the Keystone XL pipeline and coordinate the growing fossil fuel divestment movement. Born in Boston, living in Brooklyn, Jamie is the co-author of "Fight Global Warming Now" and a contributor to MSNBC, Yes Magazine, Common Dreams, Grist, and Huffington Post.

 

Panel and Q&A: The Refugee Crisis  

Moderator: Ş. İlgü Özler, President, UNA-USA Mid-Hudson Valley Chapter

Ş. İlgü Özler is the Director of the SUNY Global Engagement Program in NYC in NYC and an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at SUNY New Paltz.  Her research is on the relationship between comparative political institutions and civil society. She focuses on political parties, non-governmental organizations and social movements. She has done research on the urban slums and squatter areas in Turkey, Mexico and Chile. Her recent work has been on Turkish civil society organizations and the Justice and Development Party in Turkey.

Dr. Özler’s teaching covers the fields of comparative politics and international relations. For the past decade, she has been taking students to the United Nations for briefings every Friday for 10 weeks during the spring semester.  She teaches courses on intergovernmental organizations, global civil society, Middle Eastern politics and Latin American politics.  Her recent work has been on environmental issues.  She is a special consultant to the Earth Child Institute, a United Nations Economic and Social Council accredited non-governmental organization.  She is the founder and coordinator to the Mid-Hudson Valley Amnesty International Chapter and the founding President of the United Nations Association of the Mid-Hudson Valley.  Özler received her Ph.D. in Political Science from University of California, Los Angeles (2003).

Panelists:

                 Sana Mustafa
                 Bard College Student and Syrian Refugee

Sana Mustafa is a community development professional with a background in business administration and social development. She has diverse experience working with international nonprofits and causes namely dealing with conflict resolution, peace-building, women empowerment, refugees, and youth development. Mustafa is an exiled Syrian activist who was forced to flee the war in Syria two years ago and started her life from scratch in the U.S.  She is finishing her second undergraduate degree in Political Science as she was given a scholarship from Bard College, Annandale, NY. Mustafa already has a bachelor degree in Business Administration from Damascus, Syria.  Mustafa now is interning with the World Humanitarian Summit office at the United Nations.

Fabien Dubuet
Representative to the United Nations from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Mr. Fabien Dubuet was appointed the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)’s Representative to the United Nations in New York in August 2005.  In this capacity he represents the MSF Movement to the main UN bodies (Secretariat, Security Council, General Assembly, Economic and Social Council), New York based UN Agencies (UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, etc.) and Member States/regional organizations. He defines and implements MSF’s humanitarian diplomacy and negotiations in support of field operations. Mr. Dubuet is also the co-founder of the team in charge of MSF’s humanitarian dialogue with states, regional intergovernmental organizations (African Union, European Union, ASEAN, League of Arab States, and the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation) and non-state actors. He provides strategic guidance to this team on a regular basis as well as support to the MSF’s International President and Secretary-International in their engagement with the UN system and the diplomatic community at large.

From 1997 to 2005, Mr. Dubuet held positions in the Paris office of MSF as both a researcher in the MSF’s think-tank (“CRASH”) and as the Deputy to the Legal Director, where he provided support to MSF on issues related to International Humanitarian Law, Refugee Law, Human Rights, the protection of civilians and peacekeeping. He was also an adviser to the MSF senior leadership in France on public communication and the engagement with at various institutional actors including NATO, the Council of Europe, the French government and the international criminal tribunals (ICTY, ICTR, ICC).

Mr. Dubuet joined MSF in 1995 and has since worked or conducted missions in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, East-Timor, Haiti, Iran, Kosovo, Russia, Rwanda, Uganda, Lebanon, Jordan, Cairo, Israel, Ethiopia, Myanmar and China. Over the past few years, he has been travelling extensively to East Asia (Myanmar, China, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea) to support MSF’s operations in the region and humanitarian diplomacy towards government officials and the ASEAN.

Mr. Dubuet holds a post graduate degree in International Relations from the University of La Sorbonne and studied conflict resolution and multilateral negotiations at Columbia University (NYC) and UNITAR. He has authored and contributed to several publications on humanitarian action/issues, including The Practical Guide to Humanitarian Law, published by Rowman and Littlefield, a book translated into Arabic, Russian, Spanish and Chinese.

