May 2017
AWQ 2016-2017
WACA Leadership and Board Meetings
Council of the Month
Cover to Cover
World Affairs Councils in the News
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Academic WorldQuest National Competition

A heartfelt thank-you to all students, teachers, parents,, and other participants who made the Carlos and Malu Alvarez 2017 Academic WorldQuest National Competition a wonderful success! Special thanks also to all of our sponsors, including the United States Institute of Peace, which held a welcome reception for all Academic WorldQuest attendees. Read the WACA press release. 

Congratulations to the winning teams:


First Place: Plano West Senior High School- World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth


Second Place: Millburn High School- International Center of the Capital Region



Third Place:  duPont Manual High School-  World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana 

Students from the first place and second place teams were each awarded scholarships for High School Summer Abroad Programs. The Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) provided the first place team with $3,000 scholarships and awarded the second place team $2,000 scholarships.

Check out Guest Speaker Omar El Aawar's well-received presentation entitled "My Story". El Aawar is the founder of INSPIRING ARABS and an AWQ 2015 Alum:



Learn more here!


United States Institute of Peace:

WACA would like to additionally recognize Nancy Lindborg, 
President of USIP,
 who made welcome remarks  entitled "Peacebuilding in Practice," at the AWQ Reception at the  United States Institute of Peace's iconic headquarters.

 
Thank you to our Judges and Emcee:
 
Emcee: Joyce Davis, World Affairs Council of Harrisburg
Judge: Rich Crepage, World Affairs Council of NW Ohio
Judge: Leslie Palmer, World Affairs Council of San Antonio
Judge: Pat Ryan, Tennessee World Affairs Council 

The Carlos and Malú Alvarez Academic WorldQuest 2017 National Competition would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of students, teachers, parents, chaperones, and all World Affairs Council staff and volunteers across the country. Thank you for helping to make competition a great success! See press release.


Thank You to Our Generous Sponsors: 
  
 
   SQCClogo   
 

       



Director of Development Job Announcement 

World Affairs Councils of America seeks a Director of Development.

The Director is responsible for planning, organizing , and implementing all of the World Affairs Councils of America's fundraising, including: major gifts; flagship programs and special events; planned giving; and capital campaigns. The ideal candidate will have a solid record of fundraising and development success. S/he will be a strategic and results-oriented leader who will articulate and implement a plan to advance WACA by expanding and diversifying its funding sources and relationships. The Director works closely with the President & CEO and the WACA National Board of Directors in all development and fundraising endeavors. 

Full job posting available here. Please circulate within your network. 
WACA Leadership and Board Meetings: June 8-10

SAVE THE DATES! 

WACA is  pleased to announce that the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh will graciously host the Spring Leadership Meeting for Councils on June 8-9, one day before the WACA National Board's Summer Meeting on June 10.  The program opens with a welcome reception (to which a prominent foreign policy expert has been invited) on Thursday, June 8. Spring Leadership workshops will be held from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm on Friday, June 9. Including a keynote luncheon with  Chris Howard, President of Robert Morris University. 

Spring Leadership Meeting Registration Fee: $50 per person. Register here today!

Book your hotel now at WACA's group rates! 

Choose your Hotel: (for up to three nights)

The full Spring Leadership Meeting agenda and activities will be announced shortly.  We look forward to seeing you in Pittsburgh! 
Council of the Month: WAC Jacksonville
The WACA National Office is proud to recognize the  World Affairs Council of Jacksonville as Council of the Month for its selection as a  Jacksonville Business Journal 2017 Innovators in Education honoree. The Council was awarded this honor for its  Great Decisions program, a year-long high school enrichment series on foreign affairs that fosters academic achievements, critical thinking, community engagement, and communication skills.

