Advancing Gender, Ethnic, and Cultural Minority Rights was the project title for a recent group from France who came to the United States as International Visitor Leadership Program participants. They were in the country on this professional exchange for three weeks, attending meetings and site visits in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Reno, Phoenix, Pensacola, and New York City.
During their brief stay in northwest Florida they volunteered with the Serving the Hungry team at First United Methodist Church and discussed the program with Katie Ramsey, met with Council Member Sherri Myers at Pensacola City Hall who provided insight into the local area and shared her own personal reflections on the topic, and explored the role of journalism and its contribution to gender, ethnic, and minority rights at the Independent News with Rick Outzen. The group met with Denise Ables and Nina Acosta the Pensacola Women’s Alliance to explore how to expand opportunities for women & to share best practices in education and networking with each other. They visited the Center for Independent Living of Northwest Florida where Director Debbie Stanwood discussed specific services available to disabled citizens, and they also had a conversation with Georgia Blackmon of the Gathering Awareness & Book Center which focused on how she and others overcame resistance to African-American voting and integration in the American South through peaceful protest.
Community coffees are always a nice addition to professional exchanges since they provide an opportunity for informal interaction and discussion. For the French group, the invitees included Dolly Berthelot, Mary Sue Brye, Jim Crowe, Jeannie Dumestre, Tara Jones, Dr. Samuel Mathews, Kim and Randy Ray, Robert Robinson, Pamela Schwartz, Susan Senkarik, John Toole, and Jeannine van Reeth.
And when their two days packed with activities were done, the visitors were off to their next stop. The Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council thanks everyone who contributed to this project.
