Photo by Debbie Hudson
Gulf Coast Diplomacy is partnering with World Affairs Council – Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky to bring the world to your home through informal conversations with professionals from around the globe via the Small World Café. Sessions are free.
We encourage participants to donate to our GoFundMe Charity page dedicated to our Youth Diplomats program or to World Affairs Council – Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky. Preregistration to each café is required.
Upcoming Small World Cafés
The Small World Café is on a summer hiatus and will resume in October 2022.
Past Small World Cafés
17 May 2022 – In a partnership with the World Affairs Council – Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky we explored the impact of misinformation and disinformation around the world with Dr. Jeffrey Blevins of the University of Cincinnati.
14 March 2022– After the February 24 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the world watched in horror as the situation rapidly escalated into a full-on war and refugee crisis. As Americans struggle to follow this crisis, we cannot begin to understand a possible outcome without a full picture view of the historical events and motivations that have shaped Russia’s actions. To contextualize this crisis, Dr. Steven Miner of Ohio University shared a history of Russia’s foreign policy aims since the end of the Cold War, Ukraine’s priorities and challenges as a young democracy, and Putin’s nationalistic rhetoric and motivations for pursuing Ukraine.
25 February 2022 – Brian Allain spoke about creative practices promoting “undivision.” Allain is one of the editors of How to Heal Our Divides, a book, podcast, and project which includes voices from different faith traditions.
22 February 2022 – As tensions on the Ukrainian border with Russia increase, many Americans are asking, “What is at stake?” We joined Global Ties Miami to get an on-the-ground perspective of the concerns of Ukrainians and civilians in neighboring countries. Moderated by Ambassador Leslie Rowe, Roman Oleksenko in Ukraine and Dusan Kulka in Czech Republic discussed their views about the ongoing crisis.
28 September 28th — We explored The Value of Breast Health for Sustainable Cities in a discussion led by Nicole Joseph-Chin, a 2011 and 2021 U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program participant and the founder of social enterprise Ms. Brafit. Read more here.
3 Jun 2021 — We joined Global Ties Detroit in welcoming Lars-Erik Tindre the Public Diplomacy Press- and Communications Counselor at the Information and Culture Department of the Embassy of Sweden in Washington, D.C., as he gave us a taste of his country, just in time for the summer travel season.
11 May 2021 — Jamal Benhamou discussed the current issues the Amazigh people of North Africa are facing from a political perspective. Jamal was born in Morocco and came to the US a little over 11 years ago to pursue higher education, obtained a BA in international relations from the University of West Florida, and is currently pursuing graduate education in linguistics at Florida State University. He provides language interpretation as a contractor for the immigration court of the U.S. Department of Justice & became a U.S. citizen in 2015.
27 April 2021 — For Earth Day we had a special environmental Small World Cafe, Conservation around the World, a discussion on global environmental protection efforts, climate change, and how local campaigns are successfully preserving the planet. We were joined by IVLP alumni from Colombia and Costa Rica as well as environmentalists from Detroit and Pensacola. Read more here.
16 March 2021 — Brigadier General (Retired) John Adams spoke on “Integrating U.S. Government Representation Overseas: the U.S. Embassy Country Team.” John Adams served in the U.S. Army from 1977 to 2007, including 14 years’ service on five U.S. Embassy Country Teams and on the U.S. Delegation to the NATO Military Committee.
11 February 2021 — Fred KETCHEM spoke on “Managing Change in the International Realm.” Fred successfully completed a rewarding career with the U.S. Department of State. He retired as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and Assistant Director of the Diplomatic Security Service. As a senior executive of the Diplomatic Security Service, Fred managed overall operations and set strategic goals to ensure the safety and security of U.S. diplomatic facilities worldwide. Read more here.
12 January 2021 — Two founders of the Quechua Project discussed the organization’s mission and gave some history behind the need for the project. We even learned some Quechua in the process.
3 December 2020 — IVLP alumna Rabi Wilson joined us to share her work and research around women and girls. As a Senior Portfolio Management Office at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Rabi enables delivery of a portfolio of over 30 international projects while leading on Gender Policy, contract management, due diligence, and learning and development. She is the Head of Policy, Culture and Evidence in her department’s staff network Women Empowered, where she focuses on empowering women in the workforce and including male allies in conversation around feminism. Her volunteer work includes experience leading community engagement initiatives in the health education sector in South Africa. She holds an MA in Anthropology International Development and Human Rights where she specialized in Violence Against Women & Girls. She hopes to further develop her leadership skills and learn how to better engage young people in discussions on harmful gender roles. In her spare time, Rabi runs a small business and loves to take up creative projects such as calligraphy.
4 November 2020 — The coffee focused on elections in America in 2020 & we invited 11 journalists from Austria, Finland, France, Greece, Montenegro, Poland, Republic of North Macedonia, Slovenia, Spain, and United Kingdom to join us. The visitors talked about their work and their impression of their Edward R. Murrow International Visitor Leadership Program. Read a more detailed description here.
