26 April 2010

Partners for a New Beginning

State Department partners with Americans to advance president’s vision

U.S. Department of State
Bureau of Public Affairs
April 26, 2010

Fact Sheet

Partners for a New Beginning

The Department of State has entered into a partnership with Partners for a New Beginning (PNB) - a group of eminent Americans from a variety of sectors who will reach out systematically to private sector entities at the highest level to harness private sector resources and capabilities to advance the vision for a new beginning between the United States and Muslim communities around the world, as expressed in President Obama’s June 2009 Cairo speech. This will be a flagship partnership for the Department of State.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will serve as the Chair of PNB. Walter Isaacson (President of The Aspen Institute) and Muhtar Kent (Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company) will serve as Vice-Chairs. PNB’s leadership will bring additional PNB members on board over the course of the next month and build-out an approximately 15 person group. PNB will be an independent, self-administered group. The Aspen Institute will serve as its Secretariat. The Department of State will provide a small sum of funding to support this Secretariat. PNB will operate in close coordination and partnership with the Department of State.

PNB will reach out to U.S. companies, Universities, laboratories, research centers, NGOs, Foundations, philanthropists and others to harness their resources, capabilities and expertise to complement the programs and partnerships that the Department of State is implementing and developing to advance the new beginning. PNB will be a vital capability in advancing the new beginning we seek and in forging ties between people and institutions in the United States and in Muslim communities around the world.

This new effort will help to inspire further citizen and private sector engagement in other communities and countries around the world.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)