Books For Africa Meets with Ambassadors, State Department Officials and Top Donors in Washington, D.C.
A delegation from Books For Africa, including Executive Director Patrick Plonski, Board President Mike Essien, Founder Tom Warth, Board Past President Joni Sussman and Director of Development Erin Moran recently traveled to Washington, DC, to meet with ambassadors, top donors, officials from the State Department, Department of Defense and USAID, and container captains in the DC area.
The highlight of the visit was the BFA Summit Society Reception, which was hosted at the home of His Excellency Frédéric Edem Hegbe, Ambassador of the Republic of Togo to the U.S. Ambassador Hegbe delivered a speech, as did Patrick Plonski, Tom Warth and Mike Essien, all representing BFA.
Many ambassadors from Africa were present, including Their Excellencies Jean-Claude de Rego, Ambassador of Benin; Henri Etoundi Essomba, Ambassador of Cameroon; Hajia Alima Mahama, Ambassador of Ghana; Sekou Berthe, Ambassador of Mali; Cisse Cheikh Boide, Ambassador of Mauritania; Abou-Bakarr Wai, Ambassador of Sierra Leone; and the Honorable Brian Neubert, Director for West Africa Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Ambassadors were presented with Merck e-readers for donation to medical professionals in their home countries.
While in Washington, Patrick Plonski and Erin Moran also met with the Office of Representative Betty McCollum (representing Minnesota’s 4th Congressional District, where BFA’s Administrative Headquarters is based). A meeting was also held with the Department of Defense, which funds humanitarian assistance projects like those Books For Africa provides books for.
Books For Africa also attended the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s annual summit, and had a booth at the event to network and answer questions.
You can read the ambassador’s full speech here or view photos from the reception here. You can also read coverage of the event in AlloAfrica News.