 

Kevin Schumacher
Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator, OutRight Action International

Kevin Schumacher is the Regional Program Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa. From 2006 to 2009, Kevin was the Communications' Coordinator when OutRight Action International was formerly known as the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, monitoring LGBT rights violations in Iran and Iraq. He previously worked as the Fellowship of Reconciliation's Coordinator for Iran and Iraq. Kevin is bilingual in Persian (Farsi) and English, and has an advanced comprehension of Standard Arabic. He has an M.A. in International Relations from the National University, Teheran, Iran and an M.A in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame.

 

                 Elisabeth Philippe

                  As Senior Manager of Community and Media Relations at United Nations Federal Credit Union                      (UNFCU), Liz is the liaison for the Credit Union with United Nations entities in North America,                      including UNA-USA.  She is responsible for press information and, in her nearly 14 years with                      UNFCU, has also served as the organization’s manager of Corporate Communications and Business                      Development globally.  Liz is a member of the Advisory Council for the UNFCU Foundation  and is a                      manager of the UNFCU Global Sustainability Program.   A native New Yorker, she is a member of                      UNA New York.

 

Welcome and Introduction of U.S. Youth Observers to the UN

Panelists:

Donya Nasser
U.S. Youth Observer to the UN (2015-16)

Donya Nasser recently graduated Summa Cum Laude from St. John’s University, where she studied Political Science and Women’s and Gender Studies as a McNair Scholar. She is passionate about advocating for gender equality and reproductive justice on both a domestic and international level; empowering women, youth, and minorities to become civically engaged and run for office, and contributing to Middle East policy and combating stigmas and stereotypes. Throughout her term as the U.S. Youth Observer to the UN, she is exploring the U.S. relationship with the United Nations, to connect young Americans to the UN, and work to inspire them to play an active role in the UN’s work to build a better world.

She has interned for the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, the Wilson Center’s Middle East Program, and the Brennan Center for Justice. Donya is currently a member of the YTH Student Advisory Board and the Advocates for Youth Young Women of Color Leadership Council, as well as the youngest Board Director of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund Board. She has previously served as the President of the College Democrats of America, AAUW Youth Representative to the United Nations, and Executive Director of the St. John’s University Roosevelt Institute.  A Truman Scholar, she intends to pursue a joint degree and prepare herself for a career in public service so to be in a position to better serve women and underrepresented communities across the country and the world. 

Donya has supported these marginalized groups through her academic successes, leadership advancements, and social media opportunities. Donya believes in the power of galvanizing younger generations, who embody the potential of our future to secure equality and justice for all. She was a 2014 Glamour Magazine Top 10 College Woman, a recipient of the WIN Young Women of Achievement Award in Service/Nonprofit Advocacy, and an awardee of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center’s Student Prize. She has been featured on ABC, Al Jazeera, HuffPost Live, and MSNBC.

Jackson Dougan
U.S. Youth Observer to the UN (2014-15)

Jackson Olson Dougan is an impassioned LGBT and minority rights activist. A native of rural Oregon, Jackson completed an honors bachelor of science degree in biology, summa cum laude, from the Honors College of Oregon State University at the age of 20. Jackson most recently occupied a post-baccalaureate research position in Dublin, Ireland, addressing paleo- and climate change biology. Jackson is a former National Science Foundation undergraduate research fellow in chemistry and a former research grantee with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He previously served as a visiting research scholar to The University of Auckland, New Zealand, and has co-authored research findings accepted to the journal Landscape Ecology.

Tiffany Taylor
U.S. Youth Observer to the UN (2013-14)

Tiffany Taylor is from Gulfport, Mississippi. She graduated from the University of Chicago as a student marshal, the highest undergraduate academic honor, with majors in Political Science, Sociology, and Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies (Asian American Studies). During her undergraduate years, she founded two non-profits and studied and conducted research abroad in France, China, South Africa, South Korea, Zambia and Tanzania. Her work experience includes having worked for the International Labour Organization as a Youth Journalist and also having completed internships at Google, Morgan Stanley, and Credit Suisse. Most recently, she was a Fulbright Fellow in Business Management in New Delhi, India where she conducted research on economic development and health issues. She spent this past summer working in Santiago, Chile on research related to the effects of Boron on women’s health. She is now studying for a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and Global Health from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health on a fellowship from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.

