Diplomacy Gala 2018 November 10: 6:30 PM - 10:00 PM

sandiegodiplomacy.org

Please join us for our 2018 Diplomacy Gala. Our annual fundraiser is a unique celebration of the impact of public diplomacy in San Diego.

The event will feature a sit-down dinner with entertainment, unique keynote speakers, a live auction and the bestowment of the Hostler Diplomat of the Year Award, Partner Agency of the Year Award and Member of the Year Award. In addition, the cocktail hour offers a great opportunity for silent auction bidding and networking for our 200+ guests, that include diplomats, elected officials, business and civic leaders. Registration information coming soon. 

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Keynote Speaker: Adam Clayton Powell III

Adam Clayton Powell III is President of the Public Diplomacy Council of the United States and Director of Washington Programs for the University of Southern California’s Center on Communication Leadership and Policy.

Adam will share the impactful story of his father, Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr., who convinced U.S. leaders to use jazz music as a means to disseminate American values and spread democracy to other countries during the Cold War.

With Powell Jr.’s help, jazz masters such as Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, and Benny Goodman dramatically influenced perceptions of the U.S. and its capitalist brand of democracy while easing political tensions in the midst of the Cold War.
Read Adam Clayton Powell’s full bio
Watch Adam Clayton Powell Jr. team up with Dizzy Gilespie in this PBS documentary clip

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Guest of Honor:  Amira Sackett

Amira Sackett is an inspiring Muslim female hip-hop dancer, choreographer and citizen diplomat who will perform and share her experience. 4 Local Hip-Hop Dancers from Culture Schock Dance Center will be performing with Amira Sackett.

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Entertainment: Todd Cochran

Todd Cochran is a jazz pianist and composer who has collaborated with Herbie Hancock, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, and other notable musicians. He wrote the music of the movie “Keep the Faith, Baby” (2002)  about Congressman Powell’s life.

Todd grew up in San Francisco during the civil rights era. The city was multi-dimensional and the echoes of being a child of the cultural revolution have never left him.
Read Todd Cochran’s full bio

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Photo Exhibition

We will display a photographic exhibition titled Jam Session: America’s Jazz Ambassadors Embrace the World, curated by the Meridian International.

The exhibition was developed in collaboration with University of Michigan professor Penny M. Von Eschen and drawn from collections around the United States. It contains more than 100 images capturing memorable moments from jazz tours to 35 countries and four continents. Photos include Dizzy straddling a motorcycle with a famous Yugoslav musician; Louis meeting a revered national leader in Nigeria; Benny entertaining kids in Moscow’s Red Square and much more. It is the first time that photographs representing this positive experience in American cultural diplomacy have been collected for a single exhibit. ...