Secretary Clinton To Host Global Diaspora Forum
Notice to the Press
Office of the SpokespersonWashington, DCJuly 23, 2012
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will host the second annual Global Diaspora Forum at the U.S. Department of State on July 25 and at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on July 26 in Washington, DC.
More than 500 U.S.-based diaspora community leaders from the private sector, academia, media, civil society, and U.S. Government including Under Secretary of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Tara Sonenshine, Special Representative for Global Partnerships Kris Balderston, USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah, USAID Deputy Administrator Donald Steinberg, USAID Chief Innovation Officer Dr. Maura O’Neill, OPIC Executive Vice President Mimi Alemayehou, and Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor to the President, will participate in the Forum.
The Secretary’s Global Diaspora Forum recognizes and celebrates the work of American diaspora communities with roots across the globe and encourages them to contribute to the development of, and diplomatic relations with, their countries of origin. The theme of this year’s Forum is “Moving Forward by Giving Back,” and will focus on how the U.S. Government and diaspora communities are partnering to further investment and trade, philanthropy, volunteerism, social innovation, and entrepreneurship in developing and emerging communities around the world.
In May 2011, Secretary Clinton announced a historic new strategy for diaspora engagement at the inaugural Global Diaspora Forum, which culminated in the launch of a major new platform for partnership -- the International diaspora Engagement Alliance (IdEA). This second Forum will build on the success of that event, highlight progress and achievement of IdEA to date, and will serve as a platform to launch four new major partnership initiatives to strengthen U.S. engagement with diaspora members and groups.
The first day of the event will feature sessions on the future of diaspora engagement, and innovations for giving back, including social entrepreneurship, mobile applications, and diaspora volunteerism. The second day will feature sessions on creating public-private partnerships and identifying new opportunities for engagement with the U.S. Government.
The Secretary’s remarks will be livestreamed on state.gov. Follow the conversation on Twitter with #2012GDF and @diasporaatstate.
