Launch of the Arab American Business Fellowship Program
Contact
Leah Schomburg, Trilix Marketing Group
Office: 515-221-4900, ext. 208
Cell: 515-321-8701
leah@trilixgroup.com
Cari Guittard, Executive Director, BDA
415.608.0806 c.
cari.guittard@sf.ddb.com
U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy, Business for Diplomatic Action
and the National U.S. Arab Chamber of Commerce
launch Arab American Business Fellowship Program
Pilot program matches young Arab leaders with businesses in
Des Moines, New York, and Chicago
DES MOINES - October 19th, 2007- A first-of-its-kind private sector program to develop business relationships between U.S. companies and young Arab business leaders, the Arab and American Business Fellowship Program (AABF) will be launched this fall in Des Moines, New York, and Chicago. The program will host seven fellowship participants ¿ four women and three men ¿ from the Middle East in cooperation with the Young Arab Leaders organization.
As a joint effort between the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy, Business for Diplomatic Action, the Young Arab Leaders, and the National U.S. Arab Chamber of Commerce, this pilot program is designed to foster mutual understanding and respect between the American and Arab business communities. By developing a dialogue between the cultures, participants hope to create an environment in which information, opinions and knowledge flow both ways.
Companies participating in the program include the Principal Financial Group and MidAmerican Energy Company from Des Moines; Sesame Workshop from New York, and R.R. Donnelley from Chicago.
¿We are very excited to be a partner of this private sector pilot program in citizen diplomacy,¿ says Ann Schodde, executive director of the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy. ¿We believe this program will improve the business IQ of everyone involved and will also enhance opportunities for international business. International understanding in the private sector is important to us all.¿
Program participants are young Arab business leaders who have been selected by the CEO of their companies as representatives and are active in their communities. The participants will meet with senior executives from Des Moines and New York companies for two weeks, present a program for employees of the companies in order to share their insights about doing business in the Arab world, and participate in social and cultural activities in New York, Chicago, Des Moines, and Washington, D.C.
¿The Principal Financial Group is pleased to support the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy. The Arab and American Business Fellowship Program is a welcome opportunity to use business as a platform for our two cultures to better understand one another,¿ said Jim DeVries, senior vice president ¿ Human Resources at the Principal Financial Group. ¿An additional benefit is the business context the program facilitates, which is especially useful for companies interested in expanding globally.¿
¿These emerging business leaders are some of the best and brightest business minds in the Middle East who are interested in building stronger relationships in the U.S. to help learn and share through greater understanding,¿ says Keith Reinhard, President of Business for Diplomatic Action. ¿This program will help us make great strides in business-based international diplomacy, and we hope to develop it into the Fulbright program of the private sector.¿
Last fall, Reinhard visited Des Moines at the request of the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy to speak to Iowa business leaders about the role of the private sector in international relations and how business can play an important role in addressing America¿s declining image in the world. This visit led directly to the development of the Arab American Business Fellowship program.
The AABF program will consist of an orientation program in New York, two weeks with host businesses in Des Moines, New York, and Chicago, and a final three days in Washington DC. Splitting the trip is designed to enhance the experience by showing two distinctly different areas of the U.S.: a metropolitan city on the East coast and the Midwest Heartland.
¿Our relationship with the Business for Diplomatic Action has been a great one from the start,¿ says Schodde of the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy. ¿Launching the AABF program is a great collaborative effort that advances our shared mission of engaging businesses and business people in international relations as citizen diplomats.¿
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The U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy is a national nonpartisan organization dedicated to serving the many organizations active in citizen diplomacy through development of resources which will enable the establishment of best-practices in citizen diplomacy and the recruitment of persons to serve as U.S. citizen ambassadors to the world. For more information, visit www.uscenterforcitizendiplomacy.org.
Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA) is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to enlist the U.S. business community in actions to improve the standing and reputation of America in the world. Business for Diplomatic Action is leading the private sector effort to provide constructive business solutions for public diplomacy programs and initiatives. For more information, visit www.businessfordiplomaticaction.org.
The National U.S. Arab Chamber of Commerce is America¿s longest serving organization dedicated to U.S.-Arab business. NUSACC works closely with top business leaders and high-level policymakers in the United States and throughout the Arab world. As the only entity in the United States with official recognition conferred by the League of Arab States and the General Union of Arab Chambers of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture, NUSACC serves as the U.S. point of contact for the national chambers of commerce in the 22 Arab nations. www.nusacc.org
The Young Arab Leaders is a network of Arab men and women eager to trigger change in the world around them. The group believes that leadership is not measured by an official title or by how many people follow you, leadership is an attitude that stems out of a belief in one¿s own abilities, no matter where one stands in a professional hierarchy. The values the group support and follow are: Excellence, Meritocracy, Accountability, Entrepreneurship, Tolerance and Candor.
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