Meridian Welcomes Newly Arrived Chiefs of Mission
By • February 16, 2023 0 1830
Meridian Center for Diplomatic Engagement hosted a “Welcome to Washington” reception for newly arrived diplomats at its headquarters on Feb. 15 in the historic Meridian House and White-Meyer House, both designed by John Russell Pope.
As they enjoyed cocktails and an elegant buffet by Well Dunn Catering, the reception afforded newly arrived Chiefs of Mission an opportunity to meet and engage with a cross section of Washington leaders from the government, business and policy communities.
Meridian CEO Stuart Holliday, welcomed 14 newly arrived ambassadors and acknowledged other special guests. He noted that since 1960 Meridian has been a “home away from home” for the diplomatic community as diplomats must be necessarily well-versed in economic, cultural and other fields. He told the honorees that we are “looking forward to working with you on issues that are the fabric of diplomacy.”
Building peer-to-peer relationships in Washington is crucial for diplomats to exchange information and facilitate bilateral cooperation on a wide variety of global issues. This event is part of Meridian’s Center for Diplomatic Engagement, an education and networking hub that accelerates collaboration between the diplomatic community and U.S. public and private leaders to solve shared global challenges.
The evening attested to the belief that the United States is stronger and the world is safer when leaders collaborate across countries and cultures.
Ambassadors all — Zoran Popov of North Macedonia, Noel Nelson Messone of Lesotho, Jeff Gongoer Dowana, Sr. of Liberia, Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed of Maldives, Tanee Sangrat of Thailand, Stuart Holliday CEO of Meridian, Robinah Kakonge of Uganda, Rufus Gifford U.S. Chief of Protocol, Viorel Ursu of Moldova, Noel Nelson Messone of Gabon, Mohammed Abdullah Al-Hadhrami of Yemen, Mohammed Haneche of Algeria, Luis Gilberto Murillo of Colombia and Miloslav Stašek of Czech Republic. Photo by Stephen Bobb.
Robin Sagoskin, Tracy Bernstein and Ambassador Marie Royce. Photo by Stephen Bobb.
Heather Florance and Nida Jamal. Photo by Stephen Bobb.
Elizabeth Duggal, Alain Taghipour, Ali-Reza Vahabzadeh and Maryam Mujica. Photo by Stephen Bobb.
Shaila Manyam, Kate Balcerzak, Natalie Jones and Scott Cunningham. Photo by Stephen Bobb.
