The Honorary Support Committee is formed of prominent community members who are committed to our mission. The members are asked to utilize their community image to help promote and support our organization. In return, members will be recognized generously in our organization’s materials including the letterhead, website, and social media outlets. Honorary Support Committee members meet twice per year on location or online.
USA, Washington, DC & Lebanon, H.E. Ambassador Gabriel Issa
H.E. Gabriel Issa is Ambassador of Lebanon to the USA. He is a Lebanese-American who lived in the U.S. more than 40 years. Shortly before the October 2016 presidential election in Lebanon, Gabriel Issa of Detroit returned to Lebanon on a permanent basis and became a close advisor to Lebanon’s soon-to-be president, Michel Aoun. Aoun appointed Issa ambassador in July 2017 and Issa presented his credentials to President Donald Trump on January 24, 2018.
Gabriel Naoum Issa immigrated to the U.S. in 1975 at age 18. Settling down in the Detroit area, which has had a large Lebanese-American community since the 1870s, Issa earned a BS in Civil Engineering at the Detroit Institute of Technology in 1980.
Even before graduation, Issa had already founded two businesses, AAA Language Services and Iterotext Translation Services, in March 1978. Both are located in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield. Among Interotext’s achievements has been translating General Motors car manuals into languages other than English.
Issa spent his career building those two businesses, along with several others, including AAA Properties, founded in August 1995; G&T Enterprises (February 1996); AAA International Group (May 1997); PreBuy (January 1999); and Joules International (January 2009).
Issa has been active in the Lebanese-American community. He has served as president of the Lebanese American Council of Detroit, as president of the Lebanese American Political Action Committee in Detroit; and as co-founder (in 1990) and vice-president of the Lebanese American Council for Democracy in Washington, DC.
Issa speaks fluent Arabic and French. He is married to Bernadette, with whom he has four children.
USA, Los Angeles, H.E. C.G. Mirna Khawli
H.E. Mirna Khawli is Former Consul General of Lebanon in Los Angeles, CA, USA.
USA, New York, H.E. Ambassador Majdi Ramadan
H.E. Ambassador Majdi Ramadan is Former Consul General of Lebanon in New York, NY, USA. He graduated from the American University of Beirut in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Studies. In 1997, he earned an LLB Bachelor of Laws from the Lebanese University. He also earned a Master in Business Administration from Columbia Business School in 2007.
Majdi joined the Lebanese Foreign Service in 1996. He served as Consul in Ghana and Liberia between 1999 and 2002. In mid-2002, he was appointed as Counselor at the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the United Nations in New York. In this capacity and until 2008, he was elected Vice Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee in 2004, Vice Chairman of the Commission on Population and Development in 2005, and Vice Chairman of the United Nations Forum on Forests in 2006. Also in 2005, he served as Member of the Executive Board of UNICEF. In 2009, he served as Head of the Desk of the Americas and the United Nations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants in Lebanon.
Majdi returned to New York in 2010 to serve as expert on Middle East issues and Peacekeeping Operations during the non-permanent membership of Lebanon in the Security Council. In 2012, Majdi was appointed as Consul General of Lebanon in New York.
Among other decorations, Majdi received the Key of the City of Waterbury-CT, the Highest Award of the Borough of Brooklyn-NY, the Medal of the Maronite Patriarchate in Antioch and the Rest of the East, a Proclamation from the Minister of Immigration of Halifax, Canada, and the Sarah Huntington Smith Award of the Lebanese American University (LAU).
Bahamas, H.E. Hon. Miriam Reckley- Emmanuel
H.E. Hon. Miriam Reckley-Emmanuel is a Member of Parliament for five islands in the M.I.C.A.L. Constituency Commonwealth of the Bahamas.
Mrs. Emmanuel, a candidate of the Free National Movement, was elected during the May 10th. 2017 General Elections to serve as the Member of Parliament for the M.I.C.A.L. Constituency which comprises of five (5) islands in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.
Mrs. Emmanuel serves as the Executive Chairman of the Education Loan Authority and formerly served as Chairman of the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation. Mrs. Emmanuel is an anointed charismatic leader with a purpose and passion for humanity; she seeks to always empower spiritually, socially and economically. Her focus is mainly on women and children; she wants to bring awareness to struggling working class women and their families.
Mrs. Emmanuel’s educational accomplishments include: A Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Divinity from the Principles of Life Bible College, Nassau Bahamas; A Bachelor’s of Theology from the Covington Theological Seminary, Roosevelt Georgia; An Associates of Arts Degree in Accounts and Secretarial Science from Success Training College, Nassau, Bahamas. Diploma in Pastoral Ministries from the Seminary External Education Division; Certificate in accounts from ICS Business International Correspondence School; Certificates in Computer Science along with numerous other certificates and awards. Mrs. Emmanuel recently attended Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Executive Education, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Mrs. Emmanuel is skilled in Leadership Training, Counseling, Program Development, International Conference Speaking, Workshop Facilitating and Life Coaching. She is also the Executive Producer of a local television program E.M.P.A.C.T. which is also aired internationally.
