www.pannetwork.org   

 

February / March 2007

Leadership Beyond Business

 

in this issue ...

  American-Arab Action Forum Meets With Media Leaders in New York, Holds Conference on "Bridging the Gap in U.S.-Arab Relations" for New York Area Chapters

  Youth Microcredit International (YMCI) Visits Guatemala - Register Now for Next Trip 15-19 March 2007!

  US Secretary of Interior Invites WPOers and YPOers to Help Transform the National Parks

 Village Partnership Action Forum and Economic Development Network to Meet in London, 1-3 March 2007

 

schedule of upcoming events

 

Mar. 1-3

Meeting of Village Partnership Action Forum and Economic Development Network in London

Mar. 5-6

Education Forum Meeting In New York
Mar. 15-19 Youth Microcredit International Guatemala Trip

Mar. 21

PAN/SEN Conference Call

Apr. 18

PAN/SEN Conference Call

May 15-17

Social Responsibility Network & Strategic Philanthropy Network Event in San Francisco

May 16

PAN/SEN Conference Call

Jun. 20

PAN/SEN Conference Call

Jun. 30 - Jul. 7

 Parent-Child Social Action Program in Guatemala

* PAN/SEN Conference Calls are open to all PAN/SEN members and/or spouses. For dial-in details, please click the links above.

 

For more information about becoming a PAN member, click here.

 

American-Arab Action Forum Meets With Media Leaders in New York, Holds Conference on "Bridging the Gap in U.S.-Arab Relations" for New York Area Chapters

The American-Arab Action Forum met in New York City, New York from 8 to 11 January 2007, its sixth meeting since the group was founded in 2004.

The meeting focused on the media's role in narrowing or broadening the gap between the United States and Arab countries. Forum members met with media leaders including Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek, David Ignatius of the Washington Post and Frank Sesno of CNN to gain insight on the role the media has played in conveying various messages, perceptions and ideals of the Arab world to the United States, and vice versa. The group discussed how the media's role may be better utilized to establish more positive relationships and narrow gaps between the two cultures.

The AAA Forum has expanded its membership significantly in the last year. It now has 24 members, and four new members attended the meeting in New York. The group now has members from the United States, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Lebanon and Palestine.

A highlight of the meeting was an 11 January event attended by WPOers and YPOers from New York-area chapters, which was organized by the AAA Forum.

The program, which was titled "Bridging the Gap in U.S.-Arab Relations – the Issues, the Questions and What YOU Can Do," offered panel discussions focused on several aspects of U.S.-Arab Relations that the AAA Forum has examined over the last few years: media, governance, religion, education and U.S. foreign policy. The deputy director for the global war on terror for the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon presented U.S. strategy and engaged in an active dialogue with Arab members of the Forum. The event was well attended and received excellent ratings.
 

  

Youth Microcredit International (YMCI) Visits Guatemala - Register Now for Next Trip 15-19 March!

 

If you have an interest in microcredit or assisting people in a developing nation, here is a great opportunity for you and your teen. Join us on one of two upcoming Youth Microcredit International (YMCI) trips to Guatemala: 21 to 25 March and 30 June to 7 July 2007.

 

  


If you have children between the ages of 13 and 17, YMCI in Guatemala is the perfect trip for them to be exposed to microcredit and the developing world. YMCI trips aim to introduce WPO and YPO families to microcredit as a sustainable tool to fighting poverty. WPO and YPO youth will learn about lending and credit while becoming aware of the challenges of the poor. The trip involves visits to micro-entrepreneurs in remote villages, witnessing micro-loans, and also seeing how products aimed at improving people's quality of life can be financed through microcredit. This experience will strengthen your child's perception of helping the poor and will fuel their leadership capabilities. The March trip is partially funded by the Northeastern U.S. Region.


YMCI does this through connecting students with the borrowers of their loans – living examples of entrepreneurs climbing out of poverty. During the recent YMCI trip to Guatemala – which took place 26 to 30 December 2006 – WPO and YPO youth met Gloria Maria Bocel Cumes, whose microloan has made a tangible difference in her family's life. Using her loan to boost productivity in her family's handicraft business in Guatemala, Gloria explained that her family's increased revenue made it possible for them to afford their first Christmas together in years. Gloria told WPO and YPO youth that the loan was especially helpful because it allowed her family to turn all their hard work into something greater than they could have done on their own.
 

YMCI trips allow families to learn about microcredit while discovering Guatemala.  For more information about YMCI, go to www.ymci.org, or contact YMCI at info@ymci.org. Click here for more information about the March trip to Guatemala.
 

  

US Secretary of Interior Invites WPOers and YPOers to Help Transform the National Parks

 

A group of sixteen WPO and YPO members and their teenage children met with United States' Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne, Deputy Secretary Lynn Scarlett and Director of the National Park Service Mary Bomar to discuss strategies for transforming the nation's national parks.


The meeting was convened by Secretary Kempthorne at the request of President Bush to engage WPOers and YPOers in the National Parks Centennial Challenge. (2016 is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the National Park Service).


The Centennial Challenge is seeking to better engage children in the national parks by utilizing technology, both during visits and on an outreach basis, and to develop a strategy for maintaining and improving facilities.
 

The program was held in Washington, D.C. from 14 to 15 January 2007. It included a private lunch with Secretary Kempthorne in his offices, a VIP tour of the area's national parks and monuments, and dinner with Mary Bomar, as well as a briefing and brainstorming session. A special thank you goes to Deputy Secretary Scarlett, who made this program possible.
 

The program was championed by Dick Simon (WPO New England), and the YPO Environment Network. It was characterized by great enthusiasm and efforts among members to leverage the WPO/YPO network to launch various initiatives related to the national parks. The gathering offered an opportunity for WPOers and YPOers to become engaged in a unique experience that links present and future generations.
   

 

Economic Development Network to Meet in London, 1-3 March 2007

 

The Economic Development Network will hold its first Network meeting, from 1 to 3 March 2007 in Egham, England (15 minutes away from Heathrow Airport). The objective of this meeting is to get YPO members, alumni and their spouses who are interested in Third World development issues together to connect with each other, share personal vision and experience, learn, be inspired and identify opportunities where members can benefit from working more closely with each other to "move the needle" and make a difference.

This will be a truly "charged" event and an important milestone in the growth of the Economic Development Network. Percy Barnevik (former CEO of ABB) – whose organization Hand-in-Hand has created employment for 100,000 disadvantaged women in India in a short time frame – will be joining the group to share some of the issues of Third World development. Ashoka's directors for France and the United Kingdom will also join the group. Ashoka has supported more than 1,600 social entrepreneurs worldwide to date.

For more information, contact Frieder Krups (WPO Presidents' Action Network, Denmark, EuroChapter) at fkrups@bybcoaching.com.