LPGA and FSA Event Wrap-Up

Author: Press Release
Released 3 May 2007

ORLANDO, FLORIDA, April 15-17, 2007 -The three day event, hosted by Friends of Saudi Arabia (FSA) and the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), brought together Pro-golfers, members of the Diplomatic corps, Business personnel, and Orlando residents at the Ginn Reunion Resort for dialogue, sports, and friendship.

Pre-banquet reception

Welcome Reception

The kick off of the Universal Express Friendship Invitational brought Brittany Lincicome, winner of the Ginn open, and other professional golfers together to discuss sports diplomacy and women’s empowerment.

“We love and embrace the international nature of women’s golf” said Carolyn Bivens, Commissioner of the LPGA at the welcome reception, “the LPGA empowers women on an international capacity.”

Bievens congratulated Brittney Lincicome for her win, and highlighted the accomplishments of the other professional golfers present for their hard work and commitment to women’s golf.

“The LPGA now plays in eleven countries and is represented in twenty-six, we want to add Saudi Arabia to that list” said Waleed Al-Yahya, CEO of FSA International, who in conjunction with the LPGA spoke to the idea of expanding the vision of women’s empowerment through golf to the Middle East. Mr. Al-Yahya echoed the vision of the LPGA and the Executive Women’s Golf Association, promoting not only women’s golf, but empowering and enabling women to reach their full potential in many facets of life.

The welcome reception was attended by a diverse audience including Senators Tom Katus and Sandy Jerstad of North Dakota, Pam Swensen of the Executive Women Golfers Association, California politician Ferial Masry, University of Central Florida faculty, and prominent Orlando business personnel.

The reception concluded with the showing of “Home: The Saudi Aramco Brats’ Story,” a documentary of the lives of Americans living and growing up in Saudi Arabia, produced and presented by Aramco “brats.”

Brittney Lincicome, Renee Powell, who holds the First Lady of Golf Award from the Professional Golfers’ Association, and Joanne Foreman, Collegiate All-American 1983 U.S Women's Amateur Champion, and other Pro golfers joined FSA, and local Saudi Students for the Universal Express Friendship Invitation Pro-Am, on Monday, April 16th, 2007. The golfing outing paired event panelists, speakers, guests, and pro golfers for a day on the green.

The winning foursome, comprised of LPGA Pro Golfer Carri Woods, Penny Hulbert, Betsi Lynch, and Laura Schaefer, were celebrated and recognized at a pool-side gathering directly following the Pro-Am with a score of 58 strokes.

Panelists: Joanne Foreman, Dr. Shatha Samman, Renee Powell, Lena Alhusseini, Pam Swensen (EWGA) Ferial Masry, Amb. Wendy Chaimberlin, Manal Radwan and Laurie Kassman

Women's Empowerment Forum: Cross-Cultural Dialogue

Constituents of the Women’s Empowerment forum, including, Keynote speaker, Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin, California politician Ferial Masry; and Pam Swensen of the Executive Women Golfers Association, discussed issues revolving around Women in Islam, Women in the West, gender stereotypes, women’s leadership, culture and diversity.

Moderated by Laurie Kassman, Director of Communications and Outreach at the Middle East Institute, the Forum was broken up into two sessions: Sports Diplomacy and an Academics/Business/Politics Session.

As Keynote, Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin, first President of the President of the Middle East Institute in its 60 year history and first women to represent US to Pakistan, reflected on her experiences as the US Ambassador during 9/11, and “it was a scary time” she recalled.

“In allowing America to be overcome by fear [of the Middle East post 9/11] is against America” said Chamberlin, “at the core of democracy is inclusion—inclusion of ‘the other,’ the ‘different’ are the essence of democracy.”

“There are plenty of stories that are great about Arab women [naming few Arab/Muslim Olympic winners]—we need to hear them in the media, not the few bad stories that are plastered all over the news” said Chamberlin as she addressed stereotypes of Arab and Muslim women in the States.

In addressing sports diplomacy, Joanne Foreman, Former LPGA Tour player and US Women's Amateur Champion captivated the audience with her enthusiasm and dedication of empowerment through golf.

“Leadership is the ability to transform vision into reality,” said Foreman, ”intention is the beginning of turning vision into reality, then comes focus, then the point of impact, then a follow through—life lessons reflect golf.”

Foreman, founder of Pure Impact, a company promoting empowerment utilizing various aspects of golf and the golf experience, spoke to the application of sports in life learning.

“How wonderful it is to use sports as a door to open friendships, and later in life to used it as my tool to travel the world and meet people” shared Renee Powell, who holds the First Lady of Golf Award from the Professional Golfers’ Association.

“Sports can be used to break down barriers—it can draw threads of similarity that reveals dignity and equality of every human being, it is a thread that can bond the young with the old.”

Pam Swensen, CEO of the Executive Women’s Golf Association (EWGA), spoke to women’s empowerment as a broad concept channeled through golf.

“Golf was a great business relationship tool that men enjoyed for years” Swensen said, “We [EWGA] give women a voice thought building the game of Golf. We enable women to connect and network through their passion for the game.”

After a short break, Ferial Masry, California Politician kicked off the second session. Masry spoke on democracy from a Saudi women’s perspective. Discussing her career, she spoke to the example she is setting for Saudi women living in Saudi Arabia.

“It is not about women’s empowerment” said Manal Radwan, “you can not address women’s empowerment without addressing men’s empowerment—it is about empowering people as a whole.”

Radwan, a Family activist working with the Saudi Embassy in Washington DC, spoke about her experiences working with the Embassy post 9/11. Radwan highlighted the difficulties she faced dealing with US officials on Capital Hill.

