Moving Forward by Reaching Back
One of the dreams of the TurkishWIN is to build a trust network among like-minded women between the global Diaspora and Turkey. We know “Diaspora Matters” and were thrilled to take part in two high-impact initiatives last week:
1) We attended The Secretary’s Global Diaspora Forum in Washington D.C. The Secretary of State’s Office of Global Partnerships, in collaboration with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), organized a three-day event and brought together leaders of the Diaspora organizations in the United States to provide a platform for collaboration. We are honored that our young organization was one of the groups invited to represent the Turkish diaspora.
2) TurkishWIN was chosen as one of the expert organizations to be featured with an interview at http://diasporamatters.com/ , an information portal for Diaspora communities to learn from each other.
For starters, let us share with you some numbers as reported at diasporaalliance.org:
62 Million: Number of first- and second-generation diasporas in America; almost all Americans have immigrant roots further back.
$48 Billion: Amount of recorded remittances sent from the United States by diaspora communities in 2009.
#1: America ranks first as a host of the largest number of international migrants in the world.
We would like to share with you a sentiment that stirred stronger as the conference unfolded: A rising thanks. We are thankful to the United States for the opportunity this country gave us to succeed and to follow our dream. We are thankful to our home countries to have raised us. Our urge is to bring what we learned and earned from our new home to our homeland to bridge the thanks. The motto of the IdEA captures this sentiment right on: “Moving Forward by Reaching Back.”
International diaspora Engagement Alliance (IdEA) was launched at the conference. IdEA is an innovative platform for public-private partnerships designed to engage diaspora communities, the private sector, and public institutions in a collaborative process. The goal is to support the development of diaspora-centered partnerships that promote trade and investment, volunteerism, philanthropy, diplomacy, entrepreneurship, and innovation in countries of origin. We love the five core ideas and their respective names: Diaspreneuership, diasplomacy, diasporacorps, diaspora 2.0, diasphilanthrop.
As one speaker aptly concluded, we may have come with different ships and planes but we are on the same boat now. Enjoy your ride!
To learn more follow the links below:
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’ s Keynote
TurkishWIN interview at Diaspora Matters
International diaspora Engagement Alliance