Brooke Loughrin
U.S. Youth Observer to the UN (2012-13)

Brooke Loughrin is a Communications Analyst (Social Impact) in Deloitte Consulting's Digital Business and Strategy practice. She is also a World Affairs Council Fellow for 2015-2016. Brooke received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College in 2014, where she graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Political Science. During her undergraduate career, she served as the first-ever U.S. Youth Observer to the United Nations. In her current role, she is responsible for assisting with key strategic initiatives, platforms, and campaigns for a variety of high-profile non-profit and business clients engaged in international development, global health, philanthropy, and education.

 

Melinda Richardson
Chair, UNA-SNY YP Program

Melinda Richardson has served on the UNA-SNY Young Professionals Board of Directors since 2012, serving initially as Director of Marketing Communications before being elected Chair in 2014.  In addition she is the Vice President of Communications on the UNA Southern New York Division Board. Previously, she participated in the United Nations Internship Program working at the UN Democracy Fund and the UN Office for Partnerships where she focused on communications and grants management.

Melinda holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science from Boston University and a Master's degree in Political and Social Sciences from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain. She sits on the board of the Young Professionals Healthcare Network (YPHN) and is a UN Foundation Shot@Life Champion working to advocate to protect children worldwide by providing life-saving vaccines where they are most needed. She is currently a Communications Consultant for nonprofits and socially conscious startups.

Panel and Q&A: Global Goals – the next 15 years

Moderator: Rachel Bowen Pittman, UNA-USA Membership Director

Rachel Bowen Pittman is the Membership Director of the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA), a membership organization dedicated to inform, inspire, and mobilize the American people to support the ideals and vital work of the United Nations. In her role, Rachel manages programs for UNA-USA’s network of 20,000+ members and its 150 chapters to facilitate youth engagement, advocacy efforts, education programs, and public events. She also serves as an advisor to UNA’s Women and LGBT affinity groups.

With 18 years of experience in communications, marketing, and project management for domestic and international organizations, Rachel served as a Membership Director to several professional associations that represent lawyers, surgeons, regulators and engineers prior to joining UNA-USA. In her many accomplishments, Rachel increased membership programs by over 15% and secured agreements with national associations representing China, Korea, Argentina, India, Peru, Egypt and Mexico.

Rachel holds a B.S.B.A. in International Business from The American University and an MBA in Marketing from Johns Hopkins University.

Panelists:

Hon. Teta Banks
President, UNA-USA Houston Chapter 

The Honorable Teta V. Banks is a diplomat, educator and human rights leader. She was born in Monrovia, Liberia and grew up in Detroit, Michigan where her parents, the late Rev. Dr. A.A. Banks, Jr., and Dr. Victoria Allen Banks, were civil rights leaders and colleagues of key historic figures as Rev. Martin Luther King and Mrs. Rosa Parks.  Teta was educated at Wellesley College, Howard University, Wayne State University, and Oxford University.

As a diplomat, she was first appointed Consul General of the Republic of Liberia 1993. In that capacity, she represented the Liberian government to assist in the rebuilding of the war-torn nation, addressing human rights issues throughout African countries, and the establishment of trade, resources, and cultural relations between the U.S. and Liberia, as well as other African countries. She served on the Advisory Council of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and currently serves on the Liberian Post-Ebola Reconstruction Task Force. Consul Banks is a member of the Consular Corps College and former President of the Consular Corps Association of Philadelphia, which consists of 37 member nation diplomats. The Corps partners with such organizations as the World Affairs Council, the International Visitors Council, Model United Nations program, and Bodine High School for International Affairs.

She is a member of several international organizations. She is a founding member of the Women’s International Leadership Council, member of the US-Africa Bilateral Council, member of the Mayor’s Commission on African Affairs, member of The Links, Inc. International Trends Facet Advisory Council, member of UNA Women, former Vice President of the UNA-Greater Philadelphia and President of the UNA-Houston Chapter, member of the UNA-USA Council of Chapters and Regions Steering Committee, and President of the International Forum, Inc.  

Consul Banks has held and continues to hold positions in various arenas. She has served on several university faculties, including Washington University, Howard University, Rutgers University, Spelman College, and currently Texas A&M University System and Advisory Board of North American University . She was the founding editor of Vital Issues: The Journal of African American Speeches, Executive Director of the Philadelphia Martin Luther King Association for Nonviolence, and Vice Chairman of the Girard College Board of Trustees. She currently serves as consultant to various organizations/agencies, including: the Rosa Parks Institute, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and U.S. Department of Defense.   She is the recipient of numerous awards for humanitarian service and civil rights advocacy.

