The AMEL Speakers Bureau began recruitment of its first cohort in December 2017 in partnership with the Anti-Defamation League-New York (ADL)-New York/New Jersey region. Under the banner "My Voice, Our Future", the joint AMEL-ADL campaign featured millennial leaders from the Middle East and Africa with inspiring stories of taking action to bridge divides. Following targeted recruitment in December 2017, the first group of young African and Middle Eastern leaders was chosen: Cedric Nwafor, Isaac Cudjoe, Bnyad Sharef, Mor Yahalom and Ruwan Al-Rejoleh, who brought inspiring voices from diverse backgrounds spanning Cameroon, Ghana, Iraq, Israel and Syria. Between January and March 2018, they received training in speech-crafting and public speaking.

Following the training, the AMEL Speakers were deployed during 2018 and early 2019 to a series of speaking engagements to bring together and inspire diverse audiences of thousands across New York, New Jersey and the broader United States. Their voices enriched the discourse and improved inter-communal understanding through events with diverse schools, organizations, and houses of worship. In those spaces, they shared their courageous stories of overcoming hatred and exclusion and encouraging others to join them in denying divisiveness through leadership, dialogue, engagement and cooperation.

Back to Speakers Bureau Overview.