The Power of Partnership

This week, TYO presented its work in the West Bank and Lebanon at the Partners for a New Beginning (PNB) Summit, hosted by Aspen Institute. Aspen is serving as the secretariat for PNB, a State Department initiative designed to facilitate public-private partnerships between institutions in the US and Muslim world.

The Summit was filled with passionate discussion about specific and innovative initiatives already at work to advance social and economic development in the Muslim world, focusing on youth, entrepreneurship, women and technology – undoubtedly the high-potential levers for change in the region.

Participants included corporate representation including the Chairman and CEO of Coca Cola and many of his colleagues from the Muslim world, as well as high-level representatives from Intel, Cisco and ExxonMobil. The US State Department was also well represented by the Global Partnership Initiative and Middle East Partnership Initiative. And Secretary of State Hillary Clinton herself hosted the summit dinner on Tuesday night, after a reception hosted by the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates – another proven and creative partner for positive change in the region.

In a recent article on Palestine Note, TYO Director, Nell Derick Debevoise, shared her optimism for this new initiative:

Perhaps the political events of this year in the Middle East, combined with Secretary Clinton’s creative dedication to effective diplomacy and development work can generate the perfect storm for us and other action-focused organizations to help corporations help us in ways that serve our entire global community.

Congratulations to the Aspen Institute, the US State Department Office of Global Partnerships, and other PNB Steering Committee Members on a successful event. TYO looks forward to building new, action-focused partnerships and strengthening existing relationships with public, private, and non-profit friends through this innovative mechanism.