 

Ambassador Alice M. Dear
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Representative to UN/DPI

Ambassador Alice M. Dear, banker, businesswoman, diplomat and Africanist, is President of A.M. Dear & Associates, a business consulting and investment advisory boutique specializing in promoting private sector investment in Africa and strategies to support small and medium scale enterprises, including women-owned businesses.

In 1994, President Clinton appointed Ms. Dear, with unanimous Senate confirmation, as U.S. Executive Director of the African Development Bank (AfDB), a position holding ambassadorial rank. For six years (1994-2000) she represented the U.S. Government on the Board of Directors of AfDB, headquartered in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.

As an international business consultant, she draws on her expertise in banking and operational experience in Africa that spans 30 years. Through her association with business organizations, trade groups, and Non-Governmental Organizations, she also actively works to address gender issues in economic development. She is a frequent speaker on private sector development, entrepreneurship, and effective negotiations.

 

Gabriela Taveras
President, Seton Hall University UNA Chapter

Gabriela Taveras is a third year undergraduate student at Seton Hall University, majoring in Diplomacy & International Relations and minoring in French. She currently serves as President of the U.N. Association at Seton Hall University, Vice-President of the Seton Hall Undergraduate Diplomacy Student Association and UNA-USA Delegate to the 60th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women. Previously, she served as UNA-USA’s representative to the First Global General Assembly of Girls and Young Women in Rabat, Morocco, a DPI/NGO Youth Representative with the Seton Hall School of Diplomacy to the United Nations and an intern at the Permanent Mission of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations.

 

Panel & Q&A – Security Council Permanent 5:  Division and UN Drift

Moderator: Jeffrey Laurenti, Board Chair, UNA-USA Princeton/Trenton Area Chapter

Jeffrey Laurenti, a contributor on international affairs to Huffington Post, was senior fellow at The Century Foundation for eight years and director of its foreign policy programs, including the international task force on Afghanistan co-chaired by Thomas Pickering and Lakhdar Brahimi. He is the author of numerous monographs on subjects such as international peace and security, terrorism, U.N. reform, international law and justice, and other issues dealt with by the multilateral system.

 

Laurenti was executive director of policy studies at the United Nations Association of the United States until 2003. He was candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey in 1986 before coming to UNA, has advised several presidential campaigns, and from 1978 to 1984 was executive director of the New Jersey Senate.

He earned high honors in government at Harvard College and his master’s degree in public affairs from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He speaks Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese and, at an intermediate level, Arabic and Japanese.

 

Panelists:

 

Ambassador Matthew Rycroft

Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the UN

Matthew Rycroft CBE became the British Permanent Representative to the United Nations on 25 April 2015.  He has served Britain for a quarter century in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which he joined at age 21 after earning his degree in maths and philosophy from Merton College, Oxford.

Rycroft’s last post before coming to the United Nations was as Chief Operating Officer for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, overseeing the operation of both the ministry’s headquarters in London and its network of 270 posts around the world. He deputized for the ministry’s Permanent Under-Secretary in his absence. Ambassador Rycroft’s previous FCO assignments included four years at the U.K. embassies in Paris and later in Washington, two years heading the political section of the Eastern Adriatic department at the peak of the Bosnian civil war, and as ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Rycroft speaks French and Bosnian, plays the double bass, and enjoys soccer and other sports.

Ambassador Dina Kawar
Permanent Representative of Jordan to the UN

Ambassador Kawar attained her current post as Permanent Representative of Jordan to the UN in August 2014.  Prior to her appointment, she was Ambassador of Jordan to France from 2001 to 2013, with concurrent accreditation to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and to the Holy See, since 2002.  From 2005 to 2013, she also served as Ambassador to Portugal.

From 2000 to 2001, Ms. Kawar was Director of Bureau Privé de Sa Majesté le Roi Abdullah II in Paris, France, having previously headed the Paris office of the Bureau de S.A.R Prince El Hassan from 1991 to 2000.  From 1985 to 1990 she served in the Bureau’s Amman office. 

She holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Mills College, both in the United States.

Somini Sengupta
UN Bureau Chief, New York Times

Somini Sengupta covers international politics and policy at the United Nations. She was previously bureau chief for The New York Times in Dakar and New Delhi and most recently wrote about technology and the law. At the Times, she has covered everything from New York City schools to civil war in Congo.  She was born in Calcutta, grew up in Canada and California, and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, majoring in English and Development Studies and one summer, studying politics at Worcester College, Oxford University. She is the recipient of the 2004 George Polk Award for foreign reporting.