Creating an Accessible Public Diplomacy Program

Global Ties Arkansas has expanded our programmatic output in the last four years. We’ve formed partnerships with schools to bring cybersecurity education into classrooms and run leadership programs that promote intercultural awareness. We’ve hosted a speaker series and taken international visitors to volunteer in the most critical areas of our state. But our idea to create an accessible public diplomacy program that brings international engagement to people in Arkansas who don’t get to typically engage with it kept getting shelved. We bounced ideas around, then the pandemic hit.

In October of 2020, we received an email from George Washington University’s Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication announcing that we had been awarded $5,000 from the Walter Roberts Endowment to develop a public diplomacy project. We had won a contest we didn’t even know we were in. The award accompanied the 2021 Congressional Award for Leadership and Diplomacy given to Senator John Boozman (R-AR) who was recognized for his strong support of the Fulbright Program. We are using this grant to take that idea of creating accessible international engagement off the shelf.

We opened a competition among alumni of our international programs, including the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), and formed a six-member committee of our most involved volunteers to help evaluate the projects and select finalists. Gabby Sanz from Peru was declared the winner.

Gabby visited Arkansas through the Young Leaders of America Initiative in 2017 and formed an amazing bond with members of our community. She has returned several times since, sometimes gathering groups of Arkansas families for language and cultural lessons. This time, she is returning to work with the Global Ties Arkansas team and her former mentor, Dr. Cindy Fong, to run a 15-day exchange between Arkansas and Peru. During the program, our communities will have the chance to learn about differences in cuisine and the arts. The session will be conducted in both English and Spanish.

Our hope is that we will be able to continue the Global Ties Arkansas Public Diplomacy Program in the future. We want to develop this program as an opportunity for all our international visitors to know that if they visit Arkansas, they’re not only getting our special Southern touch of hospitality and friendliness, but also opportunities for continued public diplomacy and collaboration.

By Ra’phael Davis, Program Officer, Global Ties Arkansas

GTA in AAAB Newsletter

The March AAAB (Arkansas Association of Asian Businesses (AAAB)) newsletter was published this week. GTA is a proud member of the AAAB. This month included a spotlight of Mimi San Pedro and our executive director, Toni Carr.

Mimi San Pedro is a volunteer for GTA and sits on the board for AAAB. She and the Venture Center have hosted in-person and virtual YSEALI Fellows several times. We have included a few blurbs from the newsletter:

"My family moved to the US in June 1974. My mother is one of seven girls, most of them educated in the United States, and each in their way broke glass ceilings for women in the Philippines. My aunt Priscilla Santos was the first Filipino woman to get a Masters of Law degree from Harvard Law School. Her other sisters were top of their fields in medicine, banking, commerce, and the arts. My father was a high-ranking bank executive during the week and a farmer and landowner on the weekends. We had a good life in the Philippines full of good fortune, a great network of friends, and a very large loving family. That is until Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law/military rule on September 23, 1972.

This year, we will celebrate our 48th year as Little Rock, Arkansas residents. Both our parents are gone now, but I wanted them to know that though it was the hardest decision, it was the best decision they could have ever made for their children. My brother, Gerardo Jose Santos San Pedro, is a successful pulmonary doctor at LSU Medical Center. My sister, Naomi Marie San Pedro Crume, is a nurse practitioner at UAMS, and I have been a marketing strategist for some of Arkansas' most dynamic companies and brands. "

"Toni Carr is the Executive Director of Global Ties Arkansas, an organization that unites emerging and existing national and international leaders through educational programs, cultural exposure, and productive collaboration. Particularly, Toni and her team work with the US Department of State and many Embassies around the globe to bring professionals into Arkansas to meet with their counterparts in their field. The visitors, many from Asian countries, may stay anywhere from a few days to a month.

Toni also has a strong personal tie with Asia. Her husband, Jim, taught government officials in Xi'an, China, for a two-month period over the course of six years. Toni said, "I was lucky to have been able to visit and sometimes help speak in his classes about American Education. We have personally visited many countries including China, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Malaysia."

Toni is a firm believer in the Global Ties Arkansas mission, which is "Through international exchange and the promotion of lifetime friendships, we strive to empower individuals, communities, and nations to build trust and advance peace and prosperity, dispel stereotypes, and develop cultural sensitivity." She thinks her work at the organization makes a significant difference in furthering the role of Citizen Diplomats by dispelling cultural and professional stereotypes."

Hosting Ukrainians

We had a wonderful time hosting a group from Ukraine. They had several great adventures while traveling through Arkansas. We have wonderful host families who cook for them nightly and give them a place to stay!

- Met Governor Hutchison

- Tour the Capitol

- Met Joshua Price

- Met Senator Jim Hendren

- Sat in VIP while Governor gave his remarks

- Visited Central High School

- Enjoyed a tasting at Rocktown Distillery

- Climbed Petit Jean Mountain

- Gathered to watch the Super Bowl

- Met Randy Thurman

- Catholic High Forum