December 2023
Dear Friend,
The Walter Roberts Endowment was established by Dr. Walter R. Roberts and his family with the
goal to educate students, recognize leadership, disseminate best practices and to promote appreciation
of the importance of public diplomacy.
Thanks to the generous support of donors like you, the Endowment has supported dozens of students
seeking careers in public diplomacy and has assisted in funding related activities and outreach of the
Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication (IPDGC) at the George Washington
University (GW).
Every year, we host the Walter Roberts Annual Lecture featuring renowned leaders in public
diplomacy, global media and communications, and international affairs. Last year, our speaker was
Jodie Ginsberg of the Committee to Protect Journalists speaking on the challenges faced by
international media.
On December 12, 2023, we will have H.E. Ambassador Bergdis Ellertsdottir, Iceland’s Ambassador to the United States who will give this year’s Walter Roberts Annual
Lecture on Climate Diplomacy: Communicating with Urgency.
The Endowment also funds IPDGC’s Award for Congressional Leadership in Public Diplomacy, which
honors members of Congress who have been consistently supportive of public diplomacy in their careers. Last year’s recipient was Sen. James Risch of Idaho, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In addition to the award, a grant is given to a public diplomacy nonprofit in the recipient’s constituency. Global Ties Idaho was able to create a public diplomacy program to further mutual understanding between Idahoans and international visitors from Latin American countries.
Some new initiatives such as the IPDGC Graduate Fellow and a recent Cultural Diplomacy Workshop, teaching GW students the mechanics of cultural programming, have also received support from the Endowment.
As the year ends, we hope to count on your assistance so that the Endowment and IPDGC can continue with our events, programs and support of undergraduate and graduate students pursuing public diplomacy studies at GW. This was especially important during the pandemic, but moving forward, these funds have also benefited students from diverse socio-economic and international backgrounds.
The success of our work continues with Your Donation Now to the Endowment.
Patricia Kabra
Walter R. Roberts Endowment
Advisory Committee Chair
Dr. William Youmans
Director of IPDGC and Associate Professor, School of Media and Public Affairs