Mrs. Emmanuel is an ordained minister of the gospel and is married to Bishop Leroy R. Emmanuel; they have one daughter.
Canada, H.E. Annick Goulet
H.E. Annick Goulet is a Canadian diplomat. She was born in Québec City, Canada.
Ms. Goulet joined the Department of Global Affairs Canada in 1999, after a career as a journalist in Canada, Europe and Asia.
In 2016, she was appointed Minister-Counsellor (Economic and Trade) and Senior Trade Commissioner at the Embassy of Canada in Moscow, covering Russia, Uzbekistan and Armenia. Since summer 2018, she has assumed the responsibilities of Chargée d’affaires a.i. for both Uzbekistan and Armenia, while retaining her functions of Head of Trade for Russia.
Before her current assignment, she had been posted to Beijing and Tokyo, including for a secondment in the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). In Ottawa, she held various positions in both the political and trade areas, including as Director for Non-Proliferation and Disarmament and Director for Commercial Relations with EU and EFTA countries. Ms. Goulet also worked in the Privy Council Office (Foreign and Defence Secretariat), where she was responsible for Asian as well as UN-related issues.
Ms. Goulet speaks French, English, Japanese, Russian and some Chinese.
She is married to fellow diplomat Stéphane Jobin, who is Chargé d’affaires a.i. of Canada in Russia. They have three children.
Education:
D.E.S., École supérieure de journalisme, Paris, France
Cycle d’études internationales, Institut d’études politiques, Paris, France
B.A. (Honours) in Political Science and Second Program (Modern Languages), McGill University, Montréal, Canada
Lebanon, H.E. Ambassador Antonio Raymond Andary
H.E. Ambassador Antonio Raymond Andary is married with three children.
After attending primary and secondary school with the Carmelite Fathers in Tripoli, North Lebanon, he graduated in political science (University of Texas, Edinburg Campus, 1981) and subsequently obtained a master’s degree in international relations (American University, Washington, 1985).
He has held the following positions: embassy official in Washington DC, member of the Executive Committee of the Maronite League, director of the Maronite League, director for Foreign Relations at the Maronite Foundation in the World; Ambassador to Argentina then Ambassador of Lebanon to the Holy See (The Vatican).
He has held numerous lectures in cultural, university and social institutions on Lebanon, its culture, its political system, and the Christians of the East.
Languages known: Arabic, French, English and Spanish.
Lebanon, Mrs. May El Khalil
Mrs. May El Khalil is the Founder and President of the Beirut Marathon Association, which oversees the annual Beirut Marathon and has been held every autumn since 2003.
Mrs. El Khalil spent much of her adult life in Nigeria where she established the Lebanese Ladies in Nigeria, a non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting educational development by way of grants and scholarships.
In 2001, after El Khalil had returned to Lebanon, she suffered a near-fatal accident that placed her in a coma. She spent two years undergoing dozens of surgeries that enabled her to walk again and inspired her to found the Beirut marathon.
In the aftermath of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri’s assassination in February 2005, the Beirut Marathon Association organized the “United We Run” race that attracted 60,000 runners.
El Khalil has been recognized for her work nationally and internationally; she has received the AIPS Power of Sport Award in Lausanne, and the Laureus World Sports Academy Lifetime achievement award in Abu Dhabi. She has been decorated by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman with the National Order of the Cedar, and has been granted appreciation awards from the Lebanese Ministry of Tourism, The Brazil-Lebanon Chamber of Commerce, and the Lebanese Ministry of Youth and Sport. El Khalil was also a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International for 2010 and 2011. In 2013 she was presented with an honorary Ph.D. from LAU (the Lebanese American University). In 2014 she was honoring by YWCA Lebanon on March 8 ( international Women’s day ),
El Khalil spoke at the TED global conference in Edinburgh Scotland in 2013. In 2014, she was invited as a speaker at the European Innovation Convention on March 10. She was also invited by SEAL foundation as guest of Honor for their annual gala Dinner in New York. The Lebanese Franchise Association has chosen El Khalil to be one of the four recipients of the “ Appreciation Award”. On July 22, 2014 she received the Fair Play and peace award by the Premio Fair Play Mecenate committee in Arezzo, Italy.
El Khalil has four children and four grandchildren. Faysal M. El-Khalil is presently the Chairman of the Seven-Up Bottling Company based in Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana and Kenya. Her brother in law is H.E. Anwar M. El-Khalil, a member of the Lebanese Parliament since 1992.
Nigeria, Mrs. Aishah Ahmad
Mrs. Aishah Ahmad is Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Spain, Ms. Sara Ferrer Olivella
Ms. Sara Ferrer Olivella is the Country Director for UNDP in Colombia; she has worked for 18 years in the UN system in general and in UNDP in specific in the headquarters and some other countries. Her latest appointment was as the Regional Advisor for the United Nations Development group (UNDG), New York.
Sara Ferrer Olivella, who is a development practitioner with a political science background with an area of expertise in human rights and governance issues, holds an MA in Political Science and Public administration from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain) and a European Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratization from the Inter-European University Center for Human Rights and Democratization (Italy).