“Everybody needs to be reminded that the first business woman in Islam was the wife of Prophet Mohammed’s (phuh)” said Dr. Shatha Samman. At the age of 40, Khadijah wife of Prophet Mohammed, was both a widow and a businesswoman who ran her own caravan trading business. It was at that age when she married Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) who was 25 years old at the time and working in that business under her supervision.

Dr. Samman, Ergonomics researcher and Founder of Global Assessments, chronicled other Saudi business women of note. She gave a Saudi women’s perspective of working in the technology industry in the United States.

Lina Alhusseini bought a humanistic touch to the panel by addressing the personal and emotional effects and consequences faced by Arab-American children and their families in a post 9/11 atmosphere. She addressed the repercussions of stereotyping on the Arab and Muslim communities who are in essence “trapped” and “bound” within stereotypes.

Carolyn Thomas, Anneliess Tedeschi, Patsy Knox, Violeta Kerr, Judy Butler

Friendship Banquet

The Business Forum was followed by a reception and banquet that provided further networking opportunities with the business panelists, as well as other dignitaries such as Ambassador Wendy Chamberlain; Delano Roosevelt, the grandson of Franklin D. Roosevelt; and LPGA professional players such as Joanne Foreman and Renee Powell.

As the Master of Ceremonies, Delano Roosevelt began the banquet with the introduction of Dr. Betsy Clark, LPGA vice president of professional development.

“The LPGA is committed to leading change and empowering women through golf education and sports diplomacy initiatives like this one bringing together golf, business and culture” said Dr. Clark, “LPGA applauds these accomplishments that will lead women to break barriers.”

Following the address of Betsy Clark, a panel of guest speakers and former Aramcons shared with the audience their personal stories about the time they spent in the Kingdom.

Andrea Lameier, daughter of an Aramcon, moved to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia at age four, “Having had the opportunity to experience the proverbial Middle Eastern Hospitality, I can say that everything you have heard about it is true” says Andrea. “The kindness to others, generosity to strangers, and sense of family that the Saudi’s have is simply outstanding”.

After a 10 year absence from the Kingdom, Lameier accepted a position as a Medical Technologist at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Cancer Research Center in Riyadh, and returned “home.”

Lameier spoke to global her global experiences: “the early exposure to other countries and cultures that I enjoyed has been a priceless, incredible experience…the more you travel and learn the more obvious cultural differences, the more you realize the people of the world are actually very much the same on the inside. Everyone wants the same things in their lives: to be safe, to educate their children, to have food to eat, water to drink, and to just be able to enjoy their lives.”

As a Senior Consultant for Saudi Arabia to Global Dynamics, Inc., Frances M. Meade helped bridge the cultural gap between the United Sates and Saudi Arabia. Most recently, Meade was responsible for pre-departure cross-cultural training seminars for Americans going to the Kingdom. In Riyadh, Meade provided orientation seminars for newly arrived employees. During her time in Riyadh, Meade served as Protocol Assistant to the Ambassador of United States Embassy.

Mary Ellen Lorray shared her experiences about her time in Saudi Arabia working for the IBM Machine Accounting Department of the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO). Mary Ellen was a member of the team that installed the first computer systems for the company. She was their first computer programmer.

Banquet music was provided by Arabic band Hader Tarab, who pumped up the crowd with upbeat Arabic hits.

Bill Selkirk, Director of Operations FSA and Betsy Clark, Vice President of Professional Development LPGA

Business Forum

The following day, Monday, April 16, 2007, Constituents of the Business Forum, including, the US Department of Commerce, US Saudi Arabian Business Council, and Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), discussed the economic and financial relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia.

Individual presentations highlighted the large infrastructure projects launched by the Saudi govenrment entailing total investments of $283 billion over the next three years.

“Close to twenty thousand Americans live and work in Saudi Arabia and thousands more Americans derive their livelihood from the making of goods exported to the Saudi market,” said Mr. Kenneth Mouradian, International Trade Specialist and Director of the US Department of Commerce Orlando U.S. Export Assistance Center. It is estimated by the US Department of Commerce that almost 10,000 jobs in Florida were created and sustained by exports to Saudi Arabia.

Mouradian spoke at the forum discussing international trade and investment opportunities specifically related to the Florida business circuits.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the US Saudi Business Council, total U.S. exports to Saudi Arabia for 2005 were $6.8 billion, up from $5.2 billion the previous year. The U.S. is also the leading foreign direct investor in Saudi Arabia, accounting for more than 25 percent of total inward Foreign Direct Investment. In 2005, the top three U.S. states that exported to Saudi Arabia were Texas, New York and Florida. In 2005, exports from Florida alone were valued at $463 million!

Mr. Waleed Al-Yahya, Advisor to the Governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) and Chairman of FSA International, discussed the Multi Billion Dollar Economic Cities in the Western region of Saudi Arabia, which are expected to attract investments worth over $80 billion in the next 10 years. The first of these cities is the $53.3 billion dollar King Abdullah Economic City located near Jeddah.

A complete schedule of events and additional information about the Universal Express Friendship Invitational Pro-Am and Forums can be found on the web.

About FSA

Events hosted by FSA serve as a tool for nurturing dialogue, debate, alliance building and networking opportunities between people of diverse backgrounds with hopes to dispel misconceptions, establish friendships, and inspire global understanding and exchange. Friends of Saudi Arabia aims to promote better “people to people” understanding as well as bridging social and cultural gaps. Friends of Saudi Arabia is an apolitical, secular, educational, non-profit organization serving to build bridges of goodwill and understanding between Saudi Arabia and the international community. For more information about FSA visit www.fsaus.org.

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