Each year, The Jacksonville Business Journal honors individuals, businesses and organizations in Northeast Florida that have visibly improved the education sector and have positively impacted the lives of learners, young and old. Nominated by area high school teachers and college professors for the Business Partners in Education Category, the  World Affairs Council of Jacksonville has increased participation and geographical locations in the  Great Decisions Program by expanding internationally into four counties over the past 12 years to demonstrate the substantial interest, need and demand for this series. An awards luncheon honoring the Council will be held on Tuesday, May 2, at Jacksonville University.
Future of Korea 2017: Selected Councils

WACA is pleased to announce that the following World Affairs Councils have been selected to receive grant funding for Future of Korea 2017, a program sponsored by the Korea Economic Institute:

Selected Councils are:
  • Columbia World Affairs Council 
  • Greater Cincinnati World Affairs Council
  • Sarasota World Affairs Council
  • South Dakota World Affairs Council 
  • Southeast Connecticut World Affairs Council
  • World Affairs Council of Atlanta
  • World Affairs Council Upstate
KEI, in consultation with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, the U.S. Department of State, and the World Affairs Councils of America, based its selection on a highly competitive application process. WACA will administer the grants for Future of Korea events.
Cover to Cover Author Series

WACA will host Thomas Wright to discuss his new book,   All Measures Short of War: The Contest for the 21st Century and the Future of American Power   (available May 23), for May's Cover to Cover. Join us for this conference call on Thursday, May 25, at 2:00-2:30 PM ET . 


Tom Wright is director of the Project on International Order and Strategy, as well as a fellow in the Center on the United States  and Europe, at Brookings . ( Full bio . )


June's Cover to Cover will feature Souad Mekhennet on the publication date of her compelling and evocative memoir, I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad, on Tuesday, June 13, at 2:00-2:30 PM ET. Mekhennet is a correspondent for The Washington Post's national security desk, and she has reported on terrorism for The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, and NPR. (Full bio.)
Global I.Q. Minute with Jim Falk

World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth's Global I.Q. Minute featured  Graeme Wood,  National Correspondent for the Atlantic. I n this episode with Jim Falk, the journalist/author Graeme Wood sees the "big contradictory religion" of Islam as having the potential to be "a faith of either war or peace." He says there was a time when "it might have been possible" to keep ISIS from having "the space that they had to develop." Is ISIS on the run? Listen to the podcast .
World Affairs Councils in the News

World Affairs Council of Western Michigan

World Affairs Council of Philadelphia

Institute of World Affairs (Milwaukee)

Juneau World Affairs Council

Global Ties Arizona

World Affairs Council of Orange County

WorldDenver

World Affairs Council of Jacksonville
City Library Chief Reaps Rewards of Innovation -- Jacksonville Daily Record

World Affairs Council of Atlanta
What the Future Holds for U.S.-Cuba Relations -- Wharton University of Pennsylvania

World Affairs Council of Greater Reading

World Affairs Council - DC

World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth
Commerce Street Appoints New VP -- Commercial Property Executive
CSC Taps Cail as VP -- The Pe Hub Network

Windham World Affairs Council

Worcester World Affairs Council
Levesque Honored at Assumption -- Sentinel and Enterprise

World Affairs Council of Charleston

World Affairs Council of Saint Louis

Cleveland Council on World Affairs

Alaska World Affairs Council
Travel the World from WAC Philadelphia

Travel with Council Leaders - hear them lecture on Travel the World tours from the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia!

2017 travel schedule includes trips to: 
  • Mimi Gregory, VP and Program Chairman, Naples Council on World Affairs, Cruise the Face of Europe:  May 15 - 30
  • Dr. Carla Thorson, Senior VP of Programs, WAC of Northern California, Circumnavigation of Iceland: Aug. 1 - 9 
  • Kay Maxwell, Executive Director, World Affairs Forum (Stamford), Silk Road Odyssey: Oct. 3 - 19
  • Derrick Olsen, President, WAC of Oregon, Trade Routes of Coastal Iberia: Oct. 9 -17
  • Ambassador Mark Johnson, Founder, WAC of Montana, Mystique of the Orient: Oct. 17 - 29
  • Dr. Jerry Leach, fmr. President, World Affairs Councils of America, Inside Morocco: Oct. 20 - Nov. 2
Contact www.wacphila.org/travel  or call 1-800-942-5004 , ext.  209  or 217 .

The World Affairs Councils of America 

1200 18th St., NW, Suite 902, Washington, DC 20036

Phone (202) 833-4557  Fax (202) 833-4555

Email [email protected] Website www.worldaffairscouncils.org