10 September 2020 — Our guests were Dr. Khwaja Mohammed ZIYAUDDIN & Laeeq AHMED KHAN AQIL of India, two individuals who traveled to Pensacola in November 2019. They talked about their work with students, impressions from their International Visitor Leadership Program, and the current COVID-19 situation in India. ZIYAUDDIN is an Assistant Professor with the Center for Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy at Maulana Azad National Urdu University and AHMED KHAN AQIL is the Secretary-General of the Fraternity Movement of India. Read a more detailed description here.
2 September 2020 — Saad ABID of Morocco, one of the #80FacesOfExchange, spoke about his International Visitor Leadership Program experience and the impact of his environmental work, including the 67 beach cleanups involving more than 40,000 participants that he has organized in Morocco. One cleanup included more than 5,400 participants, a national record. ABID took part in the creation of the Founders Group of the Climate Action Leadership Network, a group of 25 leading decision-makers working on climate change mitigation. He is currently president of the Bahri Association, which he founded in 2010. He is also a prominent inspirational speaker and content creator who encourages his 400,000 social media followers to take action to protect the environment and practice sustainable tourism. Saad ABID is an internationally recognized leader in community response to climate change and a prominent social media influencer encouraging young people to take action to protect the environment.
25 August 2020 — Ed CLEMENTE of Detroit shared his experiences traveling to the New Seven Wonders of the World & regaled us with tales of his adventures.
11 August 2020 — Taras REPYTSKYI of Ukraine traveled to Northwest Florida through the Open World Leadership Center in 2019. He is the founder and head of SykhiMedia, a nongovernmental organization focused on the Sykhiv District of Lviv, Ukraine. At the café, he focused on community development and the importance of local identity & journalism. Read a more detailed description here.
30 July 2020 — Bruno BARROS of Brazil was our first University of West Florida (UWF) intern. He received his MBA & a degree in international relations at UWF & for the last several years has worked in the container logistics industry with Danish company Mærsk. He is currently based in Angola as the country manager for Safmarine, part of the Mærsk Group. BARROS spoke about life & business in the time of COVID.
27 July 2020 — We welcomed Þuríður H. Aradóttir BRAUN of Iceland who discussed the wonders of her country’s parks and environment. In 2009, she visited Washington, D.C., Seattle (WA), Denver (CO), and Pensacola (FL) with the International Visitor Leadership Program.
8 July 2020 — Global Ties Detroit invited Jonathan QUARLES of Quartz Water Source to present to a gathering of citizen diplomacy supporters. He founded Quartz Water Source in response to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. QUARLES has participated in 10 global fellowship programs and has traveled to 35 countries. He has been recognized as a leader in several publicans and organizations including Forbes, Crain Detroit, and Black Enterprise Magazine. QUARLES discussed how entrepreneurship can empower communities and improve human conditions locally and globally.
30 June 2020 — Angela LLANOS, a 2018 International Visitor Leadership Program alumna, shared how COVID-19 has affected her work in the Bolivian tourism industry & what she and others are doing to help impacted families. Highlights of our time together included lessons on folkloric dancing, llamas, and her perspective on the current pandemic.
18 June 2020 — Marini DE LIVERA, a 2019 International Woman of Courage shared how COVID-19 has affected her work & country. While serving as chair of the National Child Protection Authority of Sri Lanka, DE LIVERA embarked on aggressive investigations of child abuse allegations. Her efforts were met with death threats as well as resistance and removal from the position by her own government. She responded to her government’s attempt to cut off her activism by founding Sisters at Law, a nonprofit organization of pro-bono lawyers for women and child victims of crime. The organization also provides counseling for victims, conducts awareness-raising campaigns, and promotes alternative care for children trapped in orphanages. Read a more detailed description here.
4 June 2020 — Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Racine FRANK shared her experience volunteering in Ethiopia and her evacuation from that country in March 2020. FRANK is a 2018 University of West Florida graduate, a Global Ties U.S. Emerging Leader, and a former team member of the Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council. Read a more detailed description here.
21 May 2020 — We welcomed Fitore MISINI, American Corner Program Assistant at the National Library of Kosova – American Corner Pristina. During this hour, we learned about the work of the American Corner & also discussed how coronavirus is affecting Kosovo. Fitore MISINI visited Pensacola in April 2019 as a participant of the International Visitor Leadership Program of the U.S. Department of State on a Meridian International project titled 21st Century Changemakers: Education Leaders Advance Civic Engagement Among High School Youth.
4 May 2020 — We welcomed Spyros KOUVELIS, the Founder and Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development of the European Public Law Organization (EPLO). Since November 2019, the Institute is fully incorporated within EPLO, enjoying its status as an International Organization and Permanent Observer of the UN General Assembly. From 2007-2009 KOUVELIS was the Shadow Minister of Environment, Energy, and Planning for the leading opposition party of Greece. He visited Pensacola in 2009 through the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program & served as Minister of State for Foreign Economic, Environmental, and Cultural Affairs until 2011. At that time, his duties included environmental and cultural diplomacy, economic and energy issues, development cooperation, and humanitarian assistance. Read a more detailed description here.
30 April 2020 — U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program alumni from Albania, Estonia, Romania, and Serbia joined us to discuss educational challenges in the COVID-19 environment. Read more here.
16 April 2020 —- Our inaugural event featured Shazia BASHIR of Pakistan who spent a month in Pensacola in 2015 as a Legislative Fellow.