Bob Edgar with disabled children at Tu Du Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City
Last year Bob Edgar, former congressman and current president of Common Cause, led a delegation of faith leaders to Vietnam to learn about the continuing impact of Agent Orange.
This year, Bob is back. Between March 5th and March 11th, Edgar will lead a new delegation of leaders from a broad spectrum of disciplines including philanthropy, business, environmentalism, disabilities, public health, politics and religion. The hope is that each of these leaders will bring new perspectives on how to best address Agent Orange and will join the US-Vietnam Dialogue Group in calling for a shared investment of 300 million dollars over 10 years to implement the Plan of Action.
The delegation arrives in Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow and will travel to Hanoi and Da Nang during their week in Vietnam. They will visit hotspots, hospitals, universities and schools and they will meet with a range of people from advocates and scientists to members of the US-Vietnam Dialogue Group and government officials.
The 2011 Delegates:
- Gay Dillingham: Co-founder, former president and chair of Earthstone International, LLC, an environmental IP company and committed environmental activist.
- The Rev. Dr. James Alexander Forbes, Jr.: Senior minister emeritus of The Riverside Church– an interdenominational, interracial, and international church – and president of the Healing of the Nations Foundation.
- The Rev. C. Welton Gaddy: Minister of The Interfaith Alliance, a national non-partisan grassroots and educational organization.
- Connie Morella: Former congresswomen from the State of Maryland and former Ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris from 2003-2007.
- David Morrissey: Executive director of the United States International Council on Disabilities and a leading advocate for United States ratification of the international treaty, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- Pat Schroeder: Former member of the U.S. Congress from Colorado and the first woman to serve on the House Armed Services Committee.
- Suzanne Petroni: Vice president for global health at the Public Health Institute, an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes health and well-being around the world.
- Karen A. Tramontano: Former Deputy Chief of Staff to President Clinton and counselor to two Chiefs of Staff, Erskine Bowles and John Podesta.
- David Devlin-Foltz: Vice president for policy programs at The Aspen Institute and director of the Advocacy Planning and Evaluation Program.
- Susan V. Berresford: Former President of the Ford Foundation.
- Charles Bailey: Director of the Ford Foundation Special Initiative on Agent Orange/Dioxin.
