National Council (EANC) invites the public to a special panel program on Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront Hotel in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.
The free afternoon program starts at 2pm and will feature three interactive discussions on the current Washington DC political scene and the Central and East European region, local Estonian entrepreneurship, and ties between Estonia and the Estonian diaspora.
Panel #1:“Advocacy Rock Stars in Washington” features Marju Rink-Abel, EANC President; Karin Shuey, EANC Washington DC Director; and Michael Sawkiw, ho is with the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America in the Washington office. He is a long-time activist for Ukrainian issues and, together with the Central and East European Coalition (CEEC), works to ensure security and peace in the Central and East European region. Michael will be speaking about the CEEC, the current situation in Ukraine, and Russia’s disinformation campaign.
Panel #2: “Florida Estonian-American Entre-preneurs” presents Florida success stories of Sigrid Bratic, Partner, Little Greek Fresh Grill franchise restaurants; Merle Liivand, CEO, Swimera; Kaie Põhi-Latterner, Owner, TEC Inc.; and Terje Van Schaik, President and coowner, Greenspeed USA.
Panel #3: “Estonia and Estonians Abroad – Strengthening the Relationship” will bring a lively discussion on how the diaspora can make its voice better heard in Estonia, and how Estonia can better interact with Estonians abroad. Panelists are Marcus Kolga, President, Estonian Central Council in Canada and Senior Foreign Policy Fellow, MacDonald-Laurier Institute; Renee Meriste, President, Estonian Society of Los Angeles; and Marju Rink-Abel, President, Estonian World Council.
The Saturday program is held in conjunction with EANC’s 2017 annual meeting. Estonian Ambassador Lauri Lepik will be in attendance. For more details, contact Linda Rink at [email protected] (215-546-5863).
