In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Secretary’s Office of Global Partnerships at the U.S. Department of State, alongside its International diaspora Engagement Alliance (IdEA) program, partnered with the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs to host #DiasporaVoices, a live-streamed interactive opportunity for diaspora communities to engage with top diplomats via social media, on October 13, 2016. This event highlighted the contributions of diaspora to U.S. foreign policy and development, with a particular focus on the Latino and Caribbean diaspora and their connections to countries in the Hemisphere. A key goal of the event was to bridge diaspora initiatives with those taking place within the U.S. government, as well as highlighting the efforts of IdEA.
WHA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Francisco “Paco” Palmieri; WHA Deputy Assistant Secretary Mara Tekach; AMB Liliana Ayalde, U.S. Ambassador to Brazil; and AMB Jean Manes, U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, were featured during this interactive chat session and addressed diaspora groups directly via a question and answer format. Participants tweeted their questions and comments before and during the chat using the hashtag #DiasporaVoices.
This series of interactive chats aims to start a conversation on creative and successful ways diaspora can partner with the U.S. Department of State in creating connections, coordinating resources, collaborating on programs, gaining media exposure, and more. This was the second chat in the series; the Secretary’s Office of Global Partnership and the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs launched the first #DiasporaVoices webchat on September 9. Diaspora communities provide a strong and valuable link between the United States and countries all over the world.
The chat was streamed on: https://share.america.gov/diaspora-voices-americas
Spanish language version: https://goo.gl/G86ab3
