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By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator

On Wednesday, January 15, 2020, the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication awarded Congresswoman Nita M.Lowey (NY-17) with the IPDGC Walter Roberts annual award for Congressional Leadership in Public Diplomacy.

In presenting Congresswoman Lowey with the award, IPDGC Director Janet Steele noted that “the award was created to highlight the importance of something that for many Americans is largely invisible.”

“As Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, Congresswoman Lowey has been a tireless advocate for international education and exchanges. Her fostering of learning and indeed her commitment to education at all levels has helped the United States to put its best foot forward, to lead with our values, and to enhance our international leadership.”

In receiving the award, Congresswoman Lowey said, “I have long believed that our national security is strongest when development, diplomacy, and defense are all well-funded and equally prioritized. That is why I’ve served proudly in leadership roles related to foreign affairs. I thank the George Washington University Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication for honoring me and accept this award not for a job well done, but as a reminder of our shared and ongoing commitment to doing everything we can to build a better world for all.”

At the event to congratulate her was U.S. State Department Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs Marie Royce who said, “Chairwoman Lowey has been a champion for American leadership and diplomatic engagement around the world. Thank you, Madam Chair, for your enduring support of people-to-people exchange programs as a core element of our foreign policy.”

To accompany the Congresswoman’s award, the Walter Roberts Endowment presented a $5000 grant to Battery Dance of New York for public diplomacy outreach in her constituency.

Others at the intimate ceremony were National Public Radio President and CEO John Lansing, Voice of America’s News Center Director Yolanda López, Battery Dance Vice-President and COO Emad Salem, members of the Walter Roberts Endowment – Thomas Miller, Patricia Roberts and Shawn Powers, and even GW student Helen Jiang from Lowey’s constituency

Jiang who grew up in Scarsdale, NY, first met with Congresswoman Lowey on a 5^th grade trip to the Capitol. This time, she was able chat with the Congresswoman, and share about her own public diplomacy effort – as a Peace Corps Education volunteer in China (photo on right).

The grant to Battery Dance will be use to organize dance workshops, panel discussions, and screenings of the short film, “Moving Stories” for youths and students at schools in Westchester and Rockland counties, NY.

All photos by Harrison Jones/ GW University

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Lowey Receives Award For Congressional Leadership
In Public Diplomacy

 Congresswoman Honored by George Washington University Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication

WASHINGTON (Wednesday, January 15, 2020) – Today, U.S. Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, received the George Washington University’s Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication’s (IPDGC) annual Walter Roberts Award for Congressional Leadership in Public Diplomacy at a ceremony on Capitol Hill. To accompany the award, IPDGC announced that it is providing a grant from the Walter Roberts Endowment to New York’s Battery Dance. The grant will be used to support outreach programs at schools in Westchester and Rockland Counties, which Lowey represents in Congress.

Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Marie Royce, National Public Radio President and CEO John Lansing, Director of VOA’s News Center Yolanda López, and Battery Dance Vice-President and COO Emad Salem spoke at the event about the importance of American public diplomacy.

“In today’s interconnected world, our critically valuable diplomatic relationships, cultivated over years of engagement, are needed more now than perhaps ever before,” said Congresswoman Lowey. “I have long believed that our national security is strongest when development, diplomacy, and defense are all well-funded and equally prioritized. That is why I’ve served proudly in leadership roles related to foreign affairs. I thank the George Washington University Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication for honoring me and accept this award not for a job well done, but as a reminder of our shared and ongoing commitment to doing everything we can to build a better world for all.”

“The Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication created this award for congressional leadership in public diplomacy because we wanted to highlight the importance of something that for many Americans is largely invisible,” said Janet Steele, director of GW’s Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication. “As Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, Congresswoman Lowey has been a tireless advocate for international education and exchanges. Her fostering of learning and indeed her commitment to education at all levels has helped the United States to put its best foot forward, to lead with our values, and to enhance our international leadership.”

Lowey was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1988 and is currently serving her sixteenth term in Congress, representing parts of Westchester and Rockland Counties. At the beginning of the 113th Congress, Congresswoman Lowey was selected by her colleagues to be the Ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee

Few members of Congress have taken key leadership roles on so many vital public policy issues. Lowey has led efforts to make our nation and families more secure by better equipping and training first responders as well as ensuring preparedness for pandemics like Ebola, Zika, and avian flu. She has worked to increase health care access and biomedical research and spearheaded the effort to more than double funding for breast cancer research. She has successfully fought efforts to cut funding for public broadcasting and supported fully funding the federal government’s commitment to education at all levels. Because she understands that instability abroad undermines security at home, she is a fierce advocate for increasing developmental assistance abroad on the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee.

Lowey served in the House Democratic Leadership in 2001 and 2002 as the first woman and first New Yorker to chair the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Lowey was born in the Bronx; graduated from the Bronx High School of Science; and received a Bachelor’s Degree from Mount Holyoke College. She served as Assistant Secretary of State for the State of New York before being elected to Congress. Nita and Stephen Lowey have been married for almost 60 years and have three grown children and eight grandchildren.

The grant to Battery Dance will be used for dance workshops, panel discussions, and screenings of the film “Moving Stories” at schools in Westchester and Rockland counties.

For media information – contacts:

Jason Shevrin (GW) 202-994-5631.

Katelynn Thorpe (Rep. Lowey) at 202-225-6506.

Deborah Corrales (Battery Dance) at 212-219